An Assessment of the Investment Climate in South Africa

Most aspects of South Africa's investment climate are favorable. Consistent with this, large South African firms are very productive. Labor productivity is far higher in South Africa than in the most productive low income countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Although many areas of the investment climate are favorable, some problems remain. Firms appear to be particularly concerned about at least four areas: skills and education of workers, labor regulation, exchange rate instability, and crime.