Direct investment inflows increased to $ 5 billion in 2018 from nearly $ 2 billion in 2017. This was the result of the policy of the President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa to attract $ 100 billion investment over the next five years. This is reported by the African news portal "Maroela Media" with reference to the quarterly Bulletin of the South African reserve Bank.

In October last year Ramaphosa held an investment summit, where companies, including Mercedes Benz, Daimler AG, has pledged to invest in South Africa $ 20 billion. The country, where the rate of economic growth did not exceed 2% since 2013, also received commitments from China, the UK, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

South African companies ' direct investment abroad jumped to $ 1.6 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, from nearly $ 1 billion three months earlier, after Sanlam, South Africa's largest insurance company, bought out Saham Finances in Morocco as part of the continent's largest insurance deal in 2018.

Portfolio investments by South African residents abroad jumped to $ 2 billion from $ 200 million mainly due to companies acquiring foreign shares and debt securities.