This year’s South African Investment Conference, taking place on November 17 and 18, will build on momentum from the last two events to highlight to investors South Africa’s investment opportunities. 

In his weekly letter to the nation, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the third investment conference will be crucial as the country deals with the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

He reminded the nation of the R1.2-trillion investment secured in 2018 and added that foreign direct investment flows into South Africa increased from R26.8-billion in 2017 to R70.6-billion in 2018.

This year’s conference, he said, will show the progress being made to improve the business climate in the country.

“Over the last 10 months, the pandemic forced many promising investments pledged at previous conferences to be scaled back or put on hold. But these investments only amount to about one-tenth of the total investment commitment of R664-billion. Most of the investments are going ahead. Of the 102 projects that were announced at the last two investment conferences, 12 are in the early stages of implementation, 19 have been launched, and 44 are currently under construction or being rolled out,” Ramaphosa pointed out.

About 175 delegates are expected this year, owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, compared with the more than 1 500 delegates that had attended in the previous years.

About 1 000 delegates, so far, have also registered to attend the conference online.

Ramaphosa said implementation will be a major focus this year and progress being made in driving economic reforms to unlock investment and growth will be highlighted.

He reiterated that South Africa was voted the second most attractive location for business process outsourcing for a third year and added that while business is disrupted owing to the global pandemic, the country is ideally suited to take advantage of businesses needs for remote contact centres.

“We are positioning ourselves as a hub for digital services. Following the commitment that Amazon Web Services made at last year’s investment conference, the company opened its first cloud data centre in Africa, in Cape Town, earlier this year,” Ramaphosa said. 

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will begin in January and with more than a quarter of South Africa’s exports already going to African countries, Ramaphosa says he expects this to increase as  the AfCFTA establishes a continental market of about 1.3-billion people and a combined gross domestic product of around $2.3-trillion.

“Our national objective is that the investments we secure at the third South Africa Investment Conference must lead to more jobs and improved living standards, and ultimately build the highway that leads to a better, more inclusive future for all,” he ended.