In "Behind SA Companies’ Foreign Misadventures" (Africa & International, April 8-14 2021), I warned that the boards of SA companies ignore geopolitical events at their peril. Ongoing events in Ukraine have demonstrated this to be true.
Simply holding your nose and investing in countries without due regard to their government or where they are located is no longer an option. Shareholders may soon require boards to account for investment decisions that ignore such considerations.
What is also clear is the growing discrepancy between the foreign policies of the SA government and those of the US, the EU and the UK, where SA companies do most of their business and source most of their investors. Companies that base their investment decisions on SA’s confused foreign policy are likely to face an uphill battle.
In China, I’ll bet you 10c that Xi Jinping will be elected president for life later this year after the Chinese parliament voted to remove term limits. If so, SA companies invested in that country had better understand Xi’s statements on capitalism and Taiwan.
Shaun Read
CEO, Read Advisory Services
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