President Cyril Ramaphosa has commended German business leaders on their continued engagement with South Africa.

Following a CEO roundtable in Berlin, on August 26, the President pledged that the South African government would sustain economic reforms aimed at facilitating greater investment as a key to addressing poverty, unemployment and inequality.

Ramaphosa is on a working visit to Germany, for a meeting of the Group of Twenty (G20) Compact with Africa (CwA).

The CwA was initiated under the G20 German Presidency in 2017 to promote private investment into the African continent.

Currently, 12 African countries other than South Africa have joined the initiative. These are Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo and Tunisia.

South Africa, which is the only African member of the G20, co-chairs the initiative alongside Germany.

The Berlin meetings include a G20 Investment Summit, as well as a separate meeting of heads of State and heads of government, where discussions will take place on ways to improve the business environment and increase investment in Africa.

The conference will also discuss vaccine production in Africa, which is key to enabling African countries to build back stronger, faster and more inclusively, and ensuring that the post-pandemic African economies become more resilient and equitable.

German investment in South Africa ranges from global industrial giants that have been active in the country for more than a century, to start-ups.

Ramaphosa addressed the CEOs as “friends of South Africa” and welcomed their continued commitment to investing in South Africa.

He said structural reforms initiated by government in areas such as energy, infrastructure, telecommunications and rail and ports were designed at enabling investors to operate even more effectively in the South African market.

The CEOs, in turn, assured the President of their continued interest in South Africa as a market in its own right and as a gateway to other African economies, and provided feedback on current operations as well as investment plans.

A statement issued by the Presidency on August 27 confirmed that a number of business leaders had expressed an interest in South Africa’s just transition from carbon-based energy sources to planet-friendly alternatives.

The executives indicated how this transition could spawn new industries and opportunities for smaller businesses that would entail a new skills base for the country and create new jobs.

Business leaders also indicated their interest in digital transformation in South Africa, including such areas as digital identity, applications for which could include vaccination passports.

Other proposals include renewable energy generation which can be pursued alongside agriculture and unlock new entrepreneurial activity.

The executives further briefed Ramaphosa on their corporate rollout of vaccination for staff and broader communities, their uptake of the Youth Employment Service and skills development in a variety of sectors.

Ramaphosa welcomed the prospects of expanded investment, transfers of knowledge and technology, greater employment in existing industries and the creation of jobs for the economy of the future.