South African Floods, Trade & Climate Resilience | GTAC Webinar

How do floods reshape trade, supply chains, and economic resilience in South Africa? In this GTAC webinar, Marina Dodlova, Justyna Jantos, Krisztina Kis-Katos, and Anna Kochanova examine how climate-induced flooding affects firms, supply chains, and import behaviour across South Africa. The presentation highlights how floods disrupt production, damage infrastructure, destroy productive capital, delay supply chains, and affect regional trade networks. Using linked customs, tax, payroll, and flood exposure data from 2013–2021, the study explores whether global market access helps firms adapt when domestic supply chains fail. The research distinguishes between the direct effects of floods on local firms and the indirect effects transmitted through supply chains. The findings show that intermediary firms play a critical adaptive role by increasing imports particularly from African trade partners and China when domestic suppliers are disrupted. The session also explores the policy implications for climate resilience, regional trade integration, infrastructure planning, and economic adaptation in developing economies increasingly exposed to climate shocks. 📅 Recorded live on 15 May 2026 What you’ll learn in this webinar: •How floods disrupt production, logistics, infrastructure, and supply chains •Why climate shocks are becoming a major economic policy issue •How firms adapt to flood-related supply chain disruptions through imports •The difference between direct flood impacts and indirect supply-chain effects •Why intermediary firms are central to climate adaptation and trade resilience •How imports from African partners and China increase when domestic supply chains fail •What linked SARS, NT, and firm-level administrative data reveal about trade adaptation Speakers Marina Dodlova – University of Münster Justyna Jantos – University of Göttingen Krisztina Kis-Katos – University of Göttingen Anna Kochanova – Cardiff Business School Subscribe for more insights on public finance, infrastructure, and development policy.