New Delhi, India - President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged closer economic cooperation between South Africa and India, positioning the country’s reform agenda as a platform for stronger trade, increased investment and inclusive growth that benefits communities in both countries.
Speaking during an engagement with India’s business sector, the President said South Africa is undertaking wide-ranging reforms to accelerate structural change, strengthen competitiveness and unlock growth.
“South Africa is transforming its economy, undertaking far-reaching changes in our energy, telecommunications, logistics and water sectors.
“We have emerged from more than a decade of electricity shortages into a new era of investment and competition. We are reviving our freight rail system and our ports, enabling the participation of new operators and investing in expanding capacity,” the President said during a South Africa-India roundtable on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit currently underway.
He said the reforms are designed to lower the cost of doing business and make South Africa a more competitive destination for investors.
“We have embarked on the largest infrastructure investment programme in our country’s history, building the capacity of our economy while meeting the needs of our people,” the President said on Saturday.
The reform programme is already gaining traction, with South Africa’s credit rating outlook improving, inflation easing and the country moving towards stabilising national debt.
“Our investment drive continues to gather pace. That is why we are delighted that more than 150 Indian companies have collectively invested over $10 billion in South Africa, creating employment for over 18,000 South Africans.
“At the same time, a number of leading South African companies have invested in India’s growth. These include companies such as Naspers, FirstRand Bank, Sanlam and Momentum,” the President said.
India is hosting the BRICS Summit under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”.
The summit concludes India’s 2026 BRICS chairship, which has focused on resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability.
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In his address during the BRICS Business Forum on Friday, President Ramaphosa called on BRICS governments and business communities to use the grouping as a platform to deepen investment and trade, reshape existing economic patterns and transform the economies of countries across the Global South.
READ | President Ramaphosa calls on BRICS to reshape global economic patterns
The President said the ambition of governments and business communities must extend beyond increasing intra-BRICS trade to deepening productive relationships between economies. -SAnews.gov.za
