DAVOS - Business leaders, politicians and even the various media houses from South Africa are talking the same language in Davos at the 47th World Economic Forum congress: South Africa is open for business!
We will clean our house, we will compete for investors funding, we will work together to create sustainable jobs for our people and we will work hand in hand with business to grow our economy, said Minister Gigaba yesteday. The delegations aim their meeting with global business leaders on foreign direct investment, “we want to partner for the future, we are seeking solutions for our children’s children, we are in it for the long term”.
This is the language any global investor understands.
But: How will we compete with successful global economies with the likes of China?
“We are connecting the 54 African countries to be able to compete with global leaders like the US and China. We cannot do it in silo’s, but together, we are a strong force, with more than a billion people and the largest youth population. This means we will have a larger workforce than India and China. The message focuses on ‘integration, Gigaba and Patel said yesterday. South Africa’s population is just more than 56 million people, that is a drop in the ocean if you want to be globally competitive. The government is currently working on free trade zones between African countries, Patel calls this the “the new Cape to Cairo”, the African Ambition.
Gigaba rushes between meetings with various global leaders urgently requesting meetings with this young dynamic finance minister of the “country now perceived as one of the most underprized markets in the world”.
Adri Senekal de wet the Executive Editor at Independent Media Business Report.