Private sector can boost SA’s economy

THE end of the so-called investment strike by the corporate sector in the country may be over after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s successful investment conference last week, but this boost must not come with a price that includes the easing of transformation in certain sectors of the economy.

International and South African businesses pledged R290 billion in investments over the next five years, significantly improving investor confidence in South Africa and abroad.

Ramaphosa had been speaking about businesses loosening their purse strings and business has heeded the call, opening the way for job creation and the easing of the high unemployment rate.

While business appears to be buoyed by the political climate in the country, the bottlenecks that prevent Black South Africans from sitting on boards and rising to positions of influence at the biggest corporations in the country must be addressed.

The private sector has a crucial role to play in inward investment as this will stimulate the economy and deal with the triple threat of poverty, unemployment and inequality.

And while the country is in desperate need of this economic boost, it must not be a choice between transformation of the corporate sector and their willingness to invest. Both must occur for real empowerment to take place.