South African companies are accumulating reserves and not investing in the economy while acquisition-led growth has increased concentration and led to anticompetitive behaviour, says research from the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development. Cash reserves in the JSE’s largest 50 companies had increased from R242bn to R1.4-trillion between 2005 and 2016, said Thando Vilakazi, senior economist at the centre. The government needed to design policy that would incentivise firms to invest domestically, Vilakazi said this week on the release of the Industrial Development Research Project. Funded by the Department of Trade and Industry, the research considers the investment decisions of the largest JSE-listed companies to offer solutions for the apparent investment strike. Separately, it explores Remgro as an influential investment holdings company that could shape developmental outcomes and also reports on the food production and processing ...
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