Address by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the South Africa Infrastructure Investment Summit, Cape Town, Western Cape Province

Wednesday, 13 May 2026

Programme Director,
Minister in the Presidency, Ms khumbudzo Ntshavheni,
Minister of Transport, Ms Barbara Creecy,
Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure,
Mr Dean Macpherson,
Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition,
Mr Zuko Godlimpi,
Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr David Masondo,
Chairman and CEO of Global Infrastructure Partners, Mr Adebayo Ogunlesi,
Leaders of Public and Private Sector entities,
Members of the business and investor community,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning.

Allow me to begin by thanking Global Infrastructure Partners and BlackRock for convening this summit.

This gathering affirms Africa's place as a leading destination for global infrastructure investment.

The global investment landscape is rapidly evolving. It has become increasingly competitive, especially for emerging markets vying for capital.

Investors are seeking opportunities that offer scale and sustainable returns in investment destinations where there is policy certainty, stable institutions and manageable risk.

Infrastructure development in Africa presents one of the largest untapped investment opportunities of our time.

According to the OECD, raising Africa's annual infrastructure investment to roughly $155 billion could nearly double continental GDP by 2040.

It is significant that BlackRock, one of the world's largest infrastructure investment platforms, recognises this immense potential.

We welcome the announcement by BlackRock earlier this year of a $500 million commitment towards the African Infrastructure Fund III, with investments targeted towards energy systems, logistics corridors and transport infrastructure.

Private capital and expertise is critical to Africa's infrastructure progress.

Because it is the building block of every modern economy on earth, infrastructure is the next great frontier of investment.

It is in this context that institutional investors are increasingly looking to South Africa as a strategic, long-term investment destination.

South Africa has the largest, most industrialised and most diverse economy in Africa.

We have a sophisticated financial sector, deep capital markets, substantial mining reserves, vast tracks of arable land, untapped wind and solar energy resources, and cutting-edge digital infrastructure.

We have a young, dynamic and growing population with one of the highest rates of urbanisation on the continent.

Sixty-three percent of South Africans live in urban areas, where the demand for public infrastructure continues to rise.

South Africa is a democracy in which the Constitution provides legal certainty, protects rights and holds the state accountable. This is essential to both social justice and economic development.

The South African economy has weathered difficult times. Growth has been constrained by a number of factors, including the era of state capture, an energy crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic and global economic volatility.

Over the last eight years, we have worked to revive our network industries and restore financial and institutional stability.

We are now seeing signs of recovery. We have recorded four consecutive quarters of growth into early 2026, although we are yet to see this translate into a meaningful rise in employment.

Inflation is stable. Our sovereign rating has been upgraded, and last year we were removed from the Financial Action Task Force grey list.

South Africa's fiscal position is improving. We are on track to record our third consecutive primary budget surplus. We are steadily stabilising our sovereign debt burden and have a clear path towards achieving sustainable levels of debt.

We are now focused on improving the efficiency of public spending, freeing up resources for infrastructure investment and sustaining the social wage.

The government is aligned with the South African Reserve Bank on the need to contain inflation, particularly in the context of heightened pressures from the Middle East conflict. This is necessary to protect South Africans from rising costs and to encourage investment.

We are firmly committed to sustaining a stable macroeconomic framework, understanding that it is essential for faster inclusive growth and job creation.

Our structural reform agenda continues to gain momentum.

It has brought about a new era of promise. It has positioned our economy as one of the leading destinations for investment in emerging markets.

In the first five years of our investment drive, which we launched in 2018, we attracted R1.5 trillion in investment commitments in sectors such as energy, telecoms, infrastructure, property, mining, advanced manufacturing and others.

Just over a month ago, we held the 6th South Africa Investment Conference, where we secured a record $54 billion (R890 billion) in pledges.

This has encouraged us to set a new investment goal of R3 trillion - or $180 billion - over the next five years.

These commitments represent factories being built, renewable energy projects being connected to the grid, logistics corridors being modernised, jobs being created, and confidence being restored.

Our investment strategy is focused on sectors that will drive growth and create jobs at scale. These include manufacturing, mining beneficiation, digital infrastructure, agriculture and green industrialisation.

As an important part of our investment drive, last week government, industry and capital markets players demonstrated their commitment to cooperation on critical minerals.

We want to move speedily from commitment to identifying commodities and their value chains to specific investable projects that deliver jobs for our people and value to our global partners.

We are determined that our mineral endowment be translated into activities that benefit communities and generate growth.

Our investment ambition is high. We want to double fixed investment - which is currently at 15 percent - for a sustained period of time.

To do this, we need to reduce the gap between improved investor sentiment and far greater capital deployment that translates to strong growth and more jobs.

That is why this Summit is so important.

We want to leverage renewed investor interest to unlock an unprecedented decade of South African infrastructure development and industrial expansion.

Over the next three years, South Africa will be spending over $60 billion (R1 trillion) on infrastructure across the three spheres of government, public entities and state-owned enterprises.

This will entail the modernisation of ports, expansion of freight rail capacity, road rehabilitation and strategic trade corridors.

We are opening the rail network to greater private sector participation and rebuilding operational capacity through Transnet and the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa.

Through strategic public-private partnerships, we are improving port efficiency and reducing congestion, expanding freight capacity and shifting freight from road to rail to reduce costs and emissions.

These reforms are restoring South Africa's logistics competitiveness and strengthening our role as a regional and continental trade hub.

The infrastructure investment will also expand electricity generation capacity, strengthen transmission networks and accelerate the transition to a more competitive and sustainable energy market.

Over the past two years, we have implemented far-reaching reforms that are reshaping our electricity system.

A debilitating energy crisis is largely behind us. We have been able to improve the performance of our coal-fired power plants, expand private generation capacity and stabilise the system.

We are in the process of restructuring the national power utility Eskom to create a more competitive electricity market.

At the same time, we are expanding transmission infrastructure, accelerating renewable energy deployment, scaling battery storage systems and advancing gas-to-power solutions.

We are positioning South Africa as a leader in green hydrogen and industrial decarbonisation.

Through the Infrastructure Fund, government has committed $6 billion (R100 billion) in fiscal support over 10 years to crowd in private capital and blended finance into strategic infrastructure projects.

These investments will fundamentally reposition South Africa as a competitive investment destination and a strategic gateway into the African continent.

They will transform the productive capacity of our economy over the next decade.

This summit is where the interests of private capital and the state converge.

Investors seek certainty, transparency and efficiency.

We are therefore building a credible pipeline of bankable projects designed to attract both domestic and international investment.

InvestSA has curated an investment book of 85 projects valued at around $73 billion.

Our goal is to mobilise public-private partnerships to deliver these projects, recognising that the scale of our ambition requires the full participation of private capital, development finance institutions and institutional investors.

In support of these objectives we have been forging ahead with an ambitious structural reform agenda through Operation Vulindlela, which means 'to open the way'.

The first phase of Operation Vulindlela focused on the energy, transportation, water and telecommunications sectors.

The second phase, which we launched recently, will focus on reforms in local government, digital transformation and human settlements.

Through Operation Vulindlela we have reduced regulatory bottlenecks, expanded private sector participation, improved the efficiency of our infrastructure pipeline and strengthened public-private collaboration.

We are reforming our immigration system to ensure South Africa remains competitive in the global race for skills, innovation and investment.

These reforms have included introducing a trusted employer scheme, a points-based system for skilled migration, remote work and start-up visas, and an expanded e-Visa system.

Investors entering new markets need assurance that their investments are safe and that the business operating environment is underpinned by the rule of law.

One of our key priorities is therefore to combat infrastructure-related crime, construction site extortion and illegal mining.

We are deploying multidisciplinary teams to dismantle organised crime networks and root out police who collude with criminals.

At the same time, we continue to rebuild institutions weakened by state capture. Corruption-accused are being prosecuted, stolen assets are being recovered and the capacity for sophisticated investigations is being strengthened.

A structural shift is underway towards a more efficient, competitive and investment-friendly economy.

Our objective is to translate reform momentum into greater investment, faster growth and more jobs.

We remain committed to macroeconomic stability, to fiscal discipline and to forging ahead with the structural reform agenda that is firmly embedded within the state.

We invite you all to be partners in shaping South Africa's future.

We are not merely building infrastructure. We are building a new growth path for South Africa, one defined by resilience, competitiveness and shared prosperity.

Together, we can convert ambition into action and action into lasting impact.

I thank you.