Growth failure punctures employment
Foreign direct investment has not exceeded capital depreciation sufficiently to create new businesses, writes Thabang Motsohi
Statistician-General Pali Lehohla has reminded the country that its stubborn and rising structural unemployment demonstrates economic growth remains elusive and its growth strategies are not delivering the intended outcomes. He also observes that the level of foreign and domestic investment is too low to create new businesses and jobs. The challenge with foreign direct investment is that for many years it has been around 20% of GDP and it has not exceeded capital depreciation significantly enough to be able to catalyse growth and create new businesses and jobs. For the economy to create the level of jobs anticipated in the National Development Plan would require that foreign direct investment exceed 30%. This is the area of the political mandate that demands leadership with strategic foresight. The country needs to create an investment climate that is attractive because it is the private sector that creates jobs by investing in new businesses and expanding existing businesses. At th...
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