South Africa’s ‘big year’ starts this week

South African business leaders and President Cyril Ramaphosa and his teams will be attending their first bilateral meeting this week to set the agenda for what is to be a crucial year ahead for the country’s economy and promised reforms.
According to Business Leadership South Africa CEO Busi Mavuso, the meeting comes ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos next week—where it will be all hands on deck to drive investment and showcase South Africa to the world—and will set the tone for other platforms, like the G20, which South Africa is hosting this year.
The business leader noted that South Africa is currently primed to put its best foot forward. The Government of National Unity (GNU) is already drawing positive sentiment, while years of fast-tracked reforms and policy changes in response to various crises are starting to bear fruit.
“We have an opportunity to consolidate the reforms made in the past several years. Load shedding is behind us, and other key structural impediments to our economy, like the logistics crisis, are being addressed,” Mavuso said.
“There certainly is still much work to do on reforms to support our economy, but we should start to see the fruits of the work done.”
Mavuso said that she is optimistic about South Africa’s prospects for 2025, and this should be reflected in the country’s strategy when facing international investors, business leaders and politicians. More important, however, is ensuring that promises are followed through.
This is particularly important for the continued partnership between business and the government to rebuild the economy and ensure growth. This will also be something on the agenda this week when business leaders meet with the president.
The BLSA lead said that the GNU has already started delivering on positive reforms which are driving much better business sentiment in the country. These include important changes around visas, notable progress regarding water infrastructure and the aforementioned shift with load shedding.
These reforms have also been noted by ratings agencies, with Moody’s being the latest to point to the positive momentum for the country in its latest outlook.
However, Mavuso said that this progress “must crowd in greater commitment to further reform, rather than allow us to take our foot off the accelerator”.
“Progress takes time to work its way into real economic activity. While a lot of investment was delayed or cancelled because of load shedding, companies will only now be regaining the confidence to forge ahead with investment plans based on a new era of stable electricity supply.
“But the reforms to consolidate a new electricity system must still be bedded down, including establishing a competitive open market for electricity that could start to reverse the constant pattern of above-inflation electricity price increases we’ve experienced for over 15 years.
“We need to also accelerate reform in logistics, introducing greater competition by allowing more private sector participants to use Transnet infrastructure in competition with each other,” she said.
The CEO added that urgent reforms are also still needed at the local government level—something which the GNU has committed to in its second phase of Operation Vulindlela—including the growing municipal debt crisis Eskom is experiencing.
There is also still the matter of the FATF Grey List, which South Africa still needs to escape.
Mavuso said that 2025 is lining up to be an important year, but positively, sentiment is leaning towards the continued cooperation between business and the government to get things done—starting this week.
“On the whole I am optimistic for the year ahead. I look forward to working with all of you to make it a year that marks a new phase in South Africa’s recovery,” she said.
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