INVESTMENT
Return to confidence index bodes well for SA
The country could receive higher inflows of FDI over the next three years with return to AT Kearney foreign direct investment index
SA has made it back into the AT Kearney foreign direct investment (FDI) confidence index after a two-year absence, indicating it could receive higher inflows of FDI over the next three years. But SA is now at the bottom of the table, ranking 25 out of the 25 countries in the index, in contrast to 2014, when it was near the middle at number 13, ahead of economies such as Switzerland and Malaysia. The index is based on a survey of global business executives in 30 countries which provides a forward-looking view of which markets investors tend to target for FDI in the years ahead. However, the survey was conducted in January 2017 and it is not clear whether the executives would have been less enthusiastic about SA after President Jacob Zuma’s recent cabinet reshuffle and ratings downgrades. Reserve Bank figures show that SA received R33.5bn in direct investment in 2016, up from R22bn in 2015, but on a net basis FDI still recorded outflows, with South African companies’ outward FDI to ot...
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