Competing with ‘best in the world’

The Gauteng Exporter of the Year Awards confirm that South Africa can and does compete with the best in the world, said FNB’s Michael Vacy-Lyle. Speaking at the award ceremony in Johannesburg last week, Vacy-Lyle said South African companies had proved their capability in global terms. “This is the decade of Africa and South Africa continues to play a major role in the continent – and not just to get a foothold on the continent.” “The world has changed drastically in the past few years. Now sub-Saharan Africa is expected to grow at some 6% over the next few years compared to the 1% of developed countries.” Lawrence Saville, director of the Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), organisers of the annual event, said it was clear to the JCCI that there was much potential for increased exports to markets in Africa but infrastructure had been identified as one of the factors that adversely affected growth.