As part of drumming up international support for his economic initiative President Cyril Ramaphosa is in the United Kingdom for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.
He will seek to sell South Africa as a one-stop shop for investment alongside a high-level government delegation comprising of Ministers of Finance, Trade and Industry as well as Economic Development and Planning.
This drive will culminate in an Investment Conference to be held later this year.
Ramaphosa says there is already keen interest in the initiative.
“When I spoke to president Xi Jinping of China through his envoy he told me that there quite a lot investors who have interest in a number of markets. There are quite a number of companies in China and the Middle East who want to come and invest here. When I spoke to investors they said they are willing to shoulder the wheel and invest in these markets.”
Rand edges higher
South Africa’s rand edged higher early on Tuesday against a slightly weaker dollar, building on gains from the previous session.
At 0610 GMT, the rand traded at 12.0350 versus the dollar, 0.1% stronger than its New York close on Monday.
The dollar index was down less than 0.1 percent. On global markets, the focus shifted back to US trade policy as investors wagered that US-led attacks on Syria would not escalate into a wider conflict in the Middle East.
The South African currency rallied strongly on Cyril Ramaphosa’s election as leader of the ruling African National Congress late last year, but it has traded in a relatively tight range since late January.
Analysts at NKC Research said they expected the rand to trade between 11.90 and 12.10 versus the dollar on Tuesday.
Ramaphosa, who has pledged to root out corruption and revamp the economy, on Monday appointed a team to hunt the globe for R100 billion ($8.3 billion) in investment.
Government bonds were flat early on Tuesday, with the yield on the benchmark instrument due in 2026 at 8.090%.
