The continued support of the annual SA Investment Conference (SAIC) by local and global sponsors will enable the country to continue to attract investors and allow the economy to grow and create much needed jobs.
SAIC acknowledged long term sponsors of the prestigious conference.
This included Anglo American, Discovery, Exxaro, Huawei, Naspers and Vodacom.
At a prestigious awards dinner, President Cyril Ramaphosa presented Huawei with an award for its continued support and partnership with the SAIC, since its launch in 2018. Huawei is a key partner in South Africa’s digital economy transformation and also invests heavily in ICT skills training.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, had earlier in the day thanked this year’s sponsors, saying, “I want to thank the sponsors for their generosity. These are the Industrial Development Corporation, Vodacom, Anglo American, ARM, Exxaro, Google, Thungela Resources, Huawei, Samsung, SAB, Discovery, Transnet and Coca Cola.”
The 5th South Africa Investment Conference was held at the Sandton Convention in Johannesburg, where investors pledged to build the country’s economy and achieve a five-year target of R1.2 trillion in investment.
SAIC serves as a platform where South Africa and its representatives position the country as a globally relevant player and partner for trade and investment that can compete with the best in the world.
As a major Chinese investor in South Africa, Huawei is a key partner in the development of telecommunications infrastructure in South Africa. Huawei is also one of the few major technology companies to address the technical skills challenges in South Africa.
The country’s ICT sector has played an important role in the success of the investment drive. Besides Huawei, which is actively investing in South Africa, companies such as Vodacom, M- TEC, rain and Teraco have also contributed to the investment drive.
Vodacom, which is owned by Vodafone, has pledged to invest another R60 billion in South Africa over the next five years.
Over the past five years, Vodacom has significantly improved network coverage in the country, in line with its vision to reach everyone in South Africa regardless of their location. This has been achieved primarily by investing in additional network sites and base stations in remote areas, some of which have had no network coverage since the early 1990s.
