As global leaders gather this week in the snowy alpine resort of Davos-Klosters for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), South Africa has a golden strategic opportunity: to convert renewed international confidence into foreign direct investment, decent jobs and inclusive growth and prosperity for generations.
Team South Africa’s message should be compelling, credible and anchored on tangible deliverables. Davos rewards credibility. Not slogans. South Africa must not treat Davos 2026 as a mere branding exercise. It must focus on execution, deliverables and follow through.
Davos 2026 must be used as a platform for hard-nosed engagements with global capital and other power brokers to reframe the world’s view of South Africa as a credible world-class economy. This is particularly relevant as we are going through a period of severe contestation and deepening tensions in geoeconomics and geopolitics alike.
Rhetoric and sloganeering won’t cut it. Fact-based engagement will. South Africa has a more compelling message for Davos in 2026 than has been the case over the past few years. This year’s focus must be less on the usual ambition-heavy messaging and more on evidence-based confidence showcasing delivery.
Three strategic themes should be at the centre of South Africa’s Davos narrative: reform, reliability and regional leadership.
First, reforms to unlock the country’s growth potential. Davos audiences are very sceptical of reform rhetoric with little or non-existent growth outcomes. Team South Africa should therefore reframe its narrative on reform through a pro-growth agenda to crowd in private capital, invest in skills development and reduce the cost of doing business.
Visa reforms, particularly for scarce skills, remote workers and tourists, are quick-win areas in which progress has been made and results are starting to show. Regulatory reforms across industries such as mining, telecommunications and infrastructure are areas of opportunity for improvement that should be expedited to encourage local and foreign investors alike.
Labour market reforms require an open and pragmatic discussion to deal with our high levels of youth unemployment. The focus should be on broadening access to the labour market, especially for our youth. South Africa’s youth and their drive and passion for entrepreneurship, digital excellence and the improvement in matric results over the past few years give the country a competitive edge which can be leveraged by all investors.
More importantly, South Africa must articulate how public-private partnerships are becoming the default delivery model, not the exception. It can be plausibly argued that the most investable countries today are those that appreciate the limits of state capacity and embrace the power of partnership with the private sector. Global capital is plentiful. What is required are bankable projects, clear procurement rules and capable counterparties.
Second, reliability of our energy, logistics and rule of law systems. Team South Africa must convince Davos, with data, that these basic elements of an efficient and world-class economy are being fixed. It’s not about perfection. It is about predictability and certainty. Team South Africa must spotlight the impressive and measurable progress in the stabilisation of electricity supply, the opening of the grid to private sector players and the progress in transmission reform.
The good progress in turning around Transnet is growth-positive for the economy and inspires investor confidence. Davos needs to be reminded of the reliability and robustness of South Africa’s institutions and governance process.
The good progress in turning around Transnet is growth-positive for the economy and inspires investor confidence. Davos needs to be reminded of the reliability and robustness of South Africa’s institutions and governance process.
We should resist the temptation to always announce plans. Policy certainty and predictability, regulatory consistency and discipline as well as institutional resilience and efficiency matter more than perfect outcomes.
Our independent courts, resilient financial system and deep capital markets are powerful national assets, especially at a time when geopolitical risk threatens to disrupt capital flows. South Africa should assert itself as a jurisdiction in which contracts are enforced, capital can be repatriated and disputes are resolved fairly and transparently. All these make South Africa investable.
Third, South Africa’s value proposition is enhanced by its positioning as a regional platform to a rapidly urbanising, resource-rich and digitalising continent. South Africa’s unique and strategic position in Africa enables it to be a key role player in global priority areas such as supply chain diversification, the critical minerals race, advanced manufacturing and digital infrastructure modernisation. The country should connect its domestic reforms to these global priorities in a commercially astute and pragmatic manner devoid of unhelpful populist ideological pretensions.
The approval of a three-year extension of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) by the US House of Representatives on January 12 augurs very well for US-Africa trade and investment relations. Agoa combined with the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) are what South Africa and Africa need to turbocharge themselves and develop into first-world economies. South Africa’s sophisticated financial services sector, independent judiciary, advanced manufacturing and superior logistics networks are the scaffolding for world-class regional value chains to be built.
South Africa should articulate its commitment to open markets, fair competition and constructive international partnerships. Pretoria needs to craft and articulate a balanced, principled foreign policy, anchored on economic pragmatism and realism to reassure global capital that South Africa is a reliable and trusted long-term partner of choice.
On geopolitics, a disciplined, well-balanced approach, anchored and driven by nation-interest is advisable. Investors value pragmatism over rhetoric and hot air. They also value strategic clarity and consistency over posturing and unhelpful grandstanding. We should avoid scoring own goals that undermine investor confidence, economic growth and job creation.
The success of Team South Africa should not be measured by headlines or panel invitations but by quantifiable capital investments and jobs created for ordinary South Africans. This requires mechanisms to ensure that Davos promises are tracked, measured and reported on.
Davos 2026 should be used by South Africa to demonstrate that reforms are now the new normal, that partnerships are institutionalised and, above all, growth and job creation are the central organising principles of economic policy. If Team South Africa delivers its message with clarity underpinned by credible evidence and confidence, capital will not waste its time but make its way to all corners of South Africa to help grow the economy and create decent jobs that deliver inclusive prosperity and a better life for generations.
- Dlamini is the chairman of Alexforbes and Aspen Pharmacare Holdings and also president of the American Chamber of Commerce in South Africa. He writes in his personal capacity.
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