¶ … 2010 world cup South Africa South African Economy and the World cup

There is no doubt in the fact that the world has become a global village as technology has progressed and travelling has become easier. People now travel from country to country with an ease as if they used to visit a relative.

The globalization has gifted the people the ease to travel miles across to another country to attend and enjoy world events whether it be Cricket World Cup, FIFA, Formula One or the Wimbledon final. This means that whenever any such events are held there is an immigration or movement of a large amount of people to the point of attraction.

Countries have discovered these events as a new way to revive their economy as these events lead to a large amount of foreign spending in their country which in turn generate a lot of income for the local people. Events such as FIFA world cup attract more than 2 billion people worldwide and the sponsors are one of the global multinational giants such as Coca-Cola, Mc Donalds and Adidas. There is no doubt in the fact that so much money is being spent on one event just because it would in return generate a lot of income for the investors. The example of the country of origin of such event is the same as an investor who puts in a lot of money in the construction of lavish and huge stadiums which would attract a lot of people and would be a source of income and boost for their economy and would lead to the country's economic revival.

The advantages of hosting a world cup can clearly seen in countries like Japan, United States of America and Germany as they got a lot of exposure in the form of people visiting from around the world and on the other hand, it also lead to infrastructure development on a vast scale. Such was the case of South Africa being the host of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

South Africa before the World Cup

An African nation was going to host the FIFA World cup for the first time and it was no one else but the beautiful South Africa. But the moment, South Africa was declared the host nation for the FIFA 2011, questions from every part of the world started to rise not only due to the poor infrastructure of the country but also due to some past incidents that left the people and experts insecure regarding the organizing of such a mega event in South Africa. Concerns were mainly raised as regards the security of the visitors as South Africa is a country that averages 50 murders a day but still no major disturbance had been seen in the sporting events that were previously held in the country.

Some incidents such as the robbery of money from the rooms of Egyptian and Brazilian players raised the questions that whether soccer players would be provided with enough security and whether the government would fulfill its commitment to allow visitors to move freely without any harm.

Another concern that was being raised was of the infrastructure of the country. South Africa has never been famous for its broad highways and 5 lane roads which meant that a lot was to be done in the form of building roads, bridges, stadiums and highways and this required a lot of money to be put in and required investment worth billions of dollars.

But the benefit that such a mega event would bring to the country raised the will of the South

African government was aiming to make the event a huge success by the support of FIFA and its organizers. The event had an expectation to create around 155000 new jobs in the country which would lead to a major rise in the rate on employment in a developing country like South Africa. It was also expected that around half a million visitors from outside Africa would be visiting the country which would include representatives of the sponsors which are the globally developed companies which in turn means that this would bring foreign direct and indirect investment into the country.

South Africa is already known around the world for its immense abundance of tourist attractions. Ranging from beautiful beaches of Mauritius to Cape Town, South Africa is a host to one of the world's best tourist destinations. Tourism therefore remains an important contributor to the country's gross domestic product and the economy at large. Considering this fact, the hosting of FIFA world cup 2010 in South Africa was an immensely important opportunity...

The event, which was a very successful one, had left its effects both positive and negative on the economy society and environment of South Africa.
FIFA World cup

FIFA, abbreviation for Federation Internationale de Football Association, is the regulatory authority for football. The organization holds a world championship event every four years. The event is contested among the world's best football teams to win the gold FIFA world cup trophy and the winning team enjoys the title of the world football champion until the next event and contests the next event as a defending champion.

Football is one of the most popular sports all around the world with football lovers existing all across the globe regardless of the fact that their respective teams are contesting the event or not. FIFA world cup events are known to have enjoyed the highest viewership on satellite TV. Moreover, football fans have been observed as the most emotional ones in the history.

Given the number of die hard football fans around the world, hosting FIFA events is an opportunity of significant importance for any country across the globe, particularly for a country such as South Africa, that despite of being rich in natural tourist attractions fails to make full use of it due to alleged criminal violence against tourists. This is because an event like FIFA attracts tourists from all around the world, and if successful, it opens the door of strengthening a country's image on the international front. Moreover it helps attracting a considerable amount of foreign investment which adds to the foreign exchange of the country.

Effects of FIFA World Cup 2010 on South Africa

Economic Effects

The hosting of FIFA World Cup event in 2010 has beyond any doubts have given a great economical support to both the private sector and public sector of the South African Economy and has helped the country to resists the recessionary pressures of the current economic down turn

. Achieving positive economic growth is one of the primary macroeconomic objectives of any government. A positive economic growth for any country would mean a rise in the country's total value of output produces in a given year, which in turn implicates on the country's standard of living. Most of the economies around the world today adhere to the mixed economy system, where the economy functions with a partnership of both private sector and the public sector. Many of these economies have more inclination towards the private sector, which means the private sector remains the major contributor to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the said economy. However, this does not mean that the private institution become solely responsible for the economic growth. In a mixed market economy, the government institutions have a vital role to play in influencing the efficiency and productivity of the private sector and in turn influencing the economic growth of the country. Therefore the degree to which a country achieves its growth is directly correlated with the efficiency of its institutions.

Growth rates of any economy are highly influenced and are dependent on factors such as population, literacy rates, interest rates, tax rates, aggregate demand, aggregate supply, law and order, and overall political and economical stability of a country. This is where the role of institutions comes in to the picture. Government institutions are responsible to ensure economical and political stability of the country so that private sector can continue to prosper and thus contribute to the country's economic growth. In context of hosting the FIFA event, where the private sector saw a business boost by increased demands in various sectors, particularly those pertaining to tourism, at the same time the government sector was responsible to make sure that political and law and order situations were stable so that the event can be made successful on the international level without the risks of any negative publicities.

South Africa has its roots to a British colonial system and has been a democratic country ever since it has achieved its independence. Like most western countries, South Africa has adhered to a mixed market economy with an inclination towards the free market system where private sector has always been strong. The country has scene stark transition from primary sector to the secondary sector during recent years.

In order to analyze the socio economic dynamics of South Africa let us compare it with China,…