“Ramaphosa said the sixth investment conference was being convened under the framework of 'decarbonisation, digitisation and diversification', with the ease of doing business as a 'cross-cutting theme'.”

“The first investment conference took place in late 2018, and the Presidency said the event had since attracted R1.14-trillion worth of investment commitments in mining, manufacturing, agriculture, energy and the digital economy.”

“According to Stats SA, gross fixed capital formation declined by 1.4% in the fourth quarter of 2019. It said gross fixed capital formation increased by 1.3% in the fourth quarter of 2025, contributing 0.2 percentage points to the total growth.”

“According to the World Bank, in 2018, when Ramaphosa was first sworn in as president, gross fixed capital formation stood at 16%. It had since slid to a low of just above 13% in 2021 before recovering to the 14%-15% range, although by 2024 it had failed to return to 16% and now languishes at 13% of GDP.”

“Since the late 1970s, government fixed capital formation as a percentage of GDP fell sharply and never recovered meaningfully. State-owned entities’ capex percentage is also low by historic standards.”

“The private sector was doing significantly better at 9.9%, but even its levels of investment were down compared to historic highs.”

“Gross fixed capital formation collapsed by 15.1% from 2018 to 2025, with the government component down by 19.1% and real per capita investment down by 26.3%.”