SA on course for a steady recovery

Investment projects on track despite Covid and European war

● SA has set a course for growth and recovery that’s moderate, but steady, and that will hold it in good stead regardless of the fallout from the conflict in Europe. The country is committed to its path towards a more business-friendly regulatory environment, as well as the rapid introduction of economic reforms highlighted by finance minister Enoch Godongwana in his budget.

The Ukraine war adds urgency to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ambitious programme to raise R1.2-trillion worth of investment to the country over five years — of which he has already mobilised R774bn (64%) — through his annual SA Investment Conference (SAIC). The fourth SAIC conference will take place in Joburg on March 24.

A selling point Ramaphosa can emphasise as he promotes SA as an attractive investment destination is the advantages gained through diverse trade partnerships via the African Continental Free Trade

Area (AfCFTA).

The president has a good opportunity to demonstrate that SAIC is achieving its goals when he highlights 45 projects that have already been completed and are functioning successfully.

These projects include Africa’s first vaccine manufacturing facility — which has already produced 160-million anti-Covid vaccines — thanks to a R3.4bn investment committed by Aspen Pharmacare at the inaugural SAIC conference in 2018. Equally significant is R10bn pledged by Mercedes-Benz to boost its manufacturing capability in the country.

An impressive record, says Ebrahim Patel, the minister of trade, industry & competition, who says less than 20 of the total 152 investment announcements have been slowed or stopped due to the Covid pandemic – which could not have been foreseen at the time of the first SAIC.

Patel says, despite challenges such as Covid, the government is optimistic that a strong partnership with the private sector will help galvanise economic growth.

SA will also benefit from the stability of being geographically far removed from the destabilising impact of the conflict raging in Europe.