The economic prosperity of South Africa during the early twentieth century

Abstract EN

During the twentieth century, South Africa became one of the most advanced and industrialized countries in the African continent, thanks to the development of three major sectors including the farming, the mining and the industrial ones.

This flourishing situation was guaranteed by the discovery and exploitation of a great number of mineral resources and the introduction of capitalism.

The attention of this article is to examine the main stages of the South African economic growth, covering the period from the colonial era to the introduction of the apartheid system by the then white government.

Moreover, there will be a special focus on the transfer from a backward farming activity to prosperous industrial sectors.