President Cyril Ramaphosa declared on Wednesday that South Africa’s economy is entering a “definitive period of recovery”, citing four consecutive quarters of economic growth, extending into early 2026.

Speaking at the BlackRock Infrastructure Investment Conference in Cape Town, Ramaphosa acknowledged severe factors that previously constrained national growth such as State capture, an energy crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic, and ongoing global economic volatility.

Despite these challenges, Ramaphosa emphasised that an intensive eight-year government strategy to revive critical network industries and restore institutional stability was finally yielding tangible results.

He highlighted several major milestones indicating a structural turnaround for the nation's financial standing, noting that South Africa’s sovereign credit rating had been officially upgraded by international rating agencies.

He pointed out that the country successfully secured its removal from the Financial Action Task Force grey list last year and that the national fiscal position was on track to record its third consecutive primary budget surplus.

He said government was steadily stabilising the sovereign debt burden with a path toward sustainable long-term debt levels.

While celebrating the consecutive quarters of GDP growth, Ramaphosa remained pragmatic about the domestic labour market, noting that the country had "yet to see this translate into a meaningful rise in employment”.

Statistics South Africa announced on Tuesday that in the first quarter of 2026 the country’s unemployment rate rose to 32.7%, up from 31.4% in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Meanwhile, to counter persistent global risks, Ramaphosa said government was “actively maintaining a unified front” with the South African Reserve Bank, affirming a strict alignment on containing inflation, which faces renewed pressure from escalating geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East.

Moving forward, the State's economic strategy would focus heavily on optimising public spending efficiency, he said.

This aims to free up vital resources for aggressive infrastructure investment while securely sustaining the country's social wage.

Ramaphosa said South Africa had entered a phase of immense economic potential as its structural reform agenda gathered pace and he believed that these changes were solidifying the nation’s reputation as a “premier destination for capital within emerging markets”.

GROWTH AND SOVEREIGN UPGRADES

The President attributed the renewed economic momentum to the 2018 Investment Conference investment drive, which secured R1.5-trillion in commitments across sectors such as energy and manufacturing.

Building on that foundation, South Africa recently achieved a record R890-billion in pledges at its sixth Investment Conference.

With this upward trajectory, the government had set an ambitious new target to attract R3-trillion over the next five years, earmarked for job creation, infrastructure development, and rolling renewable energy projects.

According to Ramaphosa, the national strategy focused intensely on high-growth sectors such as green industrialisation and digital infrastructure, with a special emphasis on leveraging the country's rich reserves of critical minerals to drive local economic growth.

“We aim to double fixed investment to over 30% of GDP, bridging the gap between positive sentiment and active capital deployment to drive sustainable growth,” Ramaphosa explained.

Over the next three years, government had planned more than R1-trillion in public sector investment for modernising ports, upgrading freight rail networks, and improving key road corridors.

"Furthermore, we are tackling the energy crisis by reforming Eskom, expanding generation capacity, enhancing the grid, and positioning the country as a leader in renewable energy and green hydrogen.

”To ensure long-term development over the next decade, the State is utilising its R100-billion Infrastructure Fund. This fund is structured specifically to unlock further private investment and blended finance for critical national projects,” he explained.

Ramaphosa said South Africa was aggressively advancing a strategy designed to establish the nation as a premier investment hub and a crucial gateway to the African continent.

This long-term strategy, with a pivotal milestone set for 2036, aimed to fundamentally boost the country’s economic productive capacity, he stated.

At the heart of this initiative is a shift towards a "bankable, transparent project pipeline", which has already yielded 85 major projects worth over R1.5-trillion in cumulative pledges by March 2026, delivered through public-private partnerships.

To ensure this strategy translates into long-term competitiveness, the government is expanding its focus on structural reforms. Operation Vulindlela, a joint initiative of the Presidency and National Treasury, is entering its second phase, with a focus on reforms in local government, digital transformation and human settlements.

“To ensure long-term competitiveness, government is modernising the country’s immigration system to attract global skills," Ramaphosa announced, emphasising the need to align the workforce with the demands of a modern economy.

This includes introducing a points-based system for visas, a remote-working visa, and streamlining critical skills administration.

He assured investors that government was giving attention to organised crime networks, corruption and asset recovery.

“A structural shift is underway towards a more efficient, competitive and investment-friendly economy. Our objective is to translate reform momentum into greater investment, faster growth and more jobs,” Ramaphosa stated.