Big players rally behind accelerated economic recovery strategy

JOHANNESBURG – Private sector players have rallied behind the accelerated economic recovery strategy proposed by South Africa’s biggest business grouping with the aim of achieving higher levels of growth to recover from the Covid-19 crisis.

Business For SA (B4SA) on Friday proposed a list of 12 priority initiatives that could possibly increase gross domestic product (GDP) by R1trillion, create up to 1.5million jobs and increase tax revenues by R100billion a year.

The projects included achieving a secure and affordable electricity supply, fast-tracking the green economy, implementing a road and rail strategy, ports expansion, full-spectrum utilisation and acceleration of e-commerce.

This infrastructure-led economic revival plan will, however, require a baseline total funding requirement of R3.4trln from the public and private sectors over the next three years.

B4SA’s proposal also calls for widespread structural and institutional reforms, policy consistency, regulatory reform, improving the ease of doing business, boosting business and investor confidence, addressing crime and corruption, and the restructuring of state companies.