Cyril Ramaphosa. Image: Twitter.com/ Presidency ZA
South Africa has moved up seven places since 2018 in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual Global Competitiveness Index, and President Cyril Ramaphosa is elated with this progress.
What is the WEF Global Competitiveness Index?
“That we have been able to improve our ranking so remarkably and within a relatively short period of time, is a welcome sign that the structural reforms put in place to stimulate the economy, and promote recovery are slowly but surely gaining traction.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa
The index is an annual assessment of the drivers of productivity and long-term economic growth in 141 global economies, which South Africa is featured in. The competitiveness index ranks the respective economies under a variety of socio-economic indicators such as the strength of institutions, infrastructure, financial systems, business dynamism and macroeconomic stability.
This report records that South Africa has made ‘remarkable progress’ with regards to corporate governance, enhanced administrative efficiency of the public sector and institutional quality, such as in the restored balance of powers across different state entities.
South Africa scores high for “advanced transport infrastructures”
South Africa is also recorded to have achieved a score of 100 for its ‘well-developed equity, insurance and credit markets,’ and further ranked 19th globally as a financial hub.
The report also ranks South Africa at 45th for having ‘one of the most advanced transport infrastructures in the region’ and for market size, the country gets a ranking for 35th.
“Whilst we note there are areas for improvement – the report cites security and insufficient labour market flexibility as some of the constraints to growth, this improved ranking gives us added impetus to remain firmly on course with our economic reform agenda.”
President Cyril RamaphosaRamaphosa has indicated that South Africa is improving on indicators to be ranked high
President Ramaphosa has welcomed the WEF Global Competitiveness Index, and noted that the country is looking forward to the release of the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index later this year.
South Africa has aimed to be ranked amongst the Top 50 countries on this index, by improving the indicators of registering property, paying taxes, starting a business, construction permits and trading across borders.
In the first meeting of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council on Wednesday, the President stated the government’s economic priorities and promised to focus on unemployment and tourism to boost the economy.
“Our country has made great strides in improving the lives of South Africans since 1994. However, our economy does not perform at the same level as other upper-middle-income countries. This is due to the uneven distribution of income and wealth in our economy, inherited from our difficult past.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa
