Despite the energy crisis, widespread corruption and physical decay, Discovery Group CEO Adrian Gore remains optimistic.<\/p>\n
In a column published on News24<\/a>, Gore said that data shows South Africa has unique capability and promise, paired with a resourceful and adaptable population.<\/p>\n He added that South Africa’s economy has shown remarkable resilience, with the economy performing well in 2022, despite the estimated economic loss of 2-3% due to load shedding.<\/p>\n If South Africa were included in a recent report from The Economist<\/a> looking at the economic performance of 34 mostly rich OECD countries, it would have ranked 15th – 16th if Q4 2022’s QDP decline was included.<\/p>\n He said that South Africa has a lot already going for it, including 75% of pension fund assets in Africa, one of the 20 busiest domestic airline routes – Cape Town to Johannesburg – in the world as of 2021, and internationally recognised universities that are leaders in global innovation.<\/p>\n If the country could address the energy crisis and other ills, the economy’s potential could be unlocked.<\/p>\n He added that the only way to alleviate poverty and unemployment in South Africa is to realise the nation’s potential via optimism.<\/p>\n Although many South Africans think that pessimism leads to critical thinking and the calling out of failure, Gore said that blind pessimism breaks down sentiment and the capacity to act, which is harmful to progress.<\/p>\n Whereas seeing potential through optimism makes people more enraged by failure, such as the energy crisis. Those who are optimistic seek potential through action, he said.<\/p>\n Reality<\/strong><\/p>\n Despite taking a more optimistic approach, this cannot be removed from reality.<\/p>\n In reality, although South Africa has constructive policies, the state is moving too slowly to achieve any of its objectives, while the public sector is breaking down, leading to corruption and incompetence, Gore said.<\/p>\n The Discovery CEO said that the businesses have proposed three ways to help realise the country’s potential:<\/p>\n He added that individual citizens could also help by taking a stand against corruption and decline by keeping public spaces well-maintained and opposing bribes and kickbacks.<\/p>\n Watch: Adrian Gore discusses Discovery’s incredible growth and success<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Other outlooks\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Gore’s optimism counters the general negativity surrounding the country.<\/p>\n The International Monetary Fund recently said that South Africans’ economy is expected to only grow by 0.1% in 2023, revising its January estimate of 1.2%.<\/p>\n National Treasury’s projection is also dire, standing at 0.9% for the year.<\/p>\n The energy crisis is mainly responsible for the negative economic outlooks for the year, with Eskom implementing daily load shedding for all but one day in 2023.<\/p>\n South Africans have also had to deal with high inflation, with CPI data from StatsSA showing that inflation grew in February to 7.0% from 6.9% in January.<\/p>\n\n
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