Ramaphosa’s economy remains a work in progress

ANALYSIS

When Cyril Ramaphosa ascended to the presidency five years ago, a large part of his appeal was his perceived affability towards investors, which held the promise that his administration may be able to resuscitate South Africa’s breathless economy.

In his first State of the Nation address, the president vowed to set the economy on a new path of growth and employment. Doing so would entail encouraging investment by restoring confidence in the functioning of the state, a considerable task given the ravages of corruption over the preceding decade.

Since then, the country’s credit rating has fallen deeper into junk status, investors are only now starting to show signs of life and the economy is a mere 0.8% larger than it was after Ramaphosa’s first year — which has caused unemployment to climb higher than it was before his presidency.