SA needs to show WEF it has a clear plan of action
AFRICA ON THE MOVE
NEXT week the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa will be meeting in Durban for the first time since South Africa was downgraded into a sub-investment grade by two rating agencies. Even though the WEF has a broader agenda beyond South Africa, the corridor whispers will be dominated by South Africa’s junk status, nuclear deal, state-capture, ANC succession battles and other juicy gossip. Team South Africa will be in overdrive to assure business leaders and investors that South Africa is still the gateway to Africa.
South African Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba has already said, in a statement issued ahead of the conference, that “South Africa remains a dynamic, profitable, stable and diversified economy in Africa, and is a great location for growing business in other parts of the African continent.”
Whether South Africa is still the “gateway” to the rest of the continent is still debatable; what is not debatable is that it has a lot of reputation management challenges it needs to address urgently.
Considering the downgrade of South Africa was primarily due to political risk, and with the ANC elections still months ahead, the cloud of policy uncertainty will continue to hang over South Africa.
This is compounded by the fact that even if the government keeps assuring investors that there will be no significant policy shifts, there is still talk of radical economic transformation, without clarity on how that will be achieved.
South Africa needs to use this meeting to clarify exactly how radical economic transformation is going to be achieved. Such a statement would be much more valuable than merely re-assuring investors that everything is okay.
WEF meetings are generally regarded as an elitist gathering of high-flying business leaders and academics who are largely out of touch with issues on the ground. In many respects, that is still the case. However, this year the discourse is likely to take on a slightly different dimension, partly because the theme is “Achieving inclusive growth”.
Co-chaired by Winnie Byanyima, the chief executive of Oxfam International, we should expect fireworks at this WEF meeting. For years Oxfam International has been waging a war against corporate tax evasion in Africa, and putting the spotlight on inequality. Now Byanyima has the difficult task of pushing business leaders to commit to an economic model in Africa that seeks to “leave no one behind”.
Corporate sustainability leadership is extremely critical to enable the transition to more inclusive growth models.
It’s partly because of corporate irresponsibility that inequality is rising on the continent. According to the AU, poor African countries are losing $50 billion (R668bn) annually in illicit financial flows by governments and multinationals who evade tax obligations. So, there is an urgent need to rein in offenders, and as a result WEF is the perfect platform to achieve that.
Several global events in the last two years, including the unveiling of the sustainable development goals (SDGS) and the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement, have all placed strong emphasis on inclusive growth. The idea is that the world should not only achieve the SDGS or combat climate change, but should do so in a manner that no one should be left behind. Hence the “leave no one behind” agenda is getting increasingly mainstreamed. That is why it is featuring strongly at WEF, a discussion topic that would have been unheard of only a few years ago.
This is quite significant, considering that WEF attracts some of the brightest minds into its fold, and business, whose pockets are so deep that, if we were to get genuine commitment from them, we would be able to make poverty history, end hunger and adapt to climate change.
However, to truly achieve inclusive economic growth, the dialogue itself needs to be inclusive with all the voices who are at the forefront of facing the challenges brought about by bad leadership decisions. For example, due to South Africa’s downgrade, it’s clear that the poor are going to be most impacted, but where has the voice of the poor and the vulnerable featured in the discourse?
For this reason, the African Centre for a Green Economy (AFRICGE) and its partners are convening a dialogue on the eve of WEF Africa in Durban, focusing on sustainability leadership and inequality. This meeting will be a culmination of more than three years of grassroots mobilisation in South Africa, more specifically of rural entrepreneurs who continue to be at the forefront of job creation in some of the most impoverished communities.
This dialogue, which will be on the eve of WEF, was designed to provide an alternative platform where all and sundry can have a say in the kind of inclusive economies we want to see in Africa.
Acknowledging that some of the continent’s most powerful leaders will be occupying the same seats the very next day, we want to send a powerful message that inclusive growth cannot be achieved through top-down measures alone, but through grassroots mobilisation, radical experimentation and an open-door policy where everyone can have a say. Our appeal to WEF delegates is to come and join us and other ordinary South Africans, so that you might be truly empowered to speak on behalf of those for whom you would like to build “inclusive” economies in Africa.
African Centre for a Green Economy (AFRICGE) is a non-profit multidisciplinary advisory and management consulting firm working towards a green economy. The Sustainability Leadership Dialogue will be held at the Durban Exhibition Centre on Tuesday.
A range of topics will be discussed in detail during the World Café segment of the event and they will include: • Is there a sustainability leadership crisis? • Financial inclusion for bridging the inequality gap; • Women and youth in social entrepreneurship; • Making the education system work for all; • Driving inclusion energy sector; • Social entrepreneurship as a driver of systems change. in the renewable