The director of the MODERNA Foundation, Cernin Martínez, along with Pedro Mendi, a researcher at the Navarra Center for International Development (NCID) of the Institute for Culture and Society, conducted fieldwork in Johannesburg and Cape Town (South Africa) from March 28 to April 1.

There, they met with representatives from the Economic Development Partnership, an institution that is similar to the MODERNA Foundation, as well as with the regional government, two universities and the Cape Town government. In Johannesburg, they held meetings with the Spanish Commercial Attaché to South Africa, Enrique Manzanares, as well as with representatives of regional development agencies, such as KwaZulu-Natal, and representatives from the private sector. They also held meetings with the University of Cape Town and the Human Sciences Research Council.

The project aims to assist the Cape Town and Johannesburg regions in the design and implementation of its economic development plan. MODERNA is considered an international leader in implementing strategy for long-term development. The University of Navarra, through the Navarra Center for International Development, will contribute with research and fieldwork to ensure proper knowledge transfer between Navarra and South Africa.

Opportunities for collaboration

The strategic sectors in South Africa overlap with the MODERNA's plan and protocols for collaboration have been established in the following areas: tourism, renewable energy and agribusiness.

South Africa's GDP experienced an average growth rate of about 5 percent in real terms between 2004 and 2007. From 2008 to 2012, despite the crisis, the recorded growth was slightly above 2 percent.

South Africa's economy grew 1.5 percent in 2014, compared with 2.2 percent in 2013 (according to preliminary estimates). The fastest-growing industry in 2014 was agriculture (+5.6 percent) compared to mining that was affected by a series of general strikes and, as a sector, recorded the largest losses (-1.6 percent).