South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday said that his country’s efforts to turn economic woes around are gaining support from investors and other business people.
The president said this in his weekly “From the Desk of the President” newsletter, in which he discusses latest developments in his country with the public through the media.
According to Ramaphosa, business people told him they were more hopeful about investing in the country during the second investment forum held in Johannesburg last week.
The conference was part of a drive he announced last year to attract US$100 billion in new investments over five years to boost South Africa’s struggling gross domestic product growth rate and create jobs.
“At one recent engagement, several business people told me they believed the tide has turned on poor business confidence,” he writes.
He adds: “One business person said: ‘We are hopeful about South Africa now.’ They acknowledged that the reform process we have embarked on since last year is yielding results.”
The National Treasury three weeks ago revised South Africa’s economic growth, saying that it was expected to grow by only 0.5 percent this year instead of the 1.5 percent as projected during the February budget statement.
The president acknowledged that this challenge is compounded by the country’s current unemployment rate of 29.1 percent.
NM/jn/APA