The banking sector in South Africa has been dominated by British-owned banks since the second half of the nineteenth century, both in nature and size. In the Cape Colony privately incorporated banks were only permitted after 1823. By the early 1830s 28 local banks thrived in the agricultural prosperity of the colony. In 1860 The London & South Africa Bank was the first of the Imperial banks to open its doors, followed by Standard Bank in 1862. Four successive bank crises in the Cape Colony in 1865, 1876, 1881 and 1890 practically wiped out the local independent banks, leaving only two British banks, Standard Bank and Bank of Africa, established in 1880 out of remnants of the Oriental Banking Corporation. By 1890 only seven banks remained active in the Cape Colony.

The international financial crisis that emerged in 2007 and hit with full force in 2008 had its roots in the banking sector and specifically in the management of risks associated with securitised mortgages. While there were many causes for the crisis, the failure of prudential regulation is amongst the most important, and the severity of the subsequent crisis has underlined the role of prudential regulation in a modern financial system.

From the inception of the first trust companies and boards of executors in the first half of the 19th century, these institutions have played a prominent role in the local communities in which they functioned. Despite this local prominence, the wider community and the monetary authorities were mostly unaware of the wide array of services they provided and the growing extent of the total funds under their administration. Recognition of their contribution as an important role player - a 'pillar' - in the South African financial services sector was therefore a slow process which gained momentum only in the 1930s.

Ethiopia may be ranked among the longest surviving states, not only in Africa, but in the world, as it has a history going back to the ancient Axumite kingdom (first century AD). In fact, this inland country, because of the mountainous nature of the territory and the indomitable spirit of its inhabitants, has been able to preserve its independence, national identity and cultural heritage throughout the centuries - unlike most African countries. Banking in Ethiopia (previously known as Abyssinia) began when the Bank of Abyssinia was established in 1905. In 1931, however, this institution was liquidated, and its assets and liabilities as well as its premises and staff were taken over by the newly established state-owned Bank of Ethiopia. The Bank of Ethiopia, in turn, closed its doors after the occupation of the country by the Italian army in 1936.

The importance of a well developed financial sector for economic development and the upliftment of the poor is widely recognised and well researched theoretically and empirically. In this context access to financial services for those normally excluded, generally the poor, has an important role to play. This is also acknowledged locally. The South African Reserve Bank (SARB), for example, has alluded to the value of broadening access to financial services and how to attain this in numerous of its Bank Supervision Department's Annual Reports. In this paper the focus falls on access, or more correctly, the problem of access to formal credit, transaction (deposit, payment) and saving services - hereafter basic banking services - for South Africa's poor (LSM categories 1-4). The more affluent do not experience serious access problems; since 2004, between 87 and 90 per cent of those classified in LSM 7-10 have had access. Access to basic banking services has increased significantly since 1990, though for the poor the improvement only came about in the latter part of the study period. Major institutional changes that have impacted on access include the exemption from the Usury Act of loans below R6 000 in 1992 and the launching of the Mzansi basic bank account in October 2004. This paper aims to describe and analyse, since 1990, the actual changes in access experienced by those previously excluded from basic formal financial services in South Africa, the demand and supply constraints to access, and government actions that have played an important role in either impeding or opening-up access.

Keynes and macroeconomics after 70 years: Critical assessments of the General Theory, edited by L. Randall Wray & Matthew Forstater Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, 2008

The executive committee of the Finnish Transport Workers' Union decided on 4 October 1985 to boycott all trade between South Africa and Finland. This was quite an extraordinary decision for several reasons. First of all, it was the first effective and long-term boycott of South African trade in the whole world.

The history of modern banking in Africa is in large part the story of banking in South Africa extending northwards and westwards, bringing best banking practice to regions that were either unbanked or under-banked. It was market driven. Politicians did not, in those days, direct what the banks must do, who they must employ, from whom they must procure their equity. In the nineteenth century, after 1850, the market reigned supreme in British ruled parts of Africa.

To what extent are international business connections useful to facilitate technological upgrading, and to what extent are they essential? And what types of international business connections are most appropriate in supporting firms' capacity development? The most successful examples of upgrading in the recent era, the Asian Tigers, were all outward-looking in their orientation, although the specific development strategies of the economic regions differed. Although some type of international business connection was important for all of them, they all invested in local capacity building. This article investigates the co-evolution of firm capacity and international linkages by looking at the South African chemicals firm Sasol.