South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday assured investors that his African National Congress-led government was more than willing to work with the private sector to improve the country’s economy.
Speaking at a conference hosted by Goldman Sachs Group in Johannesburg on Wednesday, Ramaphosa dismissed suggestions that there was reluctance from government to rope in the private sector to help it boost the economy.
“The ruling party has embraced the notion of the value of inviting the private sector to be our partners. Our party conference in 2017 was very clear – that we should build a social compact with the private sector labour and communities,” Ramaphosa said.
He said he wanted to establish partnerships with the private sector “because they are what will help us as government to resolve our problems.”
“There are quite a number of enterprises that the private sector can take equity positions. There’s great deal of value that can be extracted when there is a partnership and collaboration between the private sector and the public sector,” Ramaphosa said.
Ramaphosa told the conference that bringing the private sector on board was “a current discussion in government to do what they do best”, adding that partnering with the private sector now needed to be done in a “smart way.”
NM/jn/APA