Analysis reveals the impact of disruptive technologies and digitalisation on South Africa's business models during economic shifts, implying challenges for innovation.
In the early 2000s, South Africa's annual GDP growth rates rose steadily, but then fell progressively in the decade following the 2008 global financial crisis. During this period of declining growth, the country's business sector faced major pressures, from intermittent load shedding, rising global commodity prices, and the advent of disruptive technologies and business models. Exacerbated by the sudden arrival of a global pandemic in 2020, businesses encountered tough choices to reorient to new conditions that included accelerating digitalisation and geopolitical uncertainty. Drawing from South Africa���s innovation data for the industry and services sectors, this fact sheet answers key questions about innovation trends across four survey periods (2002-2004, 2005-2007, 2014-2016 and 2019-2021)
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Human Sciences Research Council (2025) studied this question.
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