R187bn projects in place

Ramaphosa says attracting investors will create jobs

President Cyril Ramaphosa has promised the country that projects worth R187bn are being implemented.

Delivering his State of the Nation Address last night, Ramaphosa said these project would address the high rate of unemployment.

“To prove that our investment conference was not just a talk shop where empty promises were made, as we speak, projects to the value of R187bn are being implemented, and projects worth another R26bn are in pre-implementation phase,” Ramaphosa said .

Last year, Ramaphosa managed to secure R290bn of his planned target to mobilise R1.2-trillion in investment over four years.

Ramaphosa said that through lessons that the government has learnt over the years, the country aims to raise even more investment this year.

“We will be identifying the sectors and firms we want and need in South Africa and actively attract investors,” said Ramaphosa.

“Based on our experiences over the past year, and to build on the momentum achieved, we will host the South Africa Investment Conference again this year.”

He said money raised at the investment conference would translate directly into more jobs in the sectors that contributed.

“Investments generated this year and beyond, should be spread out in projects throughout the country in a bid to address the issue of unemployment.

“These industries expect to substantially expand investment over the next five years and create a vast number of new jobs, especially if we can enhance demand for local goods, further stabilise the labour environment and improve conditions for doing business,” said Ramaphosa.

Mining, manufacturing, agriculture are among the 19 sectors that the president seeks to target.