In 2022, Business for South Africa (B4SA), an alliance comprised of dedicated South African business volunteers formed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, reached an agreement with the South African government to collaborate in the task of revitalising the struggling economy. Martin Kingston, the executive chairman of Rothschild & Co and the chair of B4SA’s Steering Committee, articulates the crucial role played by the private sector in restoring the nation’s economic prosperity.
How did the current initiative to fix the country come about?
Business for South Africa (B4SA) was initially established to manage the collective business response to the Covid-19 crisis in cooperation with government and other stakeholders. As an implementation arm of Business Unity South Africa, it focused on specific projects including providing business’ support to managing the pandemic and rolling out the vaccination programme, which it did successfully in 2021.
In 2022, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the formation of a broad social compact to grow the faltering economy, create jobs and initiate plans to ensure sustainable inclusive growth.
In that context, we highlighted certain critical areas requiring attention. We proposed a plan to focus on three priority areas in which we believe we can make a tangible difference: energy, transport and logistics, and crime and corruption. If we can begin to meaningfully address the challenges faced in these three areas, we can start to restore business confidence. This is crucial to achieve sustainable economic growth – 3% growth will see us standing still and our economy needs to grow by around 5% to reverse the deterioration in the country and secure social stability.
Key aims include ending loadshedding by the end of 2024, stabilising and improving logistics on key trade corridors, accelerating implementation of the National Rail Policy, and providing resources to the National Prosecuting Authority and Independent Directorate to bolster their capacity to investigate and prosecute crime.
How much has business pledged to the initiative and who will oversee the management of the Resource Mobilisation Fund (RMF)?
The RMF has raised R100 million from the private sector and philanthropists, both domestically and internationally. Its initial mandate is to procure resources and specialist skills for use by the National Energy Crisis Committee (NECOM) in pursuit of energy security for South Africa through the implementation of the Energy Action Plan.
The RMF does not dictate to NECOM how these resources are to be used, nor do we offer advice or policy input. However, we recruit expertise in a variety of fields – for example, communications specialists are currently running a nationwide behaviour campaign to reduce electricity demand, since there are two imperatives for our energy crisis: increase supply and reduce demand. We have also donated legal expertise, project management capabilities and policy expertise.
How is the work within the three priority areas managed?
The three priority areas are energy, transport and logistics, and crime and corruption and within each priority area, there are workstreams that target specific outcomes and which are developing detailed critical paths. NECOM, which is tasked with carrying out the Energy Action Plan and ensuring the predictability, availability and affordability of power, oversees ten workstreams.
NECOM’s aim is to end loadshedding and ensure the country can become more competitive than is currently the case. The National Logistics Crisis Committee (NLCC) oversees reforms to improve transport and logistics in South Africa and currently has six workstreams, and the Joint Initiative to Fight Crime and Corruption has prioritised two areas.
What is the expected duration of the partnership, and when and how will business exit this arrangement?
Our aim is to be a reliable partner to government, make a discernible difference in addressing some of the fundamental challenges we face as a country and improve levels of trust without creating the perception that we have been co-opted (what others may think of as co-option we think of as “coming to the party”). We haven’t scoped out how long the partnership should last, but if it is successful, and we can achieve momentum, we are willing to continue and perhaps revisit other priority areas, such as water and infrastructure.
How can companies not currently involved contribute? And is there a role for non-profit organisations?
We are keen to work with companies that can pledge skills, expertise and resources to help our country achieve its full potential. There has been tsunami of support from the more than 120 CEOs now on board. In due course, there may be scope for NPOs and other social partners to get involved. We recognise they are making a difference, but we have purposefully kept our focus narrow to demonstrate that we can gain real traction in priority areas. There is no point trying to fix everything and ending up achieving nothing.
Martin Kingston
Executive chairman of Rothschild & Co
Martin.kingston@rothschildandco.com
https://www.rothschildandco.com/en/countries/south-africa/
Source: The original version of this article was published in the Trialogue Business in Society Handbook 2023 (26th edition).
You can view B4SA’s latest infographic here.