BUILDING THE ECONOMY BY JESSIE TAYLOR
Five
Reasons to do business with government
S
Building the economy through public-private partnerships: 5 reasons to do business with our Government
outh African has faced several economic challenges over the last year, but several new reforms and initiatives by the government are showing strong political will to create a climate in which businesses can thrive. This new sentiment is seeing business confidence soar – even though the country has a high unemployment rate and is currently fighting a third wave of the pandemic. At the moment, business confidence is higher than prior to the pandemic, according to two separate indexes, and the economy appears to be accelerating, with gross domestic product expanding at a faster pace than forecast in the first quarter. This revival in economic activity brings with it a plethora of opportunities for businesses,
62 | Public Sector Leaders | July 2021
as well as new incentives to consider taking on the South Africa Government as a business partner. Here are five reasons why you should be doing business with the government: 1. Regional positioning Developing and emerging markets have become major drivers of economic growth, and South Africa has long been earmarked as an economic powerhouse on the continent. Partnering with the government can give businesses access to other countries on the continent – the country has a leading role in SADC negotiations and is a member of the African Continental Free Trade Area, which creates a market of more than one billion people. The county also has several
trade agreements to facilitate exports to global markets. As a leader on the continent, the South African Government has been instrumental in creating business opportunities.
Government has launched a website under its Ease of Doing Business programme, which will assist companies with updates, offer tools to SMMEs The most recent example of these lies in the development of vaccines, following the global demand for supplies to fight the Coronavirus pandemic. South Africa has been lobbying for a temporary waiver of intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines and treatment. This would allow developing nations
