Alan Hirsch

Head of Migration Governance Reform Programme

Alan Hirsch is a research fellow and the head of the Migration Governance Reform in Africa Programme (MIGRA) at the New South Institute (NSI). He is an accomplished economist and public policy expert with a rich background in both academia and government. Born in Cape Town, he was educated at UCT, Wits, and Columbia. His career spans both teaching and policy-making, having taught at UCT before joining the South African Department of Trade and Industry in 1995. From 2002 to 2012, he managed economic policy within the South African Presidency, where he was instrumental in shaping the country’s economic trajectory.

Hirsch’s extensive experience and leadership in economic policy are a tremendous asset to the New South Institute (NSI), where his deep knowledge of economic reform and inclusive growth bolsters the Institute’s mission to foster transparent and accountable governance. He serves on the Board of the European Centre for Development Policy Management and is a member of President Ramaphosa’s Economic Advisory Council. Hirsch has held distinguished roles globally, including as a visiting scholar at Harvard Business School, a regular visiting professor at Maastricht University, and a Fellow at the Oxford Martin School. His recent publications, such as Season of Hope: Economic Reform under Mandela and Mbeki and The Oxford Companion to South African Economics, contribute to the global discourse on economic development and governance, aligning with NSI’s goals of driving sustainable and inclusive policy reforms.

Publications

Scholarly Articles

1. Hirsch, A. (2025) ‘Migration in South Africa: Conflicts and Identities’, New Agenda, (97), June.
2. Hirsch, A. (2021) ‘The African Union’s Free Movement of Persons Protocol: Why has it faltered and how can its objectives be achieved?’, South African Journal of International Affairs, 28(4), pp. 497–517. doi: 10.1080/10220461.2021.2007788.
3. Hirsch, A. (2020) ‘Fatal embrace: How relations between business and government help to explain South Africa’s low-growth equilibrium’, South African Journal of International Affairs, 27(4), pp. 473–492. doi: 10.1080/10220461.2020.1856180.
4. Hirsch, A. and Lopes, C. (2020) ‘Post-colonial African Economic Development in Historical Perspective’, Africa Development / Afrique et Développement, 45(1), pp. 31–46. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/26936563.
5. Hirsch, A. (2024) ‘Overcoming the North–South Divide in Global Migration Governance’, South African Carnegie. Available at: https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2024/11/international-migration-policy-global-north-south?lang=en.

Book Chapters

1. Hirsch, A. (forthcoming, 2025) ‘Will the Global North escape the post-Malthusian Trap? Not without the Global South’, in Ngcaweni, B. (ed.) Statecraft: Essays on Governance of Public Affairs.
2. Hirsch, A. (2024) ‘Migration governance paradoxes and realistic pathways: An African perspective’, in El Aynaoui, K. and Loulichki, M. (eds) Atlantic Currents 2024: Building Interdependence and Solidarity in a Fragmented World. 11th edn. Policy Center for the New South, pp. 244–257.
3. Hirsch, A. (forthcoming) ‘Industrial transformation, regional integration and the African political economy’, in Baloyi, B., Mohamed, S. and Ngoma, A. (eds) Evolution of the Structure of the South African Economy. Johannesburg: Mistra.
4. Hirsch, A. (2022) ‘The Role of SOEs in Development in South Africa’, in Mills, G., Jonas, M., Bhorat, H. and Hartley, R. (eds) Better Choices: Ensuring South Africa’s Future. Johannesburg: Picador Africa. Available at: https://nsi.org.za/publications/the-role-of-state-owned-enterprises-in-development-in-south-africa/.
5. Hirsch, A., Levy, B. and Nxele, M. (2021) ‘Politics and Economic Policymaking in South Africa since 1994’, in Oqubay, A., Tregenna, F. and Valodia, I. (eds) The Oxford Handbook of the South African Economy. Oxford: Oxford Academic. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780192894199.013.4.

Policy Documents

1. Amadi, V. and Hirsch, A. (forthcoming) African Continental Initiatives for Mobility: How the African Union Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement facilitate the mobility of people in Africa (MIGRA Report). New South Institute.
2. Hirsch, A. and Amadi, V. (forthcoming) Migration Governance in the Southern African Development Community: Bilateralism in a Regional Community (MIGRA Report). New South Institute.
3. Hirsch, A. (forthcoming) Migration Governance in Africa: a synthesis paper (MIGRA Report). New South Institute.
4. Hirsch, A. (2025) Opening Borders for Migration in the East African Community: Progressive Yet Uneven Reform. Johannesburg: New South Institute.
5. Hirsch, A. (2024) South Africa Country Study: Migration Trends, Policy, Implementation, and Outcomes (NSI Policy Paper).
6. Hirsch, A. (2024) The whys and hows of the mobility of Africans in Africa. Brookings Institute.
7. Hirsch, A., Chilenga-Butao, T. and Belvedere, F. (2022) Policy in the Time of Pandemic: Social Transfers in South Africa during the Coronavirus National Lockdown, May – October 2020 (Case Study). Helsinki: UNU-WIDER. Available at: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Report/PDF/case-study-policy-in-the-time-of-pandemic-South-Africa.pdf.
8. Hirsch, A. and Amadi, V. (2022) ‘Can Africa accelerate initiatives towards the freer movement of Africans in Africa?’, in Mangeni, F. and Atta-Mensah, J. (eds) Existential Priorities for the African Continental Free Trade Area. United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, pp. 117–127. Available at: https://nsi.org.za/publications/can-africa-accelerate-initiatives-towards-the-freer-movement-of-africans-in-africa/.
9. Hirsch, A. (2021) A strategic consideration of the African Union Free Movement of Persons Protocol and other initiatives towards the freer movement of people in Africa (Working Paper). SAIIA Programme: Economic Diplomacy. Available at: https://saiia.org.za/research/a-strategic-consideration-of-the-african-union-free-movement-of-persons-protocol-and-other-initiatives-towards-the-freer-movement-of-people-in-africa/.
10. Levy, B., Hirsch, A., Naidoo, V. and Nxele, M. (2021) South Africa: When Strong Institutions and Massive Inequalities Collide. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Available at: https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/03/18/south-africa-when-strong-institutions-and-massive-inequalities-collide-pub-84063.
11. Hirsch, A. and Levy, B. (2018) Elaborate scaffolding, weak foundations: Business–government relations and economic reform in democratic South Africa (ESID Working Paper 105). Manchester: University of Manchester. Available at: https://effective-states.org/wp-content/uploads/working_papers/final-pdfs/esid_wp_105_hirsch_levy.pdf.
12. Hirsch, A. and Cornell, V. (2016) African Economic Integration Report. Building Bridges Programme, Graduate School of Development Policy and Practice, University of Cape Town. Available at: https://nsi.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/BB_Thematic_Report_final_lowres.pdf.
13. Loulichki, M., Hirsch, A. et al. (eds) (2024) The Wider Atlantic: Building Interdependence and Solidarity in a Fragmented World. 11th edn. Atlantic Currents. Policy Center for the New South. Available at: https://www.policycenter.ma/sites/default/files/2024-12/Rapport%20-%20AC%20Depliants.pdf.

Additional Works

1. Hirsch, A. (2024) Overcoming the North–South divide in global migration governance. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
2. Lopes, C. and Hirsch, A. (2020) ‘African narratives vs. African development strategy’, OECD Development Matters [Blog]. Available at: https://oecd-development-matters.org/2020/09/28/african-narratives-vs-african-development-strategy/.
3. Hirsch, A. (2020) ‘South Africa—can its achievement in containing COVID-19 lead to sustained success in dealing with the crisis?’, OECD Development Matters [Blog]. Available at: https://oecd-development-matters.org/2020/04/28/south-africa-can-its-achievement-in-containing-covid-19-lead-to-sustained-success-in-dealing-with-the-crisis/.

Editorials

1. Hirsch, A. (2025, 17 July) ‘East African countries and open borders: great strides, but still a long way to go’, The Conversation.
2. Hirsch, A. (2025, 30 January) ‘Anti-immigration policies: why harsh new rules put in place by Trump and other rich countries won’t last’, The Conversation.
3. Hirsch, A. (2024, 2 February) ‘South Africa needs to manage migrants better. That requires cleaning up the Department of Home Affairs’, The Conversation.
4. Hirsch, A. (2024, 17 June) ‘As Long as it Catches the Mice’, News24.
5. Hirsch, A. (2024, 21 July) ‘Zimbabwean migrants: South Africa’s anti-immigrant sentiments are hindering policy reform’, The Conversation.
6. Hirsch, A. (2023, 30 November) ‘Visa-free travel for Africans: why Kenya and Rwanda have taken a step in the right direction’, Daily Maverick.
7. Hirsch, A. (2023, 19 January) ‘Free movement of people across Africa: regions are showing how it can work’, The Conversation.
8. Hirsch, A. (2022, 3 October) ‘Migration policy in South Africa — how should we be thinking about it?’, Daily Maverick.
9. Hirsch, A. (2022, 31 January) ‘For the first time since the global financial crisis, South Africa has an opportunity to master its economic fate’, Daily Maverick.
10. Hirsch, A. (2022, 16 January) ‘African countries are stuck on the free movement of people. How to break the logjam’, The Conversation.
11. Hirsch, A. (2019, 17 May) ‘South Africa has a new presidential advisory unit. Will it improve policy?’, The Conversation.
12. Hirsch, A. (2018, 29 October) ‘Did South Africa’s Investment Summit mark a Game-Changing moment?’, The Conversation.
13. Hirsch, A. (2018, 11 October) ‘South Africa won’t create jobs unless it settles on a new social compact’, The Conversation.
14. Hirsch, A. (2018, 30 July) ‘The free movement of people is an AU ambition: what’s standing in its way’, The Conversation.
15. Hirsch, A. (2018, 11 July) ‘How young activists are keeping Mandela’s legacy alive across Africa’, The Conversation.
16. Hirsch, A. (2018, 5 April) ‘Ramaphosa’s economic to-do list: Seven economic policy areas that will shift the dial’, The Conversation.
17. Hirsch, A. (2017, 20 June) ‘Pursuing a 30-year old bailout is sending South Africa on a wild goose chase’, The Conversation.
18. Naik, N., Hirsch, A. and Rossouw, J. (2017, 16 May) ‘South Africa’s Reserve Bank is in the eye of a storm. Academics quiz the governor’, The Conversation.
19. Hirsch, A. (2017, 8 January) ‘Africa is poised for sustainable growth and development. But there are risks’, The Conversation.
20. Hirsch, A. (2016, 12 October) ‘Why South Africa faces a train smash if its finance minister is removed’, The Conversation.
21. Hirsch, A. (2016, 25 February) ‘South Africa’s budget promises will require buckets of political capital’, The Conversation.
22. Hirsch, A. (2015, 23 December) ‘How compromises and mistakes made in the Mandela era hobbled South Africa’s economy’, The Conversation.
23. Hirsch, A. (2015, 10 December) ‘The removal of South Africa’s finance minister is bad news for the country’, The Conversation.
24. Hirsch, A. and Levy, B. (2015, 28 May) ‘The missing middle of South Africa’s economic ladder threatens stability’, The Conversation.