While big investment by multinationals is often welcomed in Africa, not all investment results in favourable outcomes for businesses and people on the continent.
At Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent Investor Conference, multinational corporations pledged billions of rand to the future of South Africa. The hype was intoxicating, crowned by Alibaba chairman Jack Ma’s enthusiastic call for investment in education and entrepreneurship: “For a country to develop, there are three basic things that have to be done that are important. The first is education; it’s always good to invest in education. Investing in people is the best investment in the whole world. And the second thing is trust; build and support entrepreneurs. Make entrepreneurs the heroes. At the top of this is a good and clean government.”
Ramaphosa echoed his sentiments: “We want to make our businesspeople heroes. Let us see them as heroes because they are here to develop our economy.”
This is a dramatic change from the rhetoric of last year, when entrepreneurs were publicly castigated as pariahs pushing against transformation, inclusion and equality. Ramaphosa acknowledged this: “We should … move away from what we’ve become accustomed to how we treat entrepreneurs and call them all sorts of names. We treat them as enemies, with terms like white monopoly and all that. It ends today.”
At the conference, companies like Naspers* promised R6bn to invest in the technology sector and start-ups. It suggests a moment of optimism after years of lacklustre economic performance.
But not all business is good business.
Denne historien er fra 22 November 2018-utgaven av Finweek English.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra 22 November 2018-utgaven av Finweek English.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
THE HEALTH OF SA'S MEDICAL SCHEMES
As the Covid-19 pandemic abates, finweek takes a look at the financial performance of some of the largest players.
The effect of Gilbertson's departure
With Ntsimbintle Holdings now the major shareholder of Jupiter Mines, it could change SA’s manganese industry.
Making money from music
Why investors are increasingly drawn to the music industry.
Conviction is key
Sandy Rheeder plays a critical role in Mukuru’s mission to open up financial services to the emerging consumer market in Africa through tailor-made technology solutions and platforms.
The post-pandemic toolkit
How CFOs can use technology to support growth.
Big city living exodus
Mini cities like Waterfall City and Steyn City are redefining city-style apartment living.
Big compact, big value
Handsome, with a hefty level of standard specification, the roomy Haval Jolion compact crossover is a great value proposition.
On barriers to entry
There are various ways in which a company or sector can achieve competitive dominance. They usually make for good investments.
Fear and greed in one index
To buck the trend, when markets are hot or cold, is a tough thing to do. However, it can deliver solid returns.
Africa's largest data centre facility coming soon
Vantage Data Centers plans to invest over R15bn for its first African data centre facility in Attacq’s Waterfall City.