Cape Town — President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that his initial investment target of R1.2 trillion was surpassed, announcing at the recent annual South Africa Investment Conference (SAIC) that the country had reached R1.51 trillion in investment pledges.
Ramaphosa said that he was setting a new target of R2 trillion worth of investments for South Africa to achieve over the next five years.
Putting his plan in motion five years ago, the first step the president took was to appoint a team of special envoys on investment, whose task it was to spearhead his ambitious investment project.
in 2018, the country kicked off what would be the first of five SAICs. The first conference amassed pledges of approximately R300 billion. By the end of the first two conferences, about R664 billion of investments had been pledged.
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The third annual conference saw 50 companies making investment commitments valued at R109.6 billion. This brought the total value of investment commitments over the three years to R773.6 billion.
These investments were spread across mining, manufacturing, agriculture and the digital economy, among others.
“As part of the fifth SA Investment Conference, Vodacom has pledged to invest a further R60 billion in South Africa over the next five years. Five years ago we heeded the call from President Cyril Ramaphosa to play a central role in his investment drive aimed at attracting R1.2 trillion over a five year period.
“Looking back over the past five years, we believe that our initial R50 billion pledge has played a significant role in fostering digital inclusion for all and helping to unlock economic and social opportunities for South Africa,” said Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub.
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Compiled by Junaid Benjamin
