Cyril Ramaphosa reels in billions

As the second day of the investment conference came to an end, it was announced that SA would receive a surge in investment of more than R290bn over the next five years.

This will have a significant impact on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s $100bn investment drive announced in April.

“There have been accusations that SA is on an investment strike. Today maybe I can say the strike is over,” Ramaphosa said.

On top of the R134.1bn in investments announced on Friday morning, the following additional investments were unveiled:

● Vodacom will invest R50bn over the next five years.

● Automotive traders, including BMW, Mercedes Benz, Ford, Isuzu, Nissan and Volkswagen (VW) will, together, invest more than R40bn in SA in the next five years.

In addition, they will establish a long-range strategy for SA, to be called the SA Master Plan from 2021 to 2035, that will include doubling local manufacturing projects to support the re-industrialisation of the country.

● The Brics Development Bank will invest R29bn in SA next year with a focus on transport, renewable energy, water and social infrastructure.

● Sanral will invest R9.5bn in a project in the Eastern Cape, which will see the creation of the highest bridge in Africa. The project will create 8,000 permanent job opportunities and 16,000 to 20,000 indirect jobs.

● ACWA Power, a company that generates electricity from water, will invest R9bn in SA.

● The Industrial Development Corporation will bolster the manufacturing sector with investment of R3.6bn.

● Aspen Pharmacare will invest R3.4bn in Port Elizabeth in anaesthetics, which is the single largest pharmaceutical investment in SA.

● McDonald’s will invest R3bn over the next three years and create 7,000 jobs as it expands its South African operations.

● Sumitomo Rubber SA, which has a head office based in Japan, announced an investment of R970m for truck and bus tyres in Ladysmith, which will see 350 more jobs created.

● Nestlé will invest R663m this year as it embarks on the use of green technologies,

● Proctor and Gamble will increase its 3,000 workforce in SA by 30% and invest R300m into SA as it increases its sanitary pad production facilities.

During the breakaway sessions at the summit, other investment commitments were made of R10bn.

On Friday morning investments were announced from Anglo American (R71.5bn); Vedanta Resources (R21.4bn); Mercedes Benz SA (R10bn); Mondi SA (R8bn); Sappi (R7.7bn); Naspers (R6bn); Ivanplats (R4.5bn); Bushveld Minerals (R2.5bn); Mara Corporation (R1.5bn); and Rain (R1bn).

- BusinessLIVE