Executives from leading multi-national companies and their peers from South Africa’s business fraternity, numbering 60 in total, were joined by 23 government officials and academics to thrash out a roadmap for South Africa’s economic recovery.
The brainstorming session in Johannesburg, a summit of sorts, was held at the behest of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and identified 10 key focal points such as innovation, growth, regional integration, and job creation.
In the case of the latter it’s a question of last but not least because, said WEF executive Klaus Schwab who chaired the meeting, addressing the country’s high unemployment is a matter of paramount importance.
Business Day reported that “the meeting was to some extent a preparatory meeting for the Jobs Summit planned by President Cyril Ramaphosa later in 2018”.
The meeting was dominated by the harm done during former President Jacob Zuma’s tenure, highlighting the country’s sluggish growth of 1.5% compared to the 5% growth some Sadec countries are managing.
Schwab said it meant SA’s economy, at the current rate, would only double every 50 years whereas economies growing at 5% could expect to double every 14 years.
After the meeting delegates refused to divulge further detail about what had been discussed, saying only that more would be revealed once additional stakeholders had been consulted.
