The growth outlook for South Africa remains weak, with even the National Treasury’s modest gross domestic product forecast of 2.7% for 2014 considered as optimistic by some observers.
This official growth estimate is also well below the 5.4% yearly growth aspiration outlined in the National Development Plan, which argues that higher levels of sustained economic expansion are required if South Africa is to make inroads into poverty, unemployment and inequality.
The upshot of South Africa’s ongoing struggle to recover from the global economic crisis is that the country’s project pipeline remains dominated by public-sector infrastructure projects in the energy, transport and water sectors.
The private sector, which traditionally contributes the lion’s share of fixed investment, remains wary, particularly in light of ongoing supply-side constraints, most notably associated with South Africa’s volatile labour climate and its electricity shortfalls. This edition of Projects in Progress shows that the domestic project economy continues to tick over, albeit with few signs of fireworks.
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