South Africa is very crime-ridden and corrupt. But it has abundant natural resources, and is finally deregulating somewhat, which is attracting more investment. It needs private investment in things like infrastructure, because its government is hopelessly corrupt and incompetent at managing things. That has led to chronic power blackouts, crumbling road networks, and failing water infrastructure.
Fortunately, “Operation Vulindlela, a South African deregulatory initiative, appears to be stimulating private investment in the country. Recently announced private infrastructure projects total 382.5 billion rand (23 billion USD), more than triple the amount recorded in 2024,” notes The Doomslayer.
Bloomberg News reports:
Planned capital investment in South Africa surged last year as private commitments tripled, while government projects excluding state companies declined, according to a report by Nedbank Group Ltd.
The value of newly announced plans climbed 16% to 705.6 billion rand ($44 billion), the lender said in its Capital Expenditure Project Listing report released Monday.
Private firms committed to investing 382.5 billion rand, up from 116.2 billion rand in 2024. Major initiatives included Vodacom Group Ltd.’s 85.2 billion-rand expansion and modernization of digital infrastructure through network upgrades and an accelerated 5G rollout, and NT55 Investments’ planned 50 billion-rand inland port in the central Gauteng province…
By contrast, the value of projects planned by the government itself tumbled to 2.9 billion rand last year, from 204 billion rand in 2024, when the authorities announced a 43.7 billion-rand housing and community development program and a 35.8 billion-rand second phase of the Rooiwal wastewater project.
Years of underinvestment and mismanagement have left Africa’s largest economy with a massive infrastructure backlog that’s curbed output. President Cyril Ramaphosa has previously estimated that the country needs as much as 1.6 trillion rand in public-sector infrastructure investment and a further 3.2 trillion rand from the private sector for it to achieve its infrastructure goals by 2030.
The government has sought to crowd in private investment through reforms while shifting spending toward growth-enhancing infrastructure. Measures under Operation Vulindlela — a task force set up by Ramaphosa to address energy and freight constraints — are progressing, with 47% of reforms on track and most of the remainder advancing despite delays, the National Treasury said Friday.
There are still impediments to living and working in South Africa. South Africa is not well run. It has the world’s highest murder rate, the highest rape rate in the world, the world’s highest robbery rate, and the world’s highest burglary rate, according to the crime statistics cited by NationMaster in its comparison of various countries.
The Heritage Foundation notes that South Africa has more economic freedom than the average African country, but it has less economic freedom than the average country in the entire world. South Africa has a mediocre ranking on the World Bank Ease of Doing Business index. It is not near either the top or the bottom.
