The five-day conference featured prominent speakers and panelists from leading corporates discussing themes such as mobilising back to growth trajectories post Covid-19, Pan-African growth, investing for good and sustainability for green growth.
Nonkululeko Nyembezi, JSE Ltd Chairman, opened the conference saying, “The South African economy was under pressure before the pandemic, which is why the impact of the lockdown was fairly predictable. The country is no stranger to difficult times, however, we have demonstrated traits that underpin our resilience. These include a competent and responsive central bank, a skilled and credible National Treasury, a stable political system and macroeconomic framework, consistency in the enforcement of contracts by the independent judiciary, a vibrant and resourceful private sector, free and independent media, and deep and liquid financial markets.”
Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni, provided the keynote address on the first day of the conference in which he emphasised how the South African government is committed to pursuing a program of economic restructure and reconstruction, which is important to grow the economy, collect more revenue and bridge the funding gaps.
President Cyril Ramaphosa echoed the Minister’s sentiments when he opened the third annual SA Investor Conference on Wednesday 18 November. He reinforced South Africa’s progress in infrastructure development, its diverse economy, sophisticated capital markets and manufacturing capacity. Further saying that “South Africa is the ideal location for any company wanting to reach the continental market with greater effectiveness from a cost and logistical point of view.” This year’s SA Investor Conference focused on the implementation of the commitments made to date.
On the final day of the conference, the South African Reserve Bank Governor, Lesetja Kganyago and Public Enterprises Minister, Pravin Gordhan addressed investors.
Governor Kganyago said “South Africa needs to recover output in the sectors of the economy that are still viable, and then we need to find new sources of growth. This means adopting policies that raise potential growth, and thereby nurture expectations that SA will be a viable economy in future. The SARB has been diligent about its mandate, inflation is well-controlled and inflation expectations for the medium term are all well within our target range, allowing the SARB to cut rates more than most countries.”
Addressing investors on government’s plans regarding state-owned enterprises, Minister Gordhan noted that the work being done by the President’s SOE council, which includes government and private sector representatives, is focused on looking at different ownership and governance models and rationalisation. He went on to say that government wanted to ensure that state owned entities do away with any dependence on the fiscus.
“As the country took the initial steps to adapt to the new reality, what stands out is our remarkable entrepreneurial spirit and the unbelievable capacity to pull together in a time of crisis. Like President Ramaphosa said, through our Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan, we are pursuing a few high impact priorities and focusing relentlessly on implementation,” concludes Nyembezi.
ENDS
ABOUT THE JSE
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) has a well-established history operating as a marketplace for trading financial products. It is a pioneering, globally connected exchange group that enables inclusive economic growth through trusted, world class, socially responsible products, and services for the investor of the future. It offers secure and efficient primary and secondary capital markets across a diverse range of securities, spanning equities, derivatives, and debt markets. It prides itself as being the market of choice for local and international investors looking to gain exposure to leading capital markets on the African continent. The JSE is currently ranked in the Top 20 largest stock exchanges in the world by market capitalisation, and is the largest stock exchange in Africa, having been in operation for 130 years.
As a leading global exchange, the JSE co-creates, unlocks value & makes real connections happen.
ABOUT STANDARD BANK
Standard Bank Group is the largest African bank by assets, operating in 20 African countries and 5 global financial centres. Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, we are listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, with share code SBK, and the Namibian Stock Exchange, share code SNB. Standard Bank has a 157-year history in South Africa and started building a franchise outside southern Africa in the early 1990s.
Our strategic position, which enables us to connect Africa to other select emerging markets as well as pools of capital in developed markets, and our balanced portfolio of businesses, provide significant opportunities for growth. The group has over 50 000 employees, more than 1 100 branches and 9 000 ATMs on the African continent, which enable it to deliver a complete range of services across personal and business banking, corporate and investment banking and wealth management. Headline earnings for 2019 were R28.2 billion (about USD2 billion) and total assets were R2.3 trillion (about USD163 billion). Standard Bank’s market capitalisation at 31 December 2019 was R277 billion (USD20 billion). The group’s largest shareholder is the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the world’s largest bank, with a 20.1% shareholding. In addition, Standard Bank Group and ICBC share a strategic partnership that facilitates trade and deal flow between Africa, China and select emerging markets.
For further information, go to http://www.standardbank.com
ABOUT OLD MUTUAL
Old Mutual is a premium African financial services group that offers a broad spectrum of financial solutions to retail and corporate customers across key markets segments in 14 countries. Old Mutual's primary operations are in South Africa and the rest of Africa, and it has a niche business in Asia. With over 175 years of heritage across sub-Saharan Africa, we are a crucial part of the communities we serve and broader society on the continent. For further information on Old Mutual, and its underlying businesses, please visit the corporate website at www.oldmutual.com.