To be blunt, SA does not have a rosy image as an investment destination. One does not have to look further than the WEF’s annual Global Competitiveness Index (CPI). In the 2006/2007 report, SA was ranked 45 out of 125 countries. Since then, SA has been slithering down the index, reaching 67 out of 140 countries in the 2018 report.
The country’s downward trajectory was hastened by poor rankings in health (mainly HIV/Aids and tuberculosis), information and communication technology adoption, skills (educational quality), the number of days it takes to start a business, institutions (crime, police services, public trust in politicians, diversion of public funds, efficiency in government spending, irregular payments and bribes, business costs of crime and violence), and infrastructure (quality of electricity supply). These are all areas under direct control of the government.
It is difficult to imagine how anyone could sugar-coat our rankings in the 201
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