Davos chat can't mask facts

26 January 2016 - 02:12 By Jean Michel

That South Africa is open for business is the mantra that Mr Zuma and Team SA kept on repeating in Davos, but while they were busy saying this the IMF dropped a bombshell by projecting growth of only 0.7% for South Africa for 2016. And then the UN Conference on Trade and Development announced that South Africa's foreign direct investment fell 74% to $1.5-billion (about R25-billion) last year.To top this Standard & Poor's warned that another policy "mistake" along the lines of removing the finance minister would see South Africa's credit rating downgraded to junk status.Then we have a monetary policy committee meeting this week that will force the Reserve Bank to increase interest rates to curb inflation, constraining the market even more and shrinking the economy.It was also announced last week that Chevron is selling 75% of its South African business and that Barclays, which employs over 40000 people in South Africa, wants to move out of Africa.And, of course, we have the new bills before parliament that are negative for business.In Davos Jacob Zuma decides not to attend the panel talk on Africa, the continent's top showcase.He showed a complete disregard for the country and its economy and once more was not aware that we are in a crisis situation.The rand's decline is an accurate depiction of the share price of South Africa Inc.So, we see a perfect storm on the horizon. ..

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