South Africa is seeing renewed optimism from business, central bank chief says

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Lesetja Kganyago, governor of the South African Reserve Bank.

“It’s not just the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and business community that wants the structural reform to take place. Mr. Ramaphosa as deputy president of the country has moved with speed to (make) changes,” Kganyago said, citing Ramaphosa’s move last week to overhaul the country’s beleaguered state electricity utility Eskom. “As deputy president, he has executive power.”

“Business confidence is returning. In the previous year, businesses almost had to beg to meet with government,” he went on. “Now you see government reaching out to business.”

Observers nonetheless question the viability of a sweeping reform agenda. Ramaphosa, who is expected to be elected president by 2019, must take on a entrenched network of patronage and bribery built over the nine years of Zuma’s rule.

Any further confidence from the business community may be dependent on when Ramaphosa actually takes over from Zuma, a date which has yet to be confirmed. ANC members have been discussing removing Zuma but have not settled on a departure date.

South Africa ranks 82 out of 190 in the World Bank’s 2018 “Ease of Doing Business” ranking, coming in several spots behind Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Albania. Its unemployment rate stands at nearly 28 percent.