Statement by the City’s Executive Mayor, Patricia de Lille
Cape Town welcomes all delegates to the World Economic Forum
2015
Minister Derek Hanekom, Minister of Tourism; Mr Philipp Rosler, Managing
Director of the World Economic Forum; Ms Chichi Maponya, Chairperson of
Brand SA; delegates of the World Economic Forum 2015; members of the
world media; ladies and gentlemen.
Good day.
It is a great privilege to host the World Economic Forum Africa in Cape Town
again.
This vitally important event on the calendar brings together those who are
thinking about and working on Africa’s future.
In historical terms, Africa stands at the threshold of progress after a period of
arrested development.
This threshold sees us with new strengths: rapid technological advances
mean that, at least as far as information is concerned, African markets and
African people are incredibly connected to each other and the world,
creating ever-expanding networks of opportunity.
Furthermore, the continent benefits from the experiences of a demographic
upswing, with a high volume of youth and a high ratio of working-age
population to non-working-age population.
New markets have opened up and economic engines are roaring in many
countries on the continent while other sectors of the globe focus their
attention on new opportunities in Africa.
But if we are talking about prospects, then we must be mindful of the fact
that while the potential is there, nothing is certain.
We know this well in South Africa – a country with many infrastructure
advantages that has had something of a phase of arrested development in
recent years.
And we face the same challenges being experienced by other African
countries – all of which face different choices in terms of their future
development.
Drawing from research conducted by the McKinsey Global Institute and the
World Bank, among others, several divergent development streams have
been identified.
There are those who will choose to further diversify their economies and aim
to achieve sustainable future growth, and include countries like South Africa
and North African economies like Morocco and Egypt.
There are the oil and gas exporters, like Angola and Nigeria, with currently
high growth rates but questionable sustainability potential due to an overreliance on commodities or fossil fuels.
There are transition economies, like Kenya and Ghana, who may become
diversified in future and hence more sustainable with the right investments
and policy choices.
And there will be the undeveloped countries that fall victim to civil warfare
and internal strife, such as the Central African Republic and Mali in recent
times.
As we know from previous experience, nothing is pre-ordained.
The future is yet to be written with the choices we make.
The path that different countries take will be determined by decisions around
hard governance issues: do they want to enforce taxation?
People want services and infrastructure but they do not always want to pay
for it.
Will you create the right regulatory environment?
Exponential growth can seem miraculous when it isn’t confined by a rigorous
network of laws but the beneficiaries of that type of growth are often limited
in number.
And how important is the rule of law?
Wildcat booms can seem like freedom at its purest but the freedom that it
buys is usually enjoyed by only the most powerful in society.
These are the issues facing the continent.
The importance of places like this forum is that it provides the space to
interrogate these and other issues.
In conclusion, let me welcome you again to Cape Town and wish you the
very best in your discussions.
I hope you enjoy our city as much as we enjoy hosting you.
Thank you.