South African Business 2021

FOREWORD

FOREWORD South African Business A unique guide to business and investment in South Africa. Credits Publishing director: Chris Whales Editor: John Young Managing director: Clive During Online editor: Christoff Scholtz Designer: Simon Lewis Production: Lizel Olivier Ad sales: Gavin van der Merwe Sam Oliver Jeremy Petersen Gabriel Venter Vanessa Wallace Shiko Diala Administration & accounts: Charlene Steynberg Kathy Wootton Printing: FA Print Welcome to the ninth edition of the South African Business journal. First published in 2011, the publication has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to South Africa, supported by an e-book edition at www.southafricanbusiness.co.za. This issue has a focus on economic recovery plans which have been put in place to tackle the challenges thrown up by the global Covid-19 pandemic. National government’s focus on infrastructure and the use of Special Economic Zones is highlighted, together with a feature on the nascent maritime economy. Regular pages cover all the main economic sectors of the South African economy and give a snapshot of each of the country’s provincial economies. South African Business is complemented by nine regional publications covering the business and investment environment in each of South Africa’s provinces. The e-book editions can be viewed online at www.globalafricanetwork. com. These unique titles are supported by a monthly business e-newsletter with a circulation of over 23 000. In 2020, the inaugural African Business joined the Global African Network stable of publications. ■ Chris Whales Publisher, Global Africa Network Media | Email: chris@gan.co.za DISTRIBUTION South African Business is distributed internationally on outgoing and incoming trade missions, through trade and investment agencies; to foreign offices in South Africa’s main trading partners around the world; at top national and international events; through the offices of foreign representatives in South Africa; as well as nationally and regionally via chambers of commerce, tourism offices, airport lounges, provincial government departments, municipalities and companies. COPYRIGHT | South African Business is an independent publication published by Global Africa Network Media (Pty) Ltd. Full copyright to the publication vests with Global Africa Network Media (Pty) Ltd. No part of the publication may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of Global Africa Network Media (Pty) Ltd. PHOTO CREDITS | Africamps at Ingwe, Amatola Water, AngloAmerican, Betterect,Buckler’s Africa Lodge, Council for Geoscience, Data Centre Map, De Beers Group, ELIDZ, Equites, 5M2T, Fortress Fund, Implats, Khobab Wind Farm, Nissan, Perdekraal East Wind Farm, Port of Cape SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2021 Town, SA Furniture Forum, SA Heavy Haul Association, SANRAL, SASOL, THEGIFT777/iStock, TNPA, Tongaat Hulett, Utopia_88/iStock. . DISCLAIMER | While the publisher, Global Africa Network Media (Pty) Ltd, has used all reasonable efforts to ensure that the information contained in South African Business is accurate and up-to-date, the publishers make no representations as to the accuracy, quality, timeliness, or completeness of the information. Global Africa Network will not accept responsibility for any loss or damage suffered as a result of the use of or any reliance placed on such information. 8 PUBLISHED BY Global Africa Network Media (Pty) Ltd Company Registration No: 2004/004982/07 Directors: Clive During, Chris Whales Physical address: 28 Main Road, Rondebosch 7700 Postal address: PO Box 292, Newlands 7701 Tel: +27 21 657 6200 | Fax: +27 21 674 6943 Email: info@gan.co.za | Website: www.gan.co.za Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations ISSN 2221-4194

Early engagement with the private sector is vital INTERVIEW Jason Lightfoot, Portfolio Manager at Futuregrowth, assesses the latest moves to attract the private sector to invest in infrastructure. What is constraining infrastructure investment in South Africa? The concern is that a lot of noise has been made previously around government’s infrastructure plans which have in few instances resulted in real opportunities for investors to play a role. Many of these issues have been around policy certainty and also ensuring that such projects actually reach a level of bankability for such investors to make an investment that will offer a proper risk-adjusted return. Perhaps this time is different with the recent engagement with the private sector. Jason Lightfoot BIOGRAPHY Jason is the Portfolio Manager of the flagship Futuregrowth Infrastructure & Development Bond Fund, as well as the Yield Enhanced ALBI benchmarked range of portfolios. In addition, he plays a mentoring role within the Credit team and is involved in various aspects of risk assessment within the investment process. Do you mean the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium of South Africa (SIDSSA)? This is a step in the right direction. It crowds in potential private sector investors in a much more coordinated manner and includes them in assessing how these various initiatives can be funded. Why is gross fixed capital formation an important benchmark? This measure captures how much money as a proportion of total economic activity is being invested in capital goods, such as equipment, tools, transportation assets and electricity and various measurable outputs of these. The extent of infrastructure spending in an economy is reflected in the level of gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is an important precursor of economic growth. What can be learnt from the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP)? Before capital market players invest, they need to have confidence that the policy environment is stable and that such potential investments will offer sufficiently attractive risk-related returns. To a great extent, the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) met these criteria, enabling the private sector to play an important role. REIPPPP is an important success story. Of the major infrastructure projects being discussed at the moment, which are the most significant? Energy generation remains of utmost importance in an environment where a massive strain on the system remains and the launch of Emergency Procurement round of up to 2000MW will address that. ■ 41 9 SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2021