POLITICAL CLIMATE
Fixed investment at 13-year low amid SA’s jitters
Fixed investment plummeted in 2017 to levels last seen in 2004, as SA’s poor policy and political environment and collapse in business confidence deterred companies from committing to large-capacity expansion plans. Nedbank’s latest Capital Expenditure Project Listing, which measures investment projects announced by companies, shows there was a drop in the number and value of projects announced in 2017, with the value dropping to R63bn, the lowest since 2004, from R90.6bn in 2016. The number of projects decreased from 67 to 48, the lowest since 2010. Of these, 27 were private sector projects, but only three were by the public corporations, such as Eskom, that had tended to be mainstays of investment in previous years. However, the community and social services sector accounted for 41% of the total value of announced projects, with nine new projects in housing and education. The capital expenditure listing is a key indicator of current and future investment spending, and the latest N...
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