Investor calls on Ramaphosa to stick to ‘good commitments’ he made at conference

With South Africa’s potential and attractiveness having led to investors pledging billions in projects – totaling much over the targeted five-year milestone of R1.2 trillion – a European investor has implored President Cyril Ramaphosa to stick to “good commitments” he made at yesterday’s fifth SA Investment Conference (SAIC).

Commitments

Frank about challenges facing South Africa during his address to SAIC, attended by local and foreign investors held at the Sandton Conference centre, Ramaphosa committed to:

• The implementation of wide-ranging reforms in the electricity sector to enable private investment in electricity generation and the acceleration of the procurement of new generation capacity – from solar, wind, gas and battery storage.

• A just energy transition and SA’s target of achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
• The creation of opportunities in the power crisis, to be exploited by local manufacturers of solar panels, batteries and inverters and the use of unique natural endowment in resources such as platinum and vanadium.
• Prioritising port and rail efficiencies as part of the structural reform process.
• Tackling crimes of economic sabotage – violence and extortion at construction sites; illegal mining, infrastructure vandalism and cable theft – through specialised multi-disciplinary police task teams.
• An immigration reform, which has led to “a significant overhaul of the work visa system”, pledging to expand the e-Visa system to include an additional 20 countries over and above the 14 that are currently eligible.

A bullish Ramaphosa told the SAIC: “Given all that has taken place in the intervening years, it is understandable that investor confidence has been sorely tested.

“Doubters have had reason to be sceptical. We are on a long journey to rebuild our country and recover the ground we have lost. Our recovery is a mission that will take time to accomplish.

“We remain convinced that South Africa is an investment destination with significant untapped potential. “We do believe that by leveraging our unique value proposition, we have the ability to attract higher levels of investment.”

R460 million investment

To date, said Ramaphosa, about R460 billion of capital has been invested in building new factories, purchasing equipment, constructing roads, sinking mine shafts and rolling out broadband infrastructure.

Frederik Thoring-Flagstad, vice-president of the Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), said: “While there are challenges ahead, we have seen how last July, a decision was taken by the presidency to help open-up the space for renewable energy.

“The question is whether government can keep accelerating that process ahead, in line with commitments made by the president to delegates.” CIP is a global infrastructure investor in renewable energy, specialising in offshore wind, solar, biomass, energy-from-waste, transmission, distribution, reserve capacity and storage.

“We have about €20 billion [about R399 billion] from management at the moment and we expect that figure to double by the end of this year,” he said.

On South Africa as CIP’s investment choice, Thoring-Flagstad said: “We recently invested in a company called Mulilo Energy Holdings in Cape Town, where we are holding a majority stake.

“Mulilo is an IPP in South Africa. We are excited about the investment climate in South Africa. “We are encouraged to be part of an investment in South Africa, where the presidency undertakes to take steps to help and fix problems.”

READ MORE: Govt needs to signal to the world that it is committed to transition

– brians@citizen.co.za