Pretoria: President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged closer economic cooperation between South Africa and India, highlighting the country's reform agenda as a platform for stronger trade, increased investment, and inclusive growth benefiting communities in both nations. Speaking during an engagement with India's business sector, the President emphasized South Africa's wide-ranging reforms aimed at accelerating structural change, enhancing competitiveness, and unlocking growth.
According to South African Government News Agency, President Ramaphosa outlined the significant transformations underway in South Africa's economy, particularly in the energy, telecommunications, logistics, and water sectors. He noted the country's transition from a decade of electricity shortages to a new era characterized by investment and competition. The President also discussed the revival of the freight rail system and ports, which would enable the participation of new operators and increase capacity.
The reform program, President Ramaphosa explained, is designed to reduce the cost of doing business, making South Africa a more attractive destination for investors. He highlighted the nation's largest infrastructure investment program, aimed at expanding the economy's capacity while addressing the needs of its people. The President noted that these efforts are already yielding positive results, with improvements in South Africa's credit rating outlook, easing inflation, and progress toward stabilizing national debt.
President Ramaphosa expressed satisfaction with the ongoing investment drive, citing that over 150 Indian companies have collectively invested more than $10 billion in South Africa, generating employment for over 18,000 South Africans. Concurrently, several leading South African companies, including Naspers, FirstRand Bank, Sanlam, and Momentum, have invested in India's growth.
The President's comments were made on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, hosted by India under the theme 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.' The summit marks the conclusion of India's 2026 BRICS chairship, which has prioritized resilience, innovation, cooperation, and sustainability.
In his address during the BRICS Business Forum, President Ramaphosa called on BRICS governments and business communities to leverage the grouping as a platform to deepen investment and trade, reshape existing economic patterns, and transform the economies of countries across the Global South. He emphasized the need for expanding productive relationships between economies beyond merely increasing intra-BRICS trade.
