Investments have ‘exceeded our expectations’, says Ramaphosa

Last week’s investment summit resulted in R363 billion being committed to South Africa. Add this to the R300 billion in commitments secured at least year’s and the government’s attempts to boost the rate of investment in the economy seem to be bearing fruit.

This is according to President Cyril Ramaphosa, who dedicated his weekly newsletter to the nation to the state of the economy and the successes of the investment conferences.

In April last year, he announced the state’s ambition to raise R1.2 trillion in new investment over five years.

“The total value of investment commitments made this year has vastly exceeded our expectations,” he said.

“Last year, we secured R300 billion in commitments towards our goal of R1.2 trillion. Already, these commitments are turning into investments in factories, equipment and new jobs. Of the amount announced last year, around R238 billion worth of projects have either been completed or are being implemented.”

But, he said the success of the investment conference was not only measured by the amounts pledged, but also by the difference these investments make in the lives of South Africans, particularly the poor and unemployed.

Ramaphosa said that he expected that the investments announced last week would conservatively result in the creation of about 412 000 direct jobs and a significant number of indirect jobs.

But, he said, the most exciting development was the increase in the commitments from South African businesses. At last year’s conference the total amount committed by local companies was about R157 billion. This amount climbed to R 262 billion in 2019 and included projects in areas like auto manufacturing, mineral beneficiation, renewable energy, agro-processing and oil and gas.

“Local businesses are the vanguard of our investment drive, and the scale of commitments made shows they have truly stepped up to the challenge,” said Ramaphosa.

“We are immensely encouraged that our home-grown businesses want to be part of not only economic growth but of advancing an inclusive economy.

“Many are multinational giants with extensive investment portfolios on the continent and beyond. There can be no stronger testament to the Proudly South African theme than these companies choosing to plough more capital into our economy.”

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