South African President Cyril Ramaphosa started his tenure by appointing new ministers and special investment envoys as part of his pledge to boost an ailing economy.<\/p>\n
He also named Oxford University graduate Trudi Makhaya as his economic adviser to help coordinate the work of these special envoys and work on a series of roadshows as he seeks to attract $100 billion in investment into the country over five years.<\/p>\n
South Africa plunged into a recession in the second quarter and gross domestic product hasn\u2019t expanded at more than 2%\u00a0a year since 2013.<\/p>\n
According to Makhaya, these are the main issues that continue to constrain the economy:<\/p>\n
Competition<\/strong><\/p>\n The concentrated nature of the economy, partly due to a high cost of doing business, undermines competitiveness and favors conglomerates, according to Makhaya, a former interim deputy head of the nation\u2019s Competition Commission.<\/p>\n “We have some great companies, but in in general I don\u2019t think the environment for doing business is all that great,” she said.<\/p>\n Even when foreign companies invest they normally take a stake in a local operation rather than starting their own.<\/p>\n Skills Deficit<\/strong><\/p>\n Fixing post-school training and technical training could help resolve the mass youth unemployment challenge and help business, Makhaya said. The jobless rate for people who finished high school is at 28.3%, higher than the national unemployment rate.<\/p>\n “Most companies would achieve far more if they didn\u2019t have to work so hard on the people they got,” she said.<\/p>\n Spatial Integration<\/strong><\/p>\n The legacy of apartheid, which forced black people to live far away from cities\u2019 transport lines and their places of work, adds to costs for the economy.<\/p>\n The country needs to build affordable housing closer to economic activity, she said.<\/p>\n
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