Date/Time
Date(s) - Thursday, July 13, 2017
10:30 am - 12:30 pm
Categories
A political and economic environment of uncertainty has beset South Africa in the last couple of years. As the South African economic environment continues to be held hostage by the politics of the governing environment characterised by increased talk of possible erosion of proprietary rights, couched in the language of radical economic transformation, investors are increasingly becoming more uncomfortable. Credit rating agencies have responded to this uncertainty by downgrading the country’s sovereign credit rating. While the country has appeared in the AT Kearney Foreign Investment Attractiveness index for the first time, this does not take away the spectre of a highly compromised investment environment amid policy uncertainty. The recent promulgation of the Mining Charter is further evidence of the growing appetite by the predatory elements within the governing party to expropriate investors’ assets under the veil of transformation.
These recent developments therefore prompt us to take stock of the South African foreign investment regulatory environment. Could the termination of bilateral investment treaties and their replacement with the Protection of Investment Act have already been a calculated move to allow for ‘radical economic transformation’? Considering that the Protection of Investment Act is not in force yet, what is the status of those investments that fall outside the protection of old BITs? What direction has South African investment policymaking taken since the termination of BITs? Do South Africa’s engagements in the TFTA, CFTA, SADC, and G20 offer an idea of the direction that the country’s FDI policy is taking? What protections does the constitution afford? Could the answer lie in the ANC Policy documents to be discussed this week? This talk shall engage on these issues in trying to understand the direction of South Africa’s foreign investment policy framework.
Making Sense of South Africa’s Foreign Investment Regulatory Policy Direction:
From Protection of Investment Act to Continental Free Trade Area
The seminar will be presented by Mr. Azwimpheleli Langalanga, an associate of Tutwa Consulting Group
Time: 10:30 for 11:00 (start) – 12:30 (Tea and coffee served on arrival)
Date: Thursday, 13 July 2017
Queries: By email to Ms. Salvation Andrease on salvation.andrease@tutwaconsulting.com
Parking: Parking is available to registered participants in the office park
Limited space available. Contact Ms. Salvation Andrease for any enquiries.