Riyaz Patel
In little over a months time, the second instalment of South Africa Investment Conference convenes, with President Cyril Ramaphosa hoping to inch closer towards his target of R1.2tn new investments over the next five years.
In its inaugural year, the Conference attracted R300bn worth of investments – a glimpse, perhaps, of the level of confidence displayed by both domestic and international investors.
The second offering of Ramaphosa’s investment drive will take place from 5 to 7 November 2019, at the Sandton Convention Centre.
The conference will serve as a platform for:
• Announcing bold reforms to improve the ease of doing business
• Highlighting future growth opportunities in South Africa
• Showcasing bankable projects that companies can consider for
investment
• Confidentially discussing companies’ investment plans through 1-
on-1 meetings
The President also appointed investment envoys to identify investment opportunities.
“At a time of uncertainty, the work of the investment envoys has built important bridges between government and the business community.
“From their feedback, it is clear that much more still needs to be done to improve the investment climate,” said the President during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) in June.
Ramaphosa said of the R300bn investments secured, just over R250bn worth of projects were in various stages of being implemented.
This includes reviewing the way government formulate and implement policies to resolve challenges faced by investors.
“In line with this, good progress has been made through the Public-Private Growth Initiative, which is being championed by Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Roelf Meyer and Johan van Zyl,” SA Government News reported.
The private sector, government said, has committed to invest R840bn in 43 projects over 19 sectors, hoping to create 155,000 jobs over the next five years.
Government, in its discussions with business has made clear its “commitment to remove the policy impediments and accelerate the implementation of these projects.”
President Ramaphosa said government is urgently working on a set of priority reforms to improve the ease of doing business by “consolidating and streamlining regulatory processes, automating permit and other applications, and reducing the cost of compliance.“
Infrastructure Development
Identifying infrastructure as a catalyst towards investment, government has underlined that it will prioritise infrastructure spending, with the first step being the institutionalisation of the Infrastructure Fund.
The Fund, announced in 2018, has seen government setting aside R100bn to seed the Fund.
The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) WILL manage the Infrastructure Fund with the newly configured Department of Public Works and Infrastructure playing an oversight role.
It includes a special package of financial and institutional measures to prioritise water infrastructure, roads and student accommodation through a more efficient use of budgeted money.
