23 Apr 2012In a revealing paper Derek Matyszak of the Research and Advocacy Unity of Zimbabwe analyses the legal and political realities of what he calls the ZIMPLATS saga. Matyszak addresses what he calls ...

17 Apr 2012Idasa would like to invite participants from Civil Society organisations in South Africa to a course on Economic Policy Literacy. The course will be held from the 14th to the ...

29 Mar 2012The Afrobarometer survey conducted in South Africa towards the end of 2011 provides interesting insights into the charachteristics of protests and protestors in South Africa. A recent surge in protests ...

24 Feb 2012Idasa researcher Len Verwey comments on South Africa Minister of finance Pravin Gordhan' 2012 budget speech which was held at Parliament in Cape Ton on the 22d of February.

26 Oct 2011Idasa says South Africans will have to accept that, fiscally, the period from 2008 to 2015 will be far more constrained than that of 2002 to 2007. This does not ...

15 May 2011Idasa's Political Information and Monitoring Service Programme (PIMS) has been monitoring vote buying during the run-up to the local government elections and our network of monitors have observed numerous alarming ...

04 Nov 2010  Education is recognized as a universal human right and is one of the Millenium Development Goals. Access to information is often overlooked as a secondary right, yet without it, ...

03 Nov 2010By: Petronella Murowe “For poor people like us, education should be an instrument for liberation.” (Nyerere).  The rights to education and access to information are fundamental human rights. Poverty breeds ...

28 Oct 2010South Africa has the most transparent and accountable government budget according to a global survey of 94 countries, in the Open Budget Index of 2010. SA’s finance minister, Pravin Gordhan ...

27 Oct 2010Thembinkosi Dlamini and Russell Wildeman SA is capable of sustaining two narratives. One, which provoked a Financial Times editorial suggesting the Protection of Information Bill represents the path to Zimbabwe, ...

25 Oct 2010Idasa’s Public Expenditure and Smallholder Agriculture project, which is part of the Economic Governance Programme, held a workshop at Idasa’s Pretoria office in April 2010 to form advocacy objectives for ...

25 Oct 2010The Washington-based International Budget Partnership has placed South Africa in first place in its Open Budget Index, with a score of 92 points out of a possible 100. The internationally ...

22 Oct 2010Leslie Nyagah of EGP’s Public Expenditure and Smallholder Agriculture project held a fascinating workshop earlier this year on the New Scramble for Africa: The Food Security Debate. Read his report ...

21 Oct 2010By Pamela Kamusiime    Grassroots Action for Progress is an organisation in Igaanga, Uganda, about 150 kilometres east of Kampala. Their chairman, Hajj Rajab Ssengooba, recently spoke to trainees looking ...

14 Oct 2010The Ask Your Government Initiative aims to reveal the extent to which governments are actually fulfilling their commitments in the areas critical to development, such as, maternal health, aid effectiveness, ...

28 Sep 2010Idasa is involved with partners, in a series of events to commemorate Right to Know day. We are working with partners in Ghana – Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC); Malawi ...

20 Sep 2010By 2005 Zimbabwe had the fastest shrinking economy in the world and the purchasing power of the average Zimbabweans had fallen to levels last seen for more than a half ...

17 Sep 2010Stories from the field by Meleney Tembo Always expect the unexpected when you are working in rural areas - and doesn’t under-estimate the difficult conditions that rural people face every ...

19 Aug 2010This is Idasa’s Economic Governance Programme’s submission on the International Finance Corporation’s review of its performance standards and information disclosure policy.  Following the World Bank's recent revision of its information ...

08 Jul 2010For democracy to function well, there must be a sense of accountability by politicians as well assome participation by citizens. Accountability checks the power of leaders and encourages peopleto take ...

04 Jun 2010In a submission to Parliament’s two finance committees during public hearings on the South African Reserve Bank Amendment Bill early in June, Nancy Dubosse, head of research in Idasa's Economic ...

19 May 2010From 19-21 May, electricity regulators, stakeholders, and experts from South Africa, India, Mexico and Brazil are meeting in Cape Town to explore the challenges of regulating the electricity sector to ...

18 May 2010By: Nancy Dubosse In two weeks’ time, Parliament will be voting on an amendment bill proposing changes in the management composition and structure of the Reserve Bank. In a nutshell, ...

29 Apr 2010Welcome to the monthly newsflash of Idasa's Agriculture Expenditure Project, highlighting useful articles about Agriculture in Africa, including a focus on policy and small farmer participation. If you have comments ...

04 Mar 2010Analysis done by: Godknows Giya (Senior Researcher)- AIDS Budget Unit Vailet Mukotsanjera-Kowayi (Head)- AIDS Budget Unit The 2010/11 fiscal budget announced by the Finance Minister, Pravin Gordhan was presented as ...

01 Feb 201028 January 2010 Introduction Idasa does not at this stage express a firm view as to: the necessary extent of infrastructural development required to meet future demand; by whom such ...

22 Dec 2009By Manyewu Mutamba Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) gathered in Copenhagen, Denmark, between 7 and 18 December 2009 for the 15th Conference of Parties ...

10 Dec 2009The importance of the agriculture sector to tbe Ghanaian economy was manifest once again in tbe 2010 national budget statement presented by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. ...

02 Dec 2009By Richard Calland and Gary Pienaar   Discuss this on our blog here ... Picking holes in the governance of electricity supply, and energy policy more generally, is like shooting fish in ...

26 Nov 2009By Viola Musiimenta, Poverty Eradication and Livelihood Improvement Programme - DENIVA African small scale farmers and farming has been a subject of debate amongst several stakeholders-including politicians, professionals, private sector ...

30 Oct 2009By Len Verwey, Thembinkosi Dlamini, Saranne Durham and Musa Zamisa The financial and economic crisis and the South African recession, in a post-Polokwane political environment, have done much to change ...

28 Oct 2009The Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) recognizes the right to information as a fundamental human right and the touchstone for all the freedoms necessary for the realization of both ...

28 Oct 2009Have your say on our blog here Pravin Gordhan became South Africa’s new Minister of Finance under difficult circumstances. Although it appears as though the global economy may be moving ...

27 Sep 2009African democracy institute Idasa will be marking international Right to Know Day on 28 September with an emphasis on its Right to Know, Right to Education project, which aims to ...

09 Sep 2009The Affiliated Network for Social Accountability in Africa (ANSA-Africa) and Idasa are hosting a seminar: Alternative Policies to Address Poverty and Inequality in Africa Dr. Dambisa Moyo When: 9:30 - ...

31 Aug 2009The right to know is essential in Africa.  Read this article by Francina Mhundwa, published in the Weekend Observer in August 2009 – download below

27 Aug 2009Idasa is working with partners in Kenya for the Right to Know, Right to Education project. This project's activities focus on: increasing the democratic space around the development of the ...

04 Aug 2009This report arose out of a strategic planning meeting held by the Economic Governance Programme in February 2009. It reflects our plans and proposals for the first phase of our ...

31 Jul 2009The Auditor-General's report on the audit outcomes of Local Government for the financial year 2007/8 presents the audit outcomes of 245 municipalities and 46 municipal entities. While the local sphere ...

14 Feb 2009In the run-up to the 2009 general elections, South Africa has undergone a period of political transition and intense self-scrutiny. The change in ANC leadership has heightened public discourse over ...