South African Business 2018 edition

Welcome to the sixth 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. 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. Feature articles on topical issues such as sustainability and African trade provide unique insights, together with an interview with the newly elected chairman of the African Association of Automotive Manufacturers, Mr Thomas Schaefer. Another special feature focusses on an exciting project to transform South Africa’s small harbours and coastal properties. 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. 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 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. Feature articles on topical issues such as sustainability and African trade provide unique insights, together with an interview with the newly elected chairman of the African Association of Automotive Manufacturers, Mr Thomas Schaefer. Another special feature focusses on an exciting project to transform South Africa’s small harbours and coastal properties. South African Business is complemented by nine regional publications covering the business and investment environment in each of South Africa’s provinces. Visit www.globalafricanetwork.com for more business and investment news, opportunities and events.

SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS

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SPECIAL FEATURE AN ECONOMIC OVERVIEW OF SOUTH AFRICA South Africa is a country of great diversity – of its population, its landscapes and its natural resources. Great mineral wealth has underpinned the South African economy ever since the first diamond was stumbled upon in 1867. Gold was found soon afterwards and that industry effectively saw to it that South Africa became an industrialised nation. Now those gold mines are tapering off production but iron ore and platinum reserves are impressively large. Global demand for these resources, however, has been very variable, dependent to a large extent on the Chinese market. This is part of the reason why South Africa’s economic growth in 2015 and 2016 was very modest. The other reason is policy and political uncertainty. The national government is run by the African National Congress and its president, who is also president of the country, Jacob Zuma. He has repeatedly changed cabinet ministers and his decision to fire the respected Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan led to several ratings agencies downgrading South Africa’s credit rating. The other historically strong economic sector, agriculture, brought good cheer to the overall economic picture in the second quarter of 2017, boosting GDP growth by 2.5%. This was because of a tremendous rally off a bad period caused by a long-term drought. So good was the recovery that South Africa reported record grain crops and exports. The grains of the central regions of the country, together with the fruits and vegetables of Mpumalanga and Limpopo, the wines and grapes of the Western Cape, and the sheep and mohair of the Eastern Cape, all contribute to a diverse and vibrant agricultural sector. There are many strong agricultural companies in the sector. KwaZulu-Natal is the country’s leading sugar area, and has a strong suite in forestry and paper production. The other economic sector that has held up well is automotive manufacturing and automotive components. 13 SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2018