Ramaphosa correctly prioritised economy in address – Agbiz

8th February 2019 By: African News Agency

Ramaphosa correctly prioritised economy in address – Agbiz

President Cyril Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa correctly prioritised efforts to revitalise the economy in his State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Thursday, the Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz) has said.

Agbiz also applauded the focus of Ramaphosa's Sona to Parliament on strengthening education and skills development, restructuring and optimising service delivery by State-owned institutions and rooting out corruption and state capture. 

"Building on his new approach adopted in the 2018 Sona of instilling a changed vision of hope, unity, service and prosperity, the president has already put in place action plans to address the daunting challenges that confront South Africa and its people," Agbiz said.

The outcomes of last year's summits on jobs and investment to address policy uncertainty and inconsistency and remove barriers to investment were critical, Agbiz CEO Dr John Purchase said.

He applauded Ramaphosa's singling out of the agriculture sector for special development support as a labour-intensive industry.

“Various other cross-cutting matters and recommendations regarding water and state-owned enterprises, especially the restructuring of (power utility) Eskom, are welcomed," Purchase added.

"No economy can function without a secure and affordable supply of electricity."