Download Module H4 Session 10 Guidance for Trainers

Module H4 Session 10 Guidance for Trainers
Module H4 Session 10 Guidance for Trainers
Exercises
Exercise 1
The first part of this exercise is straightforward. The drop-down list generates data quickly
– although I have found that it sometimes fails (in which case, close your internet browser,
re-open and start again). The aim is to study how important trade is for SADC countries.
Once the students have compiled the table (trade as % of GDP), they should compare the
figures for their own country with that of other countries. Can they think of any factors
which explain the differences? Are there any surprises? An optional further activity, which
should help to explain some of the differences, is for students to obtain a breakdown of
trade by product (value of key export and import products) – at least for their country.
The second part of the exercise involves downloading some of the tables from the WTO
(2006) report. In future years, you should use equivalent reports for 2007, 2008 etc. These
tables should download automatically in Excel, or another spreadsheet program. You may
find some initial difficulty in downloading in Excel, but clicking on ‘other’, and then
‘cancel’ allows you to proceed! The answer to ‘Are any SADC countries included? What
proportion of world trade do they account for?’ is only South Africa, with less than 1% of world
trade in 2005. The answer to ‘What proportion of exports of merchandise and commercial
services does Africa account for?’ is 3% (merchandise) and 2% (commercial services) in 2005.
The main aim of this part of the exercise is to highlight the fact that Africa accounts for
only a very small part of world trade. The final question, looking at shares of merchandise
trade by sector and product, is included as a first step towards answering the question
(which we hope students will ask!) ‘Why is Africa’s share of world trade so low?’ The
answer will be explored in the next part of the session.
Exercise 2
No guidance needed.
Exercise 3
No guidance needed.
SADC Course in Statistics
Module H4 Session 10 Guidance – Page 1
Module H4 Session 10 Guidance for Trainers
Exercise 4
This should be relatively straightforward. The only challenge for students is that when
compiling the table, they should recognise that in order to answer the question ‘Which
countries have been most successful in attracting FDI?’, they cannot use the MEASURE
‘US dollars at current prices in millions’ because this will not enable them to make
comparisons between countries. It is to be hoped that by this stage in the module, they will
have understood the need for denominators which allow like-for-like comparisons. They
should click on the button to the right of MEASURE to scroll forwards, and see what
options are offered. In my view, possible alternatives are:



‘% of GDP’ which shows FDI in relation to GDP
‘US dollars at current prices per capita’, which shows FDI per head of population
‘% of Gross Fixed Capital Formation’, which shows FDI in relation to total
investment (including investment by local residents)
Exercise 5
No guidance needed. This is a slideshow with voiceover from the World Bank, which gives
a brief introduction to the work of the World Bank in Africa.
SADC Course in Statistics
Module H4 Session 10 Guidance – Page 2