04-04-2017
Wesgro notes the recent downgrades of South Africa's credit rating to by ratings agencies such as Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's (S&P), as well as the fact that they cited political and policy instability as part of their motivation.
We remind all existing and potential investors in the Cape that politics and policy within our province remain stable, and the City of Cape Town has the highest possible level of credit quality from ratings agency Moody's within the national context.
“While S&P’s downgrade is a significant setback for South Africa’s economy, Wesgro will continue to work to promote the Cape as a stable base for investment in Africa” said Wesgro CEO Tim Harris.
“In light of this downgrade, we will redouble our efforts to present the Cape as Africa’s trade and investment springboard by embarking on over 70 tourism, trade and investment promotion missions over the next financial year to land even more investment,” concluded Harris.
Alan Winde, Minister of Economic Opportunities, said the downgrade will impact the most vulnerable residents: “The risks are that the poor will become poorer, interest rates and inflation will be under pressure. We will continue with our programmes, and we have seen already an increase in job creation despite slow economic growth nationally. Through Project Khulisa, we are making good progress in agri processing, oil and gas and tourism. We have the Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone, which is attracting significant investment from international companies. In the green energy space, we also anticipate the designation of the Atlantis Special Economic Zone in the current financial year. These initiatives are economic draw cards and they keep our destination competitive.”
In the second half of this year Wesgro will also open the Cape Investor Centre, a new one-stop shop where large investors can easily complete local, provincial and national regulatory processes in a single location facilitated by Wesgro.
Cape Town ranked 21st for its foreign direct investment (FDI) strategy by fDi Intelligence’s Global Cities of the Future 2016/17 and is the only African city listed in this category. Sectors with a competitive advantage for attracting global FDI are real estate, non-automotive transport and food and tobacco.
According to a recent Wesgro survey which examined the perspective and experience of companies that have recently invested in the Cape, three quarters of companies surveyed had a positive perception of Cape Town as a base to do business in Africa and noted the city's sophisticated infrastructure as a draw card. Of the companies that intended to expand into Africa, a quarter indicated they would opt to run their African regional headquarters in Cape Town.
Wesgro’s recently published Global Economic Priorities for the Cape highlights significant opportunities for Cape companies looking to invest, export, and tap into the growth of our tourism economy and the agency has invited local companies to join our upcoming trade and investment missions in Africa and the rest of the world.
