SA drops 14 places in WEF rankings

SOUTH Africa has plummeted in a major ranking of global competitiveness, falling 14 places in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) Competitiveness index as the strength of its institutions and of its financial markets has eroded.

In a context in which controversy around KPMG is mounting and clients are deserting the “big four” audit firm, SA losing its top place in the rankings on the quality of its auditing will be of particular concern.

SA has fallen from number one to number 30 in the WEF rankings of the quality of auditing and reporting standards.

The overall ranking for SA is now 61 out of 137 countries.

The WEF index, which is based in part on a survey of perceptions by global executives, found that corruption, crime and theft and government instability were the most problematic factors for doing business in SA.

WEF economist Roberto Crotty said one driver of SA’s decline was certainly the perception of political uncertainty by business leaders in SA, which had reduced confidence.

The latest South African ranking is the lowest since the WEF implemented its current methodology in 2007, when SA’s ranking peaked at 44, and it came after SA had come off its post-crisis low of 52 to reach 47 in 2016. However, in their report, published at midnight on Tuesday, WEF analysts described SA’s economy as being “nearly at a standstill ...”

WEF spokesman Oliver Cann said SA’s decline was almost across the board in 2017.

Switzerland topped the WEF’s index, with the US in second place. — BDLive