President Cyril Ramaphosa has reiterated the country’s ambitious investment drive ahead of the fourth South Africa Investment Conference, due to be held in March next year.
The event was scheduled for this month, but was postponed because several other events were taking place at this time, including the local government elections, the COP26 climate conference and the Intra-African Trade Fair.
Ramaphosa said another advantage of holding the conference next year was that there would be far greater Covid-19 vaccination coverage by then, making both travelling and gathering easier.
“Although the conference has been held over by a few months, our ambitious investment drive continues. Even in the midst of the challenging economic environment caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which was exacerbated by the violence and destruction that occurred in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in July, companies continue to make good on their commitments and to look for other investment opportunities in South Africa,” Ramaphosa said.
He pointed out that in the last year nearly R120 billion of investment commitments had flowed into project construction or expansion, meaning that around 38% of the total investment commitments – or R290 billion – had to date flowed into the economy.
Some investments had been delayed due to Covid-19, he added, particularly in hard-hit sectors like property development and tourism.
“Just two weeks ago, I attended the launch of Toyota’s expanded production line in eThekwini, which will produce South Africa’s first locally made hybrid car. This investment was the result of a R2.4-billion commitment the company made at the 2019 South Africa Investment Conference. Also in KwaZulu-Natal, Tetra Pak is expanding its operations with an investment of R500 million,” Ramaphosa said.
