Black, Anthony

Anthony Black is a Professor in the School of Economics at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and former Director of Policy Research in International Services and Manufacturing (PRISM). He holds degrees from the Universities of Cape Town, Sussex (United Kingdom), and KwaZulu-Natal (Durban, South Africa). 

From 2003 to 2005 he was Director of the School of Economics. His main fields of expertise are development economics, trade, and industrial policy. He has acted as an advisor to the Department of Trade and Industry in South Africa, and played a key role in the establishment and implementation of the Motor Industry Development Programme and subsequent automotive policy.

He has also acted as a consultant to other African governments as well as to a number of organizations, including UNIDO and UNCTAD. His publications include two edited volumes, Towards Employment Intensive Growth in South Africa (2016) and Value Chains in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges of Integration into the Global Economy (2019).

Research collaborations or fellowships with institutions internationally have included the International Motor Vehicle Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States, the Centre for New and Emerging Markets at the London Business School, Groupe dEtudes et de Recherche Permanent sur l'Industrie et les Salaries de l'Automobile (GERPISA) in Paris, the World Institute for Development Economics Research (WIDER) in Helsinki, and the United Nations University Institute for New Technology (UNUIntech) in Maastricht in the Netherlands.

Research focus

Development economics, industrial policy and green industrialization; automotive industry and electric vehicles; garment industry; foreign direct investment; trade and regional integration.