South Africa is becoming a loser nation compared with the rapid growth of other African countries. South Africa used to be the powerhouse of the continent, but that all changed. Now the whippersnapper countries in Africa are starting to give it a hiding. Complacency leads to decay. But South Africa isn’t only about complacency. It’s about a government hell-bent on doing things its own way, with ministers in portfolios who know nothing about those industries and the technologies. Then there’s the social engineering that mainly means passing guilt on to groups of people. Some people are sick and tired of being blamed for things that happened 60, 70, 80 years ago. These people weren’t even born in those generations, and didn’t even vote for those people. Yes, and let’s be totally honest here: some of the newer generations living today may have benefited from their forebears’ wealth under the previous governments.
But the main point is this — that social engineering in South Africa, apart from passing on guilt, has not been successful. Greater levels of social engineering should have been provided so that millions upon millions, now without jobs and living in poverty, could have benefited from a new regime. Then there is the loaded area of corruption, court cases, crime, backhand dealings. One can read about all of that on the internet. Just the sheer shocking size of it is massive.
Now you also have policy and regulation, which this government must do its way, and that is strangling new investment in the country. We now see how African countries like Côte d’Ivoire, like Rwanda, like Morocco, like Egypt are rising. These are now rising stars in Africa. Rwanda, Morocco, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Mauritius and Egypt are Africa’s clearest success stories: Rwanda wins on clean, coordinated government and fast SEZ permitting; Morocco on single-authority execution at Tanger Med and stable long-horizon incentives; Côte d’Ivoire on macro stability and agro-processing; Ethiopia on low-cost manufacturing backed by long tax and customs exemptions; Mauritius on institutional stability and diversified textiles, food and services; Egypt on scale, Suez Canal zones and manufacturing depth. Their common advantage is not low wages or less bureaucracy per se, but coherent policy, predictable rules and speed from approval to operation.
If you look back over 100 years, you’ll see South Africa transition from a narrow primary exporting colony to an industrial powerhouse mid-century. During the 1960s, the country experienced rapid, unprecedented economic growth fueled by a booming global economy and expansive mining and industrial capacity. Today, however, that dynamic has shifted significantly, with the economy experiencing little to no growth amid modern structural hurdles and constraints.
Whatever field you are in, whether it’s running a government or a business or a football team, you’re going to have competition. The point is the competition in Africa is getting stronger. South Africa has been complacent, and there have been major problems in running the country. No one wants to run down the country, but it is in poor shape given its performance — and the success of these countries just goes to show how things have taken a turn for the worse.
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