Investing in South Africa
The continent’s deepest capital markets and most developed financial infrastructure, against the slowest growth of the eight.
The numbers
Where the market stands
| Measure | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| GDP growth, 2025 | 1.1% | AfDB | 2025 |
| Projected, 2027 | 1.6% | AfDB | 2025 |
| Data centres | 56 | Industry trackers | 2025 |
| Global PGM production | ~80% with Zimbabwe | USGS | 2024 |
The case
Why capital is looking at South Africa
- Listed markets, custody and legal infrastructure that support structures unavailable elsewhere on the continent.
- A natural base for pan-African expansion, with management depth that can run multi-country operations.
- Load-shedding has largely resolved, removing a constraint that cut between 0.2 and 4.2 percentage points from annual growth during 2022–23.
The risks
Key risks
- Structurally low growth. At 1.1% the domestic demand case is weak and returns must come from elsewhere.
- Logistics and rail bottlenecks at Transnet constrain bulk export volumes regardless of commodity prices.
- State capacity and governance concerns affect timelines on anything requiring public counterparties.
Execution
What entry involves
The market rewards holding-structure work. It is frequently the right domicile for an operation whose revenue sits elsewhere on the continent.
Priority sectors in South Africa
Enquiries
Talk to the desk about South Africa
Tell us the mandate, its stage and the timing. We will come back with the relevant market, sector and next steps.
