President Cyril Ramaphosa says out of the 152 investment announcements made in the last four years, 45 projects have already been completed and have benefitted the economy in at least 22 districts across the country.
Ramaphosa says some of the over R1.5 trillion worth of investment commitments announced since the first South African Investment Conference in 2018 have changed the lives of many South Africans.
Ramaphosa was speaking yesterday at the start of the SA Investment Conference in Sandton, Johannesburg.
“The investment commitments made to date have already resulted in substantial investment in the productive economy. Almost 70 percent of the total number of projects announced since 2018 are either completed or on their way to completion,” says Ramaphosa.
“To date, approximately R460 billion of capital has been invested in building new factories, purchasing equipment, constructing roads, sinking mine shafts and rolling out broadband infrastructure. What really stands out is the impact of these investments on the lives of South Africans who are now able to earn a decent living and care for their families,” added Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa closes the 5th SA Investment Conference:
Startups investment
Google SA’s Siya Madikane showcased Hustle Academy Business Bootcamp amongst other virtual initiatives that they run. The Bootcamp enables Google to assist start-ups.
The Bootcamp has helped Google to train over 1 000 start-ups in the country.
Madikane says, “Here at the conference, we have Hustle Academy Business Bootcamp which is one of the virtual boot camps that we run. It is work we do towards start-ups; how we enable start-ups and assist them. We do have also the Black Founders Fund which is a programme we have been running for three years. What we do as well there as well enable and support start-ups to develop from the level they are in into the next level obviously using the tools we have, meaning technology. In terms of the Hustle Academy itself, we in sub-Saharan Africa have trained 5 000 start-ups over the last two-three years and in South Africa 1 200.”
Infrastructure investment
During the 2020 South African Investment Conference (SAIC), Google announced its investment into a high-speed, subsea cable that would enable affordable internet access, and drive a significant increase in South Africa’s GDP.
While Google invested in the Equiano undersea cable alongside a variety of partners and carriers, the tech company partnered with Openserve and Telkom to bring South Africa’s landing to life.
“The investment that we made in terms of infrastructure is the Equiano undersea cable that you may have heard about last year that landed in Cape Town. It is a cable that runs from Portugal, Nigeria, down to Namibia and finally landed in Cape Town in September last year. The aim of it all is to try and make sure that we increase access to the internet and try to reduce costs for the internet so that we can fast-track digital transformation within South Africa. We expect to create 180 000 within the next five years and contribute about $7 billion to the South African economy and increasing the speed of the internet,” adds Madikane.
UPDATE: South Africa Investment Conference – “Unlocking Potential for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth” #SAIC2023 #InvestSA pic.twitter.com/IEkC5UxIfA
— Presidency | South Africa (@PresidencyZA) April 13, 2023
Additional reporting by Busisiwe Radebe
