“The rise in South Africa's ranking from 67th to 60th out of 141 countries in the 2019 World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report is welcome news at a time when the country's economic performance is at a low ebb and the economy is in a 'low growth trap'.”

This is according to Prof Raymond Parsons, a well-known economist and academic from the North-West University (NWU) Business School.

He says the positive developments regarding South Africa reflected in the WEF's latest survey confirm that recent progress with governance issues and institutional quality in both the public and private sectors have already started to gradually reap early dividends.

“The WEF report nonetheless highlights the 'unfinished business' on South Africa's economic agenda, citing security, excessive business costs and weak labour market flexibility as among the serious constraints on long-term growth.

“These and other structural obstacles remain to be overcome. Improving economic competitiveness is therefore still one of the three major pillars on which the National Treasury's recent growth strategy is based. Therefore, according to the WEF, structural reforms are still needed to reignite the South African economy,” he adds.

According to Prof Parsons, the conclusion from the WEF survey is that, for South Africa to successfully mobilise the drivers of job-rich growth, it must visibly build on its strengths and urgently address its weaknesses.

“The WEF analysis refers to continued 'low business dynamism'. If we believe South Africa is poised on the cusp of turning the economy around and seizing new opportunities, we must now tangibly demonstrate that we are able to generate the leverage required to exploit them. These will be the ways to rebuild confidence in the way ahead for the South African economy.”