South Africa

The government has reiterated its commitment to speeding up the rollout of a national broadband network, in a bid to improve what is already some of the most developed telecommunications infrastructure on the continent. The information divide is still a concern, however, with country’s overall penetration rate still lagging behind some of its neighbours in terms of broadband access and price.

Highly dependent on coal for its current electricity supply, and facing rising demand and supply gaps stemming from years of underinvestment in capacity expansion, South Africa is embarking on a plan to increase the contribution of gas, nuclear and renewables towards its national energy mix.

South Africa’s construction industry is beginning to revive activity, with demand in most segments still muted following a post-World Cup 2010 slowdown in project spending, but edging up slowly – although a proposal by a senior government minister for the establishment of a state-owned contractor may dampen private sector confidence.

Unlike spending on toll roads, new ports, and industrial zones, where the immediate economic needs are easily identified and the longer-term benefits can be reasonably anticipated, gains from investments in sports tourism and related infrastructure tend to be less tangible.

A much-needed, multi-billion rand investment programme – spearheaded by Transnet’s capital upgrades and targeting South Africa’s transport bottlenecks – looks set to transform the country’s rail and port services, although historical issues over project delivery and pressure on the government fiscus have made its implementation a more complicated prospect.

The real estate sector in South Africa is showing early signs of upward movement after more than three years of underperforming, though any improvement in sales and buyer interest is still thin and analysts are wary of predicting an end to the slump amidst uncertainty over the local and global economies.