Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Park Tau has expressed confidence that the upcoming South Africa Investment Conference (SAIC) will not be undermined by hostile geopolitical developments, reporting that delegates from more than 31 countries have registered to attend.
The sixth edition of SAIC is scheduled to take place at the Sandton Convention Center in Johannesburg on March 31 and Tau assured on Monday that even after a two-year pause, the event is attracting interest from both domestic and international investors.
Since the first investment conference in 2018, South Africa has recorded investment pledges of R1.56-trillion across all nine provinces and a range of sectors, from mining and manufacturing to agro-processing and data centres.
However, there is much skepticism over implementation, with ongoing questions about whether there was any apparent impact on employment and gross fixed capital formation during this period.
InvestSA Yunus Hussain Said that ongoing monitoring of the status of government pledges indicated that R600 billion had been invested in line with announcements made at the last five summits.
He attributed the gap between actual and declared values largely to the long duration of some of the projects that were pledged.
At the upcoming conference, Hosein indicated that more than 65 pledges would be made from companies representing a total of 21 countries, with the new investments to be distributed across all nine provinces of South Africa.
chairman Cyril Ramaphosa It was expected that the “astonishing” investment price would be announced at the conference itself.
At the fifth and most recent investment conference in 2023, Ramaphosa set a R2-trillion investment target for the period to 2028.
No updates have been provided regarding pledges made or the overall goal since no summit was held last year or in 2024, when a multi-party government of national unity was formed following national elections.
Tau said the first cycle focused on building a framework of trust and partnership between 2018 and 2023.
“This new cycle is about turning promises into implementation that reflects economic growth and jobs,” he said.
Tau acknowledged that some invitees had indicated that it might be difficult for them to travel because of the war launched by Israel and the US against Iran.
However, the global character of the event will be retained partly through the fact that the 2026 event will be livestreamed.
Responding to questions about rising geopolitical tensions and South Africa's ongoing standoff with the United States, Tau said, “History does not wait for the right circumstances.”
Recently, South Africa was included among 60 economies to be investigated by the United States Trade Representative to determine whether adequate steps were taken to prohibit imports of goods produced with forced labor.
Describing relations with the US as unstable, Tau stressed that South Africa will continue to engage with the US on trade issues being raised.
However, he said the overall message for investors is that South Africa can be a preferred investment destination and that the ongoing economic reforms in the country are creating new opportunities for investment.