Team SA to demonstrate country’s ‘stronger footing’ at this year’s WEF

16th January 2019 By: Tasneem Bulbulia - Senior Contributing Editor Online

Team SA to demonstrate country’s ‘stronger footing’ at this year’s WEF

President Cyril Ramaphosa
Photo by: Creamer Media

Team South Africa will be taking a unified approach to this year’s edition of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and will convey the message that the country is on a stronger footing than it was last year, President Cyril Ramaphosa said during a pre-WEF breakfast, in Rosebank, on Wednesday.

The breakfast was aimed at developing an integrated approach for Team South Africa for the WEF and identifying areas of emphasis to fulfil the team’s mandate of advancing the country as an investment and trade destination during the WEF, which will be held in Davos, Switzerland from January 22 to 25.

The theme for Team South Africa is ‘Mobilising public–private partnership collaboration for inclusive growth and development, with particular focus on increasing investment’.

Ramaphosa emphasised the importance of presenting a unified message to capitalise on investment and trade opportunities, especially as the country will be competing with other emerging economies at the forum.

Despite the problems facing the country, he said it was on a much stronger footing than last year, especially with regard to power utility Eskom.

Ramaphosa noted that government was dealing with the organisational, financial and operational problems faced by Eskom, with a task team already in place to tackle these issues.

He also indicated that the delegation would not have to contend with policy uncertainty issues.

For example, he noted that the African National Congress was clear on its position on land expropriation.

He emphasised that land grabs would not be allowed, nor would the process of expropriation be done with “vengeful” intentions.