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How to invest in a more sustainable way.
While in the midst of a global pandemic, the government considered hosting an investment conference this year, but the risk paid off with the promise of new commitments of R109.6 billion, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Wednesday.
The president made the remarks at the closing of the third annual investment conference, a hybrid event with 175 delegates based at the Sandton Convention Center and 1,700 attending virtually. The conference is part of an investment campaign announced two years ago to raise R1.2 trillion or $ 100 billion.
Total committed investments now amount to R773.6 billion, or 64% of the five-year goal. “This is a huge number,” Ramaphosa said. Fifty crazy companies commit this year.
“This year’s conference stands out for a number of reasons. It takes place in a moderate economic climate. We didn’t even begin to think that it would reach R109 billion. We thought it would be much lower than this,” Ramaphosa said.
He recalled how the government had deliberated on whether to hold a conference. “In the end, the Cabinet said we should, and the risk was worth it, as 50 companies have come to say, ‘the show must go on.’
He commented that securing more than R100 billion in the current economic climate is a “remarkable achievement”. The country’s GDP is expected to contract between 7% and 13% this year due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. As a consequence, unemployment has exceeded record levels.
Ramaphosa noted that companies in the manufacturing sector made a number of investments, which would support the economic recovery plan’s focus on industrialization. Even struggling tourism companies made promises. Ramaphosa said that the new investments will generate more employment and the expansion of new markets, as well as the recovery of some sectors.
