Established in 2018 under President Cyril Ramaphosa, the South African Investment Conference (SAIC) serves as a platform to promote multifaceted business cooperation and investment opportunities inside South Africa. The 4th edition comes on March 23-24 as investment plan to attract new investment to boost the economy and drive socio-economic development, at least, over the next 5 years.
It draws participants both the private and public sectors from the United States, Europe, Asia and inside Africa. In addition, international and regional institutions, development partners and think tanks come together to deepen dialogue, share experiences, insights on critical issues and policies influencing the economic partnership and discuss business opportunities to boost investment and sustainable development in South Africa.
The conference will be held at the Sandton Convention Centre and sessions will be livestreamed for an online audience. The conference plenaries and, of course, the panel sessions will highlight key economic recovery strategies and focused on a range of sectors and issues, including health and vaccine access, trade, digital transformation, infrastructure, financing, small and medium scale enterprises, tourism, women’s leadership and investment opportunities in South Africa.
Of significance, this year’s conference is happening as the country emerges from the pandemic. Despite this, government remains optimistic that a strong partnership with private sector will help galvanize economic growth. Among other objectives, the SAIC will profile the strengths and comparative advantages that South Africa offers to investors and trade partners in a period of growing African integration through the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Furthermore, South Africa is using this year’s conference as a platform to communicate the following key points:
- Positioning South Africa as a globally relevant player and partner in trade and investment that can compete with the best in the world.
- Showcasing South Africa’s capabilities and strategic importance in the region.
- Presenting the country’s economic recovery strategy and implementation.
- Strengthening South Africa’s position as an attractive destination for business, investment and tourism.
- Highlighting investment opportunities that have the potential to transform the economy and create employment opportunities.
- Emphasizing South Africa’s continued commitment to zero tolerance of corruption and tackling it in all sectors of society.
Setting significant expectations
Ebrahim Patel, Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, reiterated that since launch in 2018, the South African Investment Conference (SAIC) has drawn delegates from South Africa and the rest of the world with the objective of showcasing the investment opportunities available that could lay down a comprehensive roadmap for building the future businesses in South Africa.
The economic policy aims primarily at sustaining growth and achieving a measure of industrial self-sufficiency. Therefore, South Africa continues offering unique opportunities for investments in the areas of economy and trade, in energy, agriculture, industry, science and technology, mining (world’s largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium), digital technology as well as human resource development and tourism.
“The efficiency of energy production and consumption is the most important factor in the growth of national economies and has a significant impact on people’s quality of life. Many countries have already adopted policies to accelerate the development of clean energy technologies. It is therefore set to look at the possibility of developing green energy based on renewable sources and the transition to new and more environmentally friendly fuels,” the conference document says.
While the three previously held conferences were described as highly successful due to its spectacular blistering high participation and has offered the necessary solid impetus for raising to qualitative level economic activities, it simultaneously presents a number setbacks and challenges too. As one of the tasks, the government and related ministries and departments will make efforts to overcome them.
Obviously, there has been adequate information on the vast investment opportunities available, and the platform “Doing Business with South Africa” helps to understand the economic and investment potentials as well as the current market conditions in South Africa.
As South Africa seeks to recover from the economic challenges exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, tackling unemployment, poverty and inequality among others remains a key priority for government. It will therefore showcase the strengths and competitive advantages that South Africa offers and why it is an ideal investment destination for local as well international investors looking to grow in Africa.
Economic recovery through Investment Conference
Premier David Makhura has also stressed about the socioeconomic progress made in the pre-pandemic period and illustrate how these gains have been eroded by the coronavirus pandemic. “It is important to remember that for almost two years, humanity has been battling the public health emergency caused by the outbreak of the pandemic. Winning the battle against this pandemic and containing the spread of coronavirus became the number one priority of government and society in general,” he said in the State of the Province address.
In this context, it is necessary shifting focus and energies to tackle unemployment through economic recovery and reconstruction. The economy has been substantially been eroded, he noted, and indicated further “as we make the economy and jobs our number one priority in the coming years and to accelerate service delivery and improve access to housing, electricity, water, sanitation, road maintenance, visible policing, quality education and health.”
Between 2015 and 2020, the economic output of Africa was dominated by 3 countries, Nigeria, Egypt, and South Africa. Gauteng was the seventh-largest economy on the continent in that period and its contribution to South Africa’s GDP was more than 35%.
It also seeks to increase exports to the continent, to drastically reduce poverty and promote economic empowerment of those who continue to be excluded from the mainstream of the economy. This could be pursued through transformation, modernization and re-industrialization of the 10 high-growth sectors, which are linked to the rollout of the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in the five corridors and the township economic revitalization.
South Africa as an investment destination
South Africa remains a popular destination for visitors from around the world due to its diversity, world-class infrastructure and positive global reputation. As one of the most sophisticated and promising emerging economies, the country offers a unique combination of highly developed economic infrastructure and a dynamic emerging economy.
Among the many opportunities is the expansion of infrastructure in the areas of transport, water, roads and electricity. For example, power generation is expected to grow by 6 800 MW in the medium term thanks to the procurement programme for independent power producers from renewable sources.
Furthermore, there is a special focus on the implementation of innovative technologies. This is evident in South Africa’s commitment to the implementation of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), as well as in the country’s highly developed information and communication technology (ICT) and electronics sectors.
South Africa offers an advanced telecommunications network and secure banking system. As a result, the country supports multinational companies to take advantage of opportunities in the country and the region.
Despite the extremely difficult economic environment in the last two years, investments in South Africa have been able to strengthen the energy, telecommunications, water, port and railway sectors. The government wants to continue to lower the cost of doing business in South Africa and encourage greater private investment in infrastructure development to drive the country’s transformation.
The establishment of 13 special economic zones across the country provides investors with targeted investment incentives, preferential tax rates and export support, as well as an attractive manufacturing base for multinational companies.
South Africa’s regional partnerships include participation in the Southern African Development Community, the Southern African Customs Union and the new African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). South Africa’s future is intertwined with that of the continent. The country continues to play an important role in Africa’s development and is committed to Africa’s prosperity.
Working with optimism
Referring to the fact that South Africa is alive with opportunities, Jeff Radebe, SAIC Presidential Envoy, noted there is high optimism that the various infrastructure development projects such as the construction of bulk water infrastructure, construction of new road networks, energy capacity expansion plans, improvement of port infrastructure among others, present great opportunities for sustainable as well as inclusive growth.
The South Africa Investment Conference provides an excellent opportunity to create a new crop of black industrialists, women including youth entrepreneurs who for long were consigned to the periphery of productive sectors of the economy.
Radebe reiterated “as we know, technology and digitization assist small, medium, and micro-enterprises (SMMEs) in accessing new markets. Other than increased access to broadband, we expect communication costs to come down, enabling a competitive positioning of our economy. Needless to remind, our country is endowed with abundant natural resources and renewable energy sources, ably positioning us to adopt the green revolution.”
In addition, he stressed: “our natural resources, the solar, wind, biomass for power generation – skills and technological capacities put us in a prime position to take the lead in the emerging hydrogen economy and the green hydrogen value chain for the benefit of our people. Our ultimate objective is to position our country as a leading supplier to the world green market.”
Since its launch, SAIC has raised R774 billion in investment pledges to date. This annual gathering of business titans and government leaders has always served to provide a reality check as to whether the private and public sectors are living up to their commitments in helping the country address the triple challenges of unemployment, poverty, and inequality.
Over the past few years, President Ramaphosa has emphasized on his country’s interest in enhancing economic policy that would attract more foreign investment and argued further for its consistent line of principle on supporting the efforts to find consensus-based solutions to the significant socio-economic issues of South Africa, and the entire southern Africa.
South Africa’s main trading partners include China, India, the United States, Europe and Japan. Regional trade in Southern Africa is increasingly important, especially through the Southern African Development Community. The current level of engagement still low, considering the combined size of the population and consumer market potentials of the southern region.
The market requires all kinds of consumer products and services. Besides, tourism is becoming increasingly important to South Africa’s economy. The country continues to relax cross-border financial regulations and tax requirements to allow South African-based companies to expand within Africa and support the continent’s growth.
South Africa is already working with a number of neighbouring countries to boost business, trade and investment. This regional partnership provides growth opportunities for foreign and intra-African investment. Therefore, the 4th edition of this prestigious gathering is scheduled for the 23-24th March in Johannesburg.
