Markets crisis 'won't affect 2010'
Bathandwa Mbola
20 October 2008
The current global financial turmoil will not affect South Africa's guarantees on hosting the 2010 Fifa World Cup, says Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa.
"Financially speaking, South Africa is in good standing, and we will deliver on our promise of hosting the biggest soccer event," he said, adding that the current economy was stronger that what it was 10 years ago.
"Increasingly we are showing resilience to global economic dips. I have no doubt that we will register a decent gross domestic product [in 2008/09]."
Mpahlwa was speaking at the end of a two-day meeting of the South African government and its International Investment Council (IIC) members in Mossel Bay.
Fifa guarantees
To ensure a successful event, the government promised Fifa that certain guarantees would be met before the event, which includes the construction of stadiums on par with international standards and improved transport networks and airports, among others.
"All our guarantees are well in place," Mpahlwa said, adding that both Fifa and the IIC were satisfied with the country’s progress.
Global recession fears
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), world growth is expected to achieve little pickup in 2009, with a 25% chance that the global economy will record three percent or less growth in 2008 and 2009 - equivalent to a global recession.
Mpahlwa said the government's response to the tightening economic conditions was to speed up industrial development, to continue promoting small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs), and to further strengthen the state's capacity to unlock the country's economic potential.
"We remain confident that we have measures that can, to some extent, shield us from this global turmoil," he said.
Sustained growth for sub-Saharan Africa
The IMF reported that sub-Saharan Africa will continue to experience its best period of sustained growth since independence.
In its biannual survey of the world economy, issued last week, the IMF said that developing countries have become significantly more integrated into the global economy in recent years.
However, the report warns that the region will not fully escape the global economic turmoil that is expected to create a global slowdown in growth.
The economy of the Sub-Saharan Africa region grew by 6.8% in 2007, mainly due to domestic demand, improvements in macroeconomic stability and economic reforms in most countries.
The IMF expects world growth to slow to 3.7% in 2008.
The IMF said the region's main policy challenges were therefore "to maintain progress toward increasing integration with the global economy and to reduce poverty in the context of a less friendly global environment."
Source: BuaNews
