Parliament - President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Friday night that a jobs summit and investment conference within the next few months were among the first steps to be taken under his government in order to accelerate growth, employment and transformation in South Africa.
"We will expect this [jobs] summit to come up with practical solutions and initiatives that will be implemented immediately," Ramaphosa said while delivering his first State of the Nation Address after succeeding Jacob Zuma, who resigned under pressure this week, as South Africa's new head of state.
"We will make a major push this year to encourage significant new investment in our economy. To this end, we will organise an investment conference in the next three months, targeting both domestic and international investors, to market the compelling investment opportunities to be found in our country."
Ramaphosa's government would work towards making South Africa a more industrialised country.
"We are going to address the decline over many years of our manufacturing capacity, which has deeply affected employment and exports," said Ramaphosa.
"We will seek to re-industrialise on a scale and at a pace that draws millions of job seekers into the economy."
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