President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa is a reform-driven investment haven

President Cyril Ramaphosa pitched South Africa as a reform-driven investment haven at a time of increasing global uncertainty.

He set a target of attracting R3 trillion of capital to the country over the next five years. He increased this figure from R2 trillion in a speech late Tuesday.

He shared this information as part of the South Africa Investment Conference in Johannesburg on Tuesday, 31 March 2026.

He said improving economic growth, slowing inflation, and sweeping reforms position the country as a credible destination for investors.

“We are meeting at a time of uncertainty for the global economy. Geopolitical fragmentation, supply chain disruptions from conflicts and wars, and trade tensions are radically impacting global capital flows,” he said.

“In such conditions, South Africa presents a favourable proposition as a resilient, credible, and reform-oriented investment destination.”

The US-Israeli attack on Iran has jolted South Africa’s economic outlook. The war erupted days after Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana presented his 2026 budget.

This budget forecast debt will peak this fiscal year, after rising for almost two decades, as economic growth accelerates and inflation slows.

Godongwana separately said in an interview on the sidelines of the conference that he will reduce the tax imposed on fuel by R3 per litre in April.

The conflict has also derailed expectations for monetary policy to ease this year, with an almost 50% surge in oil prices expected to lead to a spike in domestic fuel prices.

Higher borrowing costs risk weighing on investment, just as the government intensifies its push to crowd in private capital.

The conference is the sixth iteration of a forum first introduced in 2018, and which has drawn pledges totaling about R1.5 trillion, with about R600 billion deployed into the economy.

Over that time, Ramaphosa’s administration can point to progress on reforming the economy, including ending chronic power outages that once constrained output.

Efforts are underway to overhaul freight rail and port infrastructure, key bottlenecks for exporters.

“Our economy is much stronger than it was five years ago, precisely because of the structural reforms that we’ve been undertaking,” Deputy Finance Minister David Masondo said in an interview at the conference.

“The sovereign risk premium has been declining, which sets better conditions for us to attract capital, not only for equities but also for fixed income, and that will enable us to raise capital to invest in infrastructure,” he said.