This report was originally published in February 2016.
South Africa, one of the African continent’s leading economies, is facing serious financial and political challenges.
Recent events, including intensifying political pressure on President Jacob Zuma and a falling national growth rate, burden an economy already beleaguered by entrenched structural problems. While opportunities still abound, political missteps, a slowing economy, and civil unrest together generate growing uncertainty in the country’s business environment.
Additionally, Western regulatory and law enforcement agencies, joined by multilateral development banks, are closely eyeing how corporations navigate the confusing morass of statutes and red tape they must overcome to win business in the RSA. In addition to the reputational risk, any sniff or hint of bribery is likely to bring an investigation, a prosecution, and any variety of sanctions, even if a subjected company’s own due diligence efforts determined that it had acted in accordance with South African law.
LEVICK Business Intelligence understands the business implications of complex situations developing on the ground in South Africa, and recognizes that political and economic turmoil has the potential to generate a wide range of risks, including changes in the regulatory landscape in an environment which already suffers from policy inconsistencies. Consequently, we advise those with commercial interests in the country to continue to monitor political and economic developments, and advocate implementing enhanced due diligence measures to keep interests protected, and on the right side of South African laws and international regulations.
For further information about LEVICK Business Intelligence’s political and regulatory risk capabilities—including obtaining a complete copy of this report or others—please visit us online at http://levick.com/practices/business-intelligence or contact us directly at LEVICKIntelligence@LEVICK.com. A complete list of our Political Risk Updates can be found under the Political & Regulatory Risk tab.
