Less than one-fifth of the R364.4bn pledged at second SA Investment Conference has reached SA

Only 19% of the funds pledged during President Cyril Ramaphosa’s second investment conference have flowed into SA's economy.

Ramaphosa has revealed that of the R364.4bn in investment commitments announced by 71 companies at the 2019 SA Investment Conference, just R69bn — 18.9% of the total value — had actually arrived, as per reports received from companies.

Ramaphosa said 60 of the 71 companies were responsible for the R69bn investment in-flow.

“This figure is based on quarterly updates received directly from the companies and reflect the status quo as at January 31 2021,” he said.

Ramaphosa revealed this in a written reply to a parliamentary question published on Wednesday. He was responding to DA MP Manny de Freitas, who wanted to know how much of the R364bn investment commitments has been invested to date, by what number of companies, and on what dates the investments were made.

“What is the nature of such investments in each case and how have the investments contributed to the economy to date?” he asked.

Ramaphosa’s response shows that companies in tourism and hospitality, renewable energy, oil and gas, the  oceans economy, automotive and infrastructure were among those that had so far contributed.

Ramaphosa said the 2019 investment announcements were at different stages of progress and implementation, and included site clearances, installation of bulk infrastructure, commissioning of plant equipment, and factory launches.

“These activities are contributing to the creation of jobs and economic development across provinces,” he said.

Ramaphosa hosted the second SA Investment Conference in Johannesburg in November 2019.

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