Discovery CEO Adrian Gore shares good news about South Africa

Discovery CEO Adrian Gore believes South Africa is making meaningful progress in addressing what he calls a societal crisis. 

This crisis has predominantly manifested itself in unemployment, with 8.5 million South Africans unable to find work in the formal economy. 

South Africa’s unemployment challenge is also uniquely structural, with 78% of the country’s unemployed out of work for over a year. 

In a social media post, Gore said the first reality South Africa must confront is the societal crisis of a stagnant economy and widespread unemployment.

“A decade of growth near 1 percent has left 8.5 million South Africans without work. Unless we grow above 3 percent a year, unemployment rises,” Gore said. 

Gore has previously told Daily Investor that South Africa has a relatively high job coefficient, meaning that economic growth translates into employment growth to a strong degree. 

Most economists agree that 1% GDP growth translates into about 100,000 jobs created in South Africa.  

The primary challenge is that South Africa’s economic growth has consistently lagged its population growth, meaning more people enter the workforce than jobs are created. 

South Africa’s population has grown at an average annual rate of 1.6% over the past decade. In comparison, its economy has averaged 1% growth. 

This is the brutal mathematics behind Gore’s societal crisis. The longer South Africa’s economy grows more slowly than its population, the worse the unemployment rate gets. 

The good news, according to Gore, is that there is a second reality of genuine progress towards faster economic growth and better lives for citizens. 

“Load-shedding has ended, logistics are recovering, and our credibility is restored. The green shoots are real,” Gore said. 

“These shoots are proof that when business and government work together, this country solves problems that many believe were unsolvable.” 

Gore explained that the next phase of the Government-Business Partnership aims to move beyond the green shoots to meaningful economic growth. 

The partnership set itself the new targets of economic growth above 3% and the creation of one million jobs by 2030. 

Gore is a strong believer in the importance of crafting a positive narrative, as it can create a flywheel effect in which progress engenders confidence, which in turn feeds into further improvement. 

In a previous interview with Daily Investor, Gore said it is vital that the narrative around South Africa shift from perpetual decline to realistic optimism. 

In this sense, it is vital for the economy to grow faster, even at just 2%-3%, as that will be enough for things to “feel” better than they were. 

The growth does not have to be dramatic, Gore explained, adding that even that level of growth will feel different compared to the stagnation of the past decade. 

“We have got to try and ditch the sense that the country is in inevitable decline. The current thought is that no matter what happens, it will revert to decline. I think that stops investment,” he said. 

“And so, if you can create a different narrative with economic growth, you will see people on the street feeling more positive and businesses investing more.”