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Jimmy Moyaha: This feature is provided by Standard Bank Group.
Today (Thursday), the B20 gathering concludes at the Sandton Convention Center and we have taken a look back at some of the discussions that have taken place. They also planned to consider several previously proposed recommendations.
I’m joined by the chair of the Treasury and Infrastructure Select Committee, Mr Sim Shabalala, also known as the chief executive of Standard Bank, on the phone to ask him what he makes of this.
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Mr. Tshabalala, I’m glad to have you on the show as usual. Thank you very much for your time. Let’s start with your reflections over the last two days, and actually over the past year. As you can imagine, this has been a very eventful year, not only for you and Standard Bank’s business, but also as part of the Finance and Infrastructure Task Force.
SIM TSHABALALA: So there was intense work and interaction between the 169 people on our task force and the eight co-chairs of the task force who worked with me in reviewing the data and policy recommendations, and that culminated in three broad recommendations. I think I’ll explain these later.
Jimmy Moyaha: I’d like to hear your thoughts on what this means for South Africa and for the world. We have had a very eventful year. The conversations we’ve had so far have had their ups and downs, but I’d like to specifically reflect on the relationships and relationships between local and international companies.
Now that the B20 leading to the G20 is over, from a business perspective, has this strengthened South Africa’s, and indeed the continent’s, relationship with the world?
Sim Tshabalala: Oh, of course, Jimmy. Nearly half of the attendees were from outside South Africa. In other words, more than 2,000 businesspeople gathered at the convention center, nearly half of whom were from overseas.
They were here to talk about Turkey and have deep conversations with their counterparts about opportunities, advancing policies, building bonds and building relationships.
There were also a lot of breakfasts that people were discussing. I attended the breakfast meeting. In fact, I’m happy to talk to you about DP World. There, deep conversations took place about infrastructure, ports, the shipping industry, logistics and everything that is central to the South African economy as well as the African economy.
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In short, the convention center was a bazaar where South African businesses sold their wares and had deep conversations with businesses from around the world.
Jimmy Moyaha: Sir, let me explain some of these recommendations. You highlighted that there were three main recommendations from the task force’s perspective. Before I explain what those specific recommendations are, I would like to hear your thoughts on why they are recommended and their relevance in today’s world.
Sim Shabalala: Jimmy, remember that our task force is one of eight special forces. There is employment and education. These include energy mix and just transition, integrity and compliance, digital transformation, trade and investment, sustainable food systems and agriculture. Then there is industrial transformation and innovation.
What you and I were talking about, I was talking about finance and infrastructure.
It is in the context of the instructions given by the Secretariat and the B20 leadership, as summarized in the communique handed to the American people this afternoon, that as South Africa we seek to achieve four big things: We aim to unleash inclusive growth.
So everything we’re trying to do is to achieve inclusive growth.
Second, it’s about humans investing in human capital.
Third, drive industry reforms to build resilience in global and regional supply chains.
And finally, strengthening the role and involvement of women and SMEs in value chains.
This resulted in, in our case, the three recommendations that I am referring to. They are roughly as follows:
First, we build infrastructure – roads, ports, bridges, dams – and remove barriers that stand in the way. One of the main problems, of course, is that most projects fail before reaching financial close for a variety of reasons, including not being properly prepared, not having enough data, and not having the right regulations in place. So deal with it.
Second, get out of the way. Remove all obstacles that make it difficult for investors to invest in projects and introduce mechanisms to improve public-private and philanthropic partnerships when investing in these projects.
And third, remove obstacles to the movement of capital from investors to projects, the economy and small and medium-sized enterprises.
One example of this is introducing mechanisms that allow small and medium-sized businesses to get paid quickly, such as through invoice discounts.
These are three big recommendations that will make a big difference in closing the continent’s infrastructure gap.
Jimmy Moyaha: Well, sir, before I leave you, I would like to hear your thoughts in the context of the developments that we have seen on the African continent, and particularly in Washington, United States. You mentioned handover. I know that is part of the G20 journey. The president passes on to the next president, and that needs to be carried on in the new year.
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Let’s look at the location of the continents. I don’t know what Africa looks like in the world now that we have successfully hosted the G20 and why we are not successfully hosting the G20 over the weekend. So, relatively speaking, we can consider this to have been a successful tenure for us and for our presidency.
Where does this place us, continentally speaking, in the global framework of things?
Simu Tshabalala: Jimmy, this was the B20 of South Africa as well as the B20 of Africa. As an example, two of my eight co-chairs were African. Samaira Zubairu is the CEO of Africa Finance Corporation and Strive Masiyiwa is a great Zimbabwean-British entrepreneur.
Our recommendations are all about freeing up much-needed funds for the continent’s infrastructure.
We need that infrastructure to give people access to more electricity. There are 600 million people without access to the electricity grid.
We want to give people access to roads, ports and bridges so they can mine, harvest, manufacture goods on the continent and sell goods to other parts of the world. Therefore, we need these roads, bridges, and ports.
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What does that mean for Africa?
Simply put, Jimmy, Africa will be the fastest growing region in the world after 2030.
Our population is increasingly digitally connected, younger, healthier and has more disposable income. And at the same time, the infrastructure is being built.
As a result, we will be the fastest growing continent in the world. And the world knows it.
The world is very attracted to the opportunities on this continent, so it is up to us, as Africans, to negotiate the most advantageous deal for ourselves, and that is what we have done through the B20.
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Jimmy Moyaha: The African position and the African voice are now even more undeniable. That’s the message from Standard Bank Group, the continent’s largest bank in terms of assets.
I’ll leave the conversation here. Thank you, as always, to Mr. Shabalala, Chief Executive Officer of Standard Bank Group and Chair of the G20 Finance and Infrastructure Task Force, for joining us to reflect on the achievements of the B20, the G20 and where we are headed in the future.
