Discovery CEO Adrian Gore shared an encouraging message to South Africans from the 2025 World Economic Forum in Davos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gore, along with government officials and other business leaders, was part of a unified government and business delegation that attended the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before leaving for Davos, he said South Africa was in a very different place with the government of national unity and hosting the G20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He explained that the partnership between the government and business is a unique construct that is getting incredible traction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Davos, the delegation promoted the message that South Africa was working through its issues and was on an economic growth path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During his World Economic Forum visit, Gore offered a message of hope and shared a few things that stood out to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first was the transformation in sentiment around South Africa<\/strong>, both from within the country and from the global business and investment community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEnding load-shedding and the partnership between business and government has created a completely different dynamic, which we must capitalise on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added that South Africa\u2019s leadership of the B20 and G20 international forums will also play a key role in this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The second is the massive effect the United States election<\/strong> has had on global politics, economics, trade, and balances of power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe election result brings with it several risks and opportunities in the international landscape. The world is a different place,\u201d Gore said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The third is technology\u2019s outsized and pervasive influence<\/strong>, from AI to quantum computing, crypto to cybersecurity, and scientific and medical breakthroughs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gore said the rapidly changing landscape provides tremendous potential. However, it also comes with risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are opportunities to rethink how we structure and offer financial services, moving towards a more personalised and consumer-centric approach,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said that from a South African perspective, the narrative and the receptivity are completely different from previous years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe end of load-shedding and the partnership between the government and business made a massive difference,\u201d Gore said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is a sense of a different emerging South Africa. The big institutional investors see a different South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n