Top economist questions Ramaphosa’s R2 trillion ‘marketing exercise’

President Cyril Ramaphosa has set a target of attracting R2 trillion in private-sector investments to South Africa by 2028.

The President announced this goal in his Presidential newsletter ahead of the sixth South African Investment Conference (SAIC), which began on 31 March 2026.

The first five-year investment drive began in 2018 with the inaugural conference, with an initial investment target of R1.2 trillion by 2023.

Over R1.5 trillion was pledged during the first drive, which the government said will go towards creating jobs and growing the economy.

The new R2 trillion target was set for a second five-year investment drive, which began in 2023 and will end in 2028.

The SAIC has reportedly attracted 317 pledges since its inception, with 161 projects either currently in progress or already completed.

The Presidency has claimed that more than R600 billion of the investments pledged have already been invested in the country’s economy.

Ahead of the sixth conference, some have raised concerns regarding the effectiveness of these investment pledges in practice.

Econometrix chief economist Dr Azar Jammine appeared on Newzroom Afrika to discuss how many of these pledges have translated into actual investment.

“These conferences have, on each occasion, yielded a commitment of hundreds of billions of rands of investment by companies into the country,” Jammine said.

“And yet, all I see from the official data is that the ratio of capital investment to GDP has kept declining. So there’s something missing between these commitments and their realisation in practice.”

Jammine explained that this decline in investment is a driving factor behind South Africa’s stagnant job creation and economic growth over the last few years.

When asked whether he believed it was worthwhile to continue hosting these investment conferences, Jammine dismissed them as nothing more than a good “marketing exercise”.

“It makes it look great, but in practice, I don’t see that we have witnessed anything real in terms of its outcomes,” Jammine said.

Infrastructure still a challenge for investors

Jammine’s comments underpin the ongoing challenges South Africa faces in attracting investors, namely its infrastructure.

In his latest Presidential newsletter, Ramaphosa highlighted the improving economic situation as a reason for companies to invest in South Africa.

Through structural reforms driven by Operation Vulindlela, the President said much progress has been made in improving South Africa’s infrastructure.

These include bringing an end to load-shedding, which Stellenbosch Business School economist Dr Nthabiseng Moleko told Newzroom Afrika was one of the biggest deterrents for investors.

“Many first-world countries and big multinationals see it as an entry point into the rest of the continent,” Moleko said. “Why they’ve come here is because we have the infrastructure.”

“I think load-shedding was one of our biggest problems. We’ve seen Eskom making sure to not only regulate the flow of electricity, but also ensuring that we have an energy availability factor that is acceptable.”

However, the country still faces significant infrastructure challenges, with Moleko pointing out the difficulties faced by South Africa’s ports.

The country’s eight commercial seaports have been fraught with efficiency challenges due to issues of mismanagement, underinvestment and poor maintenance.

The President said in his newsletter that he hopes to revitalise the country’s freight systems through private investment, such as Transnet’s Private Sector Participation framework.

This is crucial, as South Africa’s ports have seen a significant uptick in activity due to the ongoing Middle East conflict and the subsequent closing of the Strait of Hormuz.

Moleko believes that a more efficient logistics network will make South Africa a much more enticing option for investors than other countries along the African coast.

“If South African ports are not efficient, companies will go to other nations to see where else there are opportunities for them to move their things quicker, cheaper and more cost-effectively,” Moleko said.

“We want people to put their money here. Are we good at getting it here? Possibly, that is something we need to strengthen.”