It’s “all systems go!”

Much has been made of the economic downturn we have experienced over the past 18 months or so. Although we cannot wish away the impact this had on our economy, the reality is that South Africa was less affected by this malaise than the rest of the world. It is gratifying to note that our recovery is in sync with the world economy. Undoubtedly buoyed by the vast amount of work that had to be done during the period leading up to the FIFA World Cup 2010, our economy has managed to turn the corner well before hitting rock bottom.

Granted, there are those who caution that what we are seeing may be “shoots without roots” but we suggest that the time has come to shake off all this negativity and make hey while the sun is shining.

The foundations are there; for example:

The World Competitiveness Report for 2009-10, compiled by the World Economic Forum, ranks South Africa’s financial system 5th world-wide, topped only by Luxembourg, Switzerland, Canada and Sweden. We outrank such heavyweights as the UK (6th) and the USA (11th). The same report ranked our Securities Regulations 2nd world-wide and the soundness of our banking sector took 5th place.

On December 29th, 2009, the Financial Times voted Trevor Manual as one of the top 50 people who helped to shape the past 10 years. They lauded him for “keeping inflation under control and maintaining fiscal discipline in the face of enormous challenges”.

The same publication listed the top 50 emerging market business leaders and guess what, there were four South Africans among them including Graham Mackay of SAB, Phutuma Nhleko of MTN and Cyril Ramaphosa of Shanduka. The focus of the article was on the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China who contribute 15% of the world’s GDP and 42% of the world’s population. By contrast, South Africa accounts for a mere 0.5% of the world’s GDP and 0.7% of its population. Talk about boxing above our weight!

International rating agencies continue to award South Africa a credit rating of BBB+ and foreign net equity purchases during the past year topped R75 billion, the highest ever recorded during one calendar year.

We could go on but we believe that the point has been made. The above is ample proof that the international financial community has faith in our country; isn’t it time that we join them?

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