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COUNTRY FOCUS
South Africa moves
from pariah state to
continental gateway
The country’s well-developed road S OUTH AFRICA HAS COME A
infrastructure is a key advantage long way since the era of political
and economic isolation. Global
52 strategicmarketingafrica Issue 4 2016 disinvestment campaigns, trade boycotts
and oil embargoes in the mid-1980s tore
the economy to shreds, resulting in a
worthless currency, astronomical deficits
and high unemployment rates.
Overseas investment dried up in the
process. World Bank data shows that, in
the latter half of the 1980s, the country had
accumulated almost US$1-billion worth of
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) outflows.
After the first democratic elections,
things started to look up. FDI inflows
grew from US$324-million in 1994 to
US$1,24-billion the year after. A
recovering currency, new constitution
