We had a very positive meeting last week with the president and a senior government team to provide updates and discuss the agenda for our government/business partnership in 2025 that is delivered through Business for South Africa. The ambition of phase 2 of the partnership is to deliver economic growth of 3% by the end of this year – that is a material ambition, but one that both business and government are committed to seeing through. That level of growth leads to job creation and triggers a positive self-reinforcing sentiment that supports growth.
But we must act rapidly if we are going to realise that ambition. We have achieved the end of load shedding, but we need to build additional electricity capacity by expanding the grid and adding another 4,000 MW this year. We need to boost the recovery of rail capacity to enable 193 Mt to move through our rail system from 152 Mt last year. We have to get off the FATF grey list. We need to unlock R100bn of investment this year. We must also continue the effort to drive the recovery of the criminal justice system, bolstering the investigation and prosecution of complex white-collar crimes.
The partnership has already achieved much, most notably the progress on energy security. But continuous work is still needed to keep on reforming and ensure we follow through to deliver the kind of growth we need. The message from the president was clear: he wants to see an acceleration of delivery.
As the president stated last week, ultimately these efforts must result in more jobs, especially for young people. The partnership’s efforts need to consider the employment impact of different options and ensure that all opportunities are grasped to create jobs. This is certainly the intended outcome of the reforms that will enable growth. With growth comes expansion as businesses invest to take advantage of opportunities. Investment leads to increased economic capacity which creates jobs at scale.
The partnership is a global example of how an emerging economy can tackle its challenges. What business and government have managed to achieve together is in many respects unprecedented. We can celebrate partnership milestones but also the partnership itself, which contributes to the business case for SA Inc. We are building what could be a template for the global economy – just how public and private sectors can work effectively together to enable the goals of both.
The case of SA Inc is being set out this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where we will be promoting our hosting of the G20 and B20 this year. Last week government and business also met to coordinate our agenda for Davos, ensuring that we work as a team to convey the case. There was great alignment between us, and a clear view of the objectives. This year we can point to significant successes, such as the end of load shedding but also the many achievements that government has made in reversing the impact of state capture, from the rebuilding of SARS back into a world-class institution to the way we conducted elections last year. I feel this year’s WEF is the first where business and government have been in strong alignment as Team SA.
The business/government partnership will be on full display. Team SA has a full programme setting out our progress with events ranging from climate change and our energy transition to South African beer and wine tasting. Our activation of the B20 South Africa presidency will be driven by a lunch that will convene global leaders with BUSA president Mxolisi Mgojo and BLSA chairman Nonkululeko Nyembezi. Much of the activity will be around the official programme where we can engage with business and political leaders from around the world to make the case more directly for South Africa.
As I’ve written here before, this year is our opportunity to tell the world that South Africa is back in business and worthy of investment attention. Last week was encouraging, as our engagements with the president and preparations for Davos demonstrated that our leaders are keenly focused on showcasing South Africa as a country that is making things happen. This year could be pivotal for us as a country, like 2010, the boom years before the financial crisis, and the early years after democracy when so much was done to reform our institutions and put the economy on a growth path. We are rebuilding, gaining traction and accelerating reform, while simultaneously making the case for SA Inc. This week will be an exciting one, but the year ahead is filled with opportunities to deliver meaningful change for our country, and our people.
*This column was first published in the Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) weekly newsletter. The author Busisiwe “Busi” Mavuso, is the CEO of BLSA.
