JOHANNESBURG- At least 1 000 delegates, comprising of invited business leaders and civil society, are expected to attend as the inaugural South Africa Investment Conference 2018 kicks off in earnest on Friday in Johannesburg.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will lead the South African government to the conference which is a key milestone in the country’s bold ambition to raise at least $100 billion (R1.4 trillion) in new domestic and intentional investment over the next five years.
Ramaphosa is expected to market South Africa as having compelling investment opportunities for multinational corporations in the manufacturing, mining, tourism, finance, and agro-processing sectors.
This is all part of the government’s interventions geared at boosting economic growth and creating much-needed jobs as the unemployment rate has recently pushed above 27 percent.
The investment conference is also a partner initiative to the economic stimulus package and recovery plan recently unveiled by the President to ignite economic activity, restore investor confidence, prevent further job losses and create jobs.
It builds on the recent Presidential Job Summit, where labour, business, government and the community constituency adopted a framework agreement to prevent further job losses, create jobs and support companies in distress.
In leading the investment drive, Ramaphosa appointed four special envoys on investment, who have, over the past six months, engaged in over 150 dialogues that facilitated open communication on the investment climate and on the opportunities for investment that could be unlocked through partnership.
At the conference, actual investment deals that have been concluded in the course of the envoys’ engagements will be reported on and an investment pipeline to enable would-be investors to explore opportunities in the South African market unveiled.