OUTSIDE VIEW
HILARY JOFFE: Something to celebrate in latest foreign direct investment stats
SA performs very poorly on the factors that matter most in attracting FDI
Are foreigners flocking to SA to build new factories, offices and mines? President Cyril Ramaphosa pointed in his state of the nation speech to official figures showing inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) had jumped from R17bn in 2017 to R70bn in the first three quarters of 2018. "This is a phenomenal achievement compared to the low level of investment in the previous years," he said, prompting questions about who all these foreign investors might be who were setting up shop in SA, and even before the president's Investment Summit in the fourth quarter of last year. The numbers come from the balance of payments accounts published in the Reserve Bank quarterly bulletin, and the trend is worth celebrating. FDI inflows to SA hit a high of R80bn in 2013 but had been falling since. With its sophisticated financial markets, SA has long been very good at attracting foreign money into its JSE-listed shares and bonds — the so-called portfolio flows, which are often volatile because in...
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