In this episode will have a look at the role of market power in global value chains. Competition is a driver for innovation, it increases efficiency and leads to better outcomes for consumers. But what happens to global value chains if competition is lacking? What can be done on a regulatory level to prevent monopolies - or oligopolies? That’s what we want to discuss. Our guest in episode 12 is Pamela Mondliwaa. She is working at the state owned Industrial Development Corporation in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she is a industrial development planner.

This episode is the last in this series. We hope that we provided you with a wide range of topics on how supply chains effect the global south and all of us. Thank you all for listening.

Competition and Power in Global Value chains: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1024529420975154

The Political Economy of Structural Transformation: Political Settlements and Industrial Policy in South Africa: https://academic.oup.com/book/39853/chapter/340016803

Competition, Productive Capabilities and Structural Transformation in South Africa: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41287-020-00349-x

Mangos or rice, chocolate or even wood - just to mention a few agricultural products that are heavily exported from several countries in the Global South to the Global North. A growing number of them are grown, harvested and processed in line with environmental standards and labels. These standards are meant to improve environmental conditions. And consumers might think a environment friendly label also improves the social conditions: It just sounds plausible - because whoever cares for the environment also cares for the workers and the small smallholder farmers, right? Well: many certification schemes do consider more dimensions of sustainability - but not all. And there is an increasing evidence that some environmental standards do even worsen the social and economic conditions of firms and farms in the Global South.

In this episode we want to have a look at this evidence. Our moderator Nicolas Martin is discussing this with Aarti Krishnan. She is a development economist working on value chains and green growth at the University of Manchester.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has shown us that the world is in a period of upheaval. Long-standing international laws – like respecting national borders – are being broken. Millions of Ukrainians are fleeing.

And as a result of Russia’s aggression, traditional relations are being questioned. Countries are reconsidering with whom and how much trade and interdependence they still want to allow. And a new term is making the rounds: Friendshoring – trading with friends only.

What it means, how to interpret it, and where supply chains are heading in times of geopolitical rivalry – that is today’s topic of discussion. Our guest is Holger Görg, Interim President of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and also Director of the Kiel Centre for Globalisation.

The car industry is an important income generator for South Africa. As a side note, the first vehicles were manufactured there already in the 1920’s – almost a century ago. Back then, Ford and General Motors built assembly plants. So, there are already established supply chains within the country. Now the global auto industry is electrifying vehicles and batteries are needed everywhere. Being a country with rich mineral resources, could this be a once-in-a-lifetime chance for more and better jobs and increased prosperity? Moderator Nicolas Martin discussing with Justin Barnes executive director of TWIMS. Established by the Toyota Wessels Trust, TWIMS is a not for profit initiative dedicated to the development of manufacturing executives in Africa.

https://twimsafrica.com/justin_barnes/

In the eighth episode of “Shaping Sustainable Supply Chains” we want to discuss the role Asia will play in global supply chains after the pandemic.

We wanted to talk about this at the end of February. But shortly before the scheduled recording, Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine changed the picture completely. Since then, the world is simply not the same. That’s why we want to broaden the picture and ask: What are the most recent trends and what is the role of Asia in global supply chains?

In this episode our moderator Nicolas Martin is joined by Svenja Falk and Ana Ruiz Hernanz from Accenture Research.

Svenja Falk is the managing director, where she oversees market and trend studies and where she is the brains behind strategic decisions.

Ana Ruiz Hernanz brings in the economic perspective, and she also knows how to navigate data, given that she works as a data scientist and analyst at Accenture Research.

That’s the topic of our seventh episode of “Shaping Sustainable Supply Chains".
Moderator Nicolas Martin is joined by Stephanie Barrientos from Manchester, England, where she leads the “Shifting South Project” at the University of Manchester where she is now an Emeritus Professor. Stefanie has dedicated a big portion of her career to development issues, focusing on labor and working conditions. And from South Africa Shane Godfrey is in the show. Shane Godfrey recently retired as director of the Labour, Development and Governance Research Unit at the University of Cape Town.

Can it be that tomorrow’s heavy industries will be located where the sun shines stronger and longer and the wind blows night and day? How will climate friendly policies change the international division of labor in energy intensive industries? This is what we want to discuss today in our sixth episode of shaping sustainable supply chains.

Heavy industries such as iron and steel or chemicals are among the biggest energy consumers. According to the World Economic Forum, global heavy industry and transport account for almost one-third of global CO2 emissions. In Germany, the direct emissions of the chemical, steel and cement industries alone make up one eight of the total greenhouse gas emission.

Politicians in Germany have decided that climate neutrality has to be reached until 2045. The heavy industry obviously has to contribute to reach this aim. But to get there a massive expansion of renewable energies is needed.

In this episode we shed light on a topic that has received little public attention: The possible restructuring of global supply chains. We speak with two scientists who believe that the increasing focus on carbon-neutral energy production could change the division of labor. If green energy sources like wind or solar play an increasingly important role, then the heavy industries could go where wind and sun is available at low cost. This phenomena is known as the “Renewables Pull.

And to dive into this topic moderator Nicolas Martin will discuss with his guest Sascha Samadi. He is an economist and senior researcher at the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, where he works in the Department for Energy and Industrial Systems of the Future. The second expert in the discussion is Clemens Schneider. He is working in the same department and focuses on industrial systems.

Due diligence laws are coming into fashion. The aim to hold companies more accountable for their products across the entire supply chain.

In this episode we will look at the agricultural sector and ask: Due diligence regulations in supply chains: well intentioned, but also a risk for sustainability?

In this episode we will have a look at a vital issue for our planet and talk
about raw-minerals like platinum and copper.

We will raise the question: Is sustainability a chance for the mining industry to get rid of its dirty image?

Mining often happens under poor working conditions, the transport of raw materials is
energy intensive and the recycling of used minerals is yet often not
profitable and sometimes illudes todays state of the art. In this podcast
we want to ask. How is it possible that mineral supply chains can
become more sustainable? Are voluntary goals of the industry enough or
do they need stronger legislative guidelines?

In this episode moderator Nicolas Martin is welcoming three guests. Christina Saulich and Svenja Schöneich - two global
value chain experts at the German Institute for International and Security
Affairs (SWP) and Jean-Pierre Imbrogiano, a postdoctoral researcher at
the Department of Economics and Management at the University of
Helsinki.

Our podcast investigates multiple societal dilemmas arising in global supply chains and offers insights into evidence-based solutions for overcoming these challenges. Our mission: Revealing actionable shifts towards more sustainable and fair global supply chains.
In the last two episodes, we looked at models and policy frameworks for
supply chains. Going forward we will dive into different supply chains in
different regions. Today, we look at food supply chains in Africa. Food plays -
like everywhere else on this planet - a big role on the African continent. Partly
because it's still scarce in many places. Hunger is still the biggest health risk
in Africa. But partly also because the middle class is growing rapidly and
people are eating more and more diversified.

Listen to moderator Nicolas Martin and our guest Dr. Saweda Onipede Liverpool Tasie from the Michigan State University in the US. There she is an Associate Professor at the Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics and an expert on
development policies.