Transnet's eagle eye
CEO of state-owned transport company argues that because it is in the business of moving goods around SA, building infrastructure and working on the ground, it gains more insight into the real economy
There is an intriguing discrepancy between Transnet CEO Siyabonga Gama’s view on SA’s prospects, and government’s rosier outlook. Gama, speaking to the Financial Mail at the Africa CEO Forum in Geneva last month, believes times are going to be tougher than suggested by the 1.4% growth projected by national treasury for this year. It’ll be better than last year, he said — but not by much. "For 2017, we are going to experience growth of 0.7%, because I know the fundamentals. We’re in that space, we know more things that will happen before they happen and much earlier than people experience them," said Gama. His argument is that because Transnet is in the business of moving goods around the country, building infrastructure and working on the ground, it gains more acute insight into the real economy. The good news is that Gama believes SA will have growth of 1.3% by 2018 and may hit the 3% mark by 2019 and after. There’s a caveat: his projection was made before last week’s downgrade to ...
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