The four sectors of mining, agriculture, tourism and infrastructure have been selected under Phase 3 of the Government-Business Partnership as the platforms for raising South Africa’s growth to 3% and to create one-million new jobs by 2030.
These new focus areas were unveiled jointly in Johannesburg on August 20 by President Cyril Ramaphosa and Discovery CEO Adrian Gore, a key business convenor of the partnership since its launch in 2023.
The initiative initially focused on averting South Africa’s potential economic collapse amid extreme electricity loadshedding, deepening operational crises across the rail and port systems, and chronic crime and corruption. The themes of energy, logistics, and crime and corruption remained on the partnership’s agenda, together with a focus on youth unemployment, which was added during Phase 2.
Besides the four growth sectors, Phase 3 would also include a focus on the crisis-ridden City of Johannesburg, once business had been assured of a willing and credible counterparty in the municipality, while also giving attention to South Africa’s “narrative”, which continued to weigh on investor perceptions.
In all, therefore, the partnership would have ten focus areas bundled under the themes of ‘growth enablers’ (energy and logistics); ‘growth drivers’ (mining, agriculture, tourism and infrastructure); and ‘confidence multipliers’ (crime and corruption, City of Johannesburg, country narrative and youth employment).
