MANDY WIENER: South Africa’s (slightly) better story to tell and sell at Davos

As Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carny stated at the World Economic Forum this week, we are in the midst of a ‘rupture’ as the established world order is shifting. Tensions have been palpable as issues over tariffs, Trump’s obsession with annexing Greenland and trade have been swirling.

However, for South Africa, which has so long been in the crosshairs of the US President, it has been a moment for reprieve as we are temporarily off his primary hit list.

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa admitted that this provided ‘big relief’ to Team South Africa as they arrived at WEF. It also informed the country’s strategy of protecting the national interest.

“I think for countries such as ours, positioning ourselves is a big part of the strategic orientation. We have to protect the national interest, because our interests can be decimated as the big boys are fighting,” he told Bongani Bingwa on 702 this week.

Each year, our team braces itself for the freeze of Davos, wrapped up in their national colour flag scarves, to sell the story of South Africa to the international investment community.

Investing is all about the story. We have had some years when the story has been a horror. It has been hard to see beyond the endemic corruption, state capture, erosion of state-owned entities, stagnant growth, unemployment, loadshedding and infrastructure collapse.

This year, the story on offer from South Africa has been somewhat better than in the past.

“South Africa will showcase its improving economic position, reflected in strengthening investor confidence. Key recent developments include the stabilisation of electricity supply, removal from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) greylist, and an upgrade of the sovereign credit rating by the rating agency S&P Global,” read the Treasury statement this week.

Improved growth and lower inflation over the past year, together with a ratings upgrade and South Africa’s removal from the FATF grey list, have boosted confidence.

This week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) marginally increased its forecast for SA’s economic growth for 2026 to 1.4% from 1.2%. That is still far too low to be fair, but it’s going up at least.

South Africa was also recently removed from the EU’s list of High-Risk Third Country Jurisdictions.

These are all indicators that the economic outlook may have turned a corner.

I’ve spent the week speaking to financial advisors and investors at a corporate roadshow across the country, and while hope is not an investment strategy, sentiment does seem to be up.

PSG’s senior economist Johann Els agrees with me that this is the case.

“A few years ago, I described policy changes that enabled a greater role for the private sector as ‘radical economic transformation — of the right kind’. We are now beginning to see the benefits of these reforms. As a result, I expect economic growth of around 2.5% to 3% over the next three to five years. While this would mark a significant improvement on the roughly 1% average growth of the past 13 years — and further reinforce confidence and sustainability — South Africa is unlikely to achieve a sustained growth rate of 5% to 6% due to persistent labour market rigidities, skills shortages and municipal failures. Efforts to address these challenges are underway, but meaningful gains are likely to take time,” says Els.

We are seeing this in practical terms. In December, it was announced that Durban Container Terminal’s Pier 2 would be privatised. We are seeing increased collaboration with the private sector. The finance minister has also partially walked back the ANC on the NHI court cases and negotiations.

Speaking from Davos to Stephen Grootes on The Money Show this week, Investec CEO Fani Titi spoke of the sentiment within the SA team.

“We came here as South Africans with a sense of optimism because there has been general agreement about the reform program, its architecture and now we just have to deliver on it. We have seen some positive progress already, so we brought that message here, and we have been well-received. Not only have we come here to talk about South Africa and to try and get investment into the country, but we also do promote investment into Africa as a continent. “

We still have a long way to go. Unemployment is dire. Growth is not where it could be. Service delivery in most metros is broken. The capture of the country’s law enforcement and politicians is being laid bare for all to see.

But we need to celebrate the small wins that make it easier to position South Africa as a more attractive investment destination.