This is the best time to invest in Africa

President Cyril Ramaphosa has emphasised in his weekly newsletter that, as we have all recognised, if we are to create jobs and reduce poverty, we need to grow our economy at a much faster pace.

For that, we need much more investment, from both local and international business. We are using every available opportunity to reach out to investors to talk about the great business potential in South Africa and across the African continent.

Addressing the Financial Times Africa Summit in London recently, Ramaphosa said there had never been a better time to invest in Africa. He was specifically talking about the world’s largest trading bloc, the African Continental Free Trade Area.

He said the area would “bring together into a single market 54 nations of some 1.2 billion people with a combined GDP of over $3 trillion [R44.03 trillion],” calling on the investor community to “harness the climate of reform” sweeping the continent and “take advantage of its momentum”.

African countries want to increase trade on the continent by looking inward and making it easier to trade with each other. The goal is to establish a single market for goods and services across 54 countries, allow the free movement of business travellers and investments, and create a continental customs union to streamline trade and attract long-term investment, providing meaningful opportunities.

According to the African Development Bank, Africa is brimming with potential, being a fast-growing market offering enormous opportunities. Consumer spending will double to $1.4 trillion by 2020 and treble to $2.1 trillion by 2025. By 2030 demand for food in urban areas will triple to $1 trillion. In addition, 2 billion people will need food and clothing by 2030, not counting the other goods that we should by then be making, processing and exporting out of Africa. This means that the infrastructure, the investment and the people for this must come from Africa.

President Ramaphosa was certain that for investors to access this huge African market, they must start investing in South Africa – an export gateway to Africa. He said that, like many other countries on the continent, South Africa is positioning itself as an investment destination of choice.

It is the best emerging market investment destination and has a sophisticated banking system, diverse manufacturing base and wealth of natural resources. From there, investors can move into Africa, a market of a billion people.

This is the message the president will be selling to investors next month at the second Investment Conference in Sandton, as part of his drive to attract R1.2 trillion in new investment over five years.

To facilitate trade and boost its competitiveness, South Africa needs to sort out the problem of power cuts, youth unemployment, corruption and crime, policy uncertainty on land redistribution, and immigration.

It also needs to accelerate investments in transport and logistics infrastructure.

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City Press is an agenda-setting South African news brand that publishes across platforms. Its flagship print edition is distributed on a Sunday.