President Cyril Ramaphosa said that after almost a decade of “economic stagnation and political paralysis”, South Africa has begun to turn things around.

Speaking at a press conference at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Ramaphosa said: “We have entered a new period of hope and renewal, and over the last year we have taken decisive steps to correct the mistakes of the recent past and put the country back on the path of progress that we embarked upon in 1994.

“We therefore come to Davos with a single message, and this year the message is that South Africa is on a path of growth and renewal.”

Ramaphosa said government had placed the task of inclusive growth and job creation at the centre of the national agenda.

“Around a third of working-age South Africans are unemployed, poverty is widespread and, sadly, levels of inequality are among the highest in the world,” Ramaphosa, flanked by members of his Cabinet, told assembled media.

“We recognise that we cannot create work on any meaningful scale unless we grow the economy at a far greater rate – and for that we need much more investment in the productive sectors of the economy, in infrastructure and in skills development.”

Ramaphosa pointed to the success of government’s drive to raise $100 billion in new investment over the next five years and the $20 billion in investment announced at the inaugural South Africa Investment Conference in October.

He added: “According to a recent report which I have had sight of and which was released by UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) on Monday, direct foreign investment into South Africa increased by more than 440% between 2017 and 2018, from $1.3 billion to $7.1 billion.

“That is a huge increase for which we are grateful, but it follows in the wake of changes that we are effecting in our country and the reforms we have embarked on.

“We aim to to sustain and further increase this growth in investment, having raised $20 billion, this year we are going to hold another investment conference where we intend to raise more and we want to hasten the pace of investments from both local investors and offshore investors.”

– African News Agency (ANA)

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