Brand South Africa Annual Report 2012 2013

Chairman's reportHighlights: 2012/13

Brand South Africa made its presence felt at top international events, including the BRICS Summit, the Mining Indaba and the World Economic Forum events.

Closer co-operation was forged with Brand South Africa’s government partners and other stakeholders, including business, resulting in most entities mandated with marketing South Africa are now speaking with one voice.

President Jacob Zuma appointed new members to the Brand South Africa Board of Trustees to help strengthen the South African brand identity locally and abroad.

“Inspiring New Ways”, Brand South Africa’s new slogan, was launched to coincide with the fl ighting of an innovative television commercial.

The World Economic Forum placed South Africa 50th on its Global Competitiveness Index for 2011/12. This was the second-highest placing of any BRICS country, with China ranked 26th.

Brand South Africa’s Investor Perception survey ‘Thrive’ highlights the headway being made by South Africa in positioning itself as a diverse and exciting investment destination.

Africa and other emerging markets survived the global recession with fewer scars than many European countries, and considerable work was done during the year under review, to consolidate South Africa as an African powerhouse, and maintain the momentum of nation brand building.

However, the unstable global recovery remains a constraint to the growth of our economy, and during the year it was further impacted by the domestic labour relations environment, particularly in the mining sector, which eff ected local and foreign investor confi dence.

The year was more challenging with the negative coverage South Africa received internationally following a number of high-profi le crimes.

South Africa holds its course

South Africa remains well-placed to weather the global storm, boasting a large economy that is widely recognised as having solid fundamental and sound eff ective fi nancial systems. Various research mechanisms used over the past year by Brand South Africa, and contained in this report’s Nation Brand Performance section, confi rmed that South Africa is still a top performing, globally competitive developing nation.

South Africa has improved its overall ranking and performance from 52nd in 2011 to 50th in the Institute for Management Development Global Competitiveness Report 2012/13. The country was ranked fi fth overall in the Ibrahim Index of African Governance. In the Anholt Gfk-Roper Nation Brand Index, South Africa was ranked 36th out of the 50 nations surveyed for the second year in a row in 2012. This comes in a year where two-thirds of the nations experienced overall reputation score declines.

Chichi MaponyaChairman: Board of Trustees

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Brand South Africa Annual Report 2012 2013

Project Thrive, the International Investor Perception research undertaken annually by Brand South Africa, showed a steady improvement in international investor perceptions, of the country as a diverse business destination.

While economic growth prospects have been somewhat dimmed, South Africa has consolidated its position as a country that counts by making its presence felt in the BRICS association, and playing an increasingly prominent role on other international platforms, including G20, South African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU), the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the WEF.

South Africa, as the powerhouse of the continent, due to sustained positive growth in African markets, is ideally positioned to capitalise on the many opportunities this position will bring. In particular, the Trilateral Free Trade Area holds much promise for integrated growth in a market of 640 million people.

Domestic

Brand South Africa continues to strengthen its partnerships with all its stakeholders, from government, to civil society, business and individuals. Our work needs to encompass all South Africans, to drive social cohesion and create a unifi ed South Africa, which is attractive to global investors.

In this regard Brand South Africa takes as an inspiration, the words of Gill Marcus, Governer of the South African Reserve Bank: “There is an urgent imperative for all parties; government, business, labour and civil society to interact and address vulnerabilities at a national level.”

Brand South Africa worked hard to consolidate its new name and positioning, with the new pay-off line: Inspiring New Ways being embraced by South Africans and all agencies tasked with marketing South Africa abroad.

New Board members were appointed and I am optimistic that Brand South Africa will achieve great success based on their collective expertise. Following their appointment, the Brand South Africa’s Provincial and Partnership committees were dissolved to ensure increased effi ciency of the Board.

The new Board will continue to support the Brand South Africa team in positioning and profi ling South Africa as an emerging market that matters, and a desirable business destination, in line with government’s national imperatives of economic growth, job creation and poverty alleviation, as outlined in the National Development Plan (NDP).

This is the fi rst year Brand South Africa reported directly to the Presidency, following the operational changes that were introduced in the previous year, and a number of successes were enjoyed in fostering closer relationships with our government stakeholders. Similarly, great strides were made in reaching out to role-players across all sectors, from faith-based organisations and political parties, to youth movements and business organisations.

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Brand South Africa Annual Report 2012 2013

The Board has started a process of identifying brand ambassadors who will be strategic partners in sharing and shaping the South African narrative at home and abroad.

International

The shift in the balance of political and economic power to Asia and the emerging markets resulted in Brand South Africa focusing its activities more closely on Africa and other BRICS countries. This is a strategic move considering that BRICS members will account for over 60% of global growth within the next three years, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

South Africa’s share of trade with BRICS countries increased from 10% in 2005 to 18% in 2012, while the country’s trade with fellow BRICS countries was up 12% last year over 2011, against declines in trade with the traditional markets of Japan, the European Union (EU) and the United States (USA).

Brand South Africa hosted supplementary events at the BRICS Summit in Durban, as well as at the Mining Indaba and the WEF Africa and Davos events, capitalising on these international platforms to share our brand messages, facilitate thought leadership and to positively position South Africa globally.

Our presence in the United States (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK) was strengthened through the eff orts of our country managers. In view of the shift in the balance of global power and politics, Brand South Africa is in the process of appointing country managers in those markets that are at the forefront of international growth, such as China.

Team South Africa’s performance at the London Olympics proved to be a wonderful reputation enhancer, with Brand South Africa lending media and branding support to the Department of Sport and Recreation’s Ekhaya platform (home away from home). South Africa’s presence and participation at the Olympics was leveraged on a daily basis, with attention focused on South Africa’s heritage, arts and culture, and the overall promotion of South Africa to a global audience.

The UK and US country offi ces did extensive work to off set the impact on South Africa’s image by the Marikana massacre and other high profi le incidents, through hosting various events. This resulted in high-level South African government offi cials, and even union leaders, being given the opportunity to address investor concerns through round table dialogue.

A positive spin-off of the negative news coming out of South Africa was the strengthening of the Global South Africans (GSA) programme, when many infl uential South Africans who now head up international corporations or hold other top jobs, stepped up to the plate as brand ambassadors.

The future

The Minister in the Presidency responsible for the National Planning Commission, Trevor Manuel, says of the NDP: ‘Our Future – Make It Work’. “It will take the involvement of all South Africans to move the country from where it is today to where we want it to be in 2030. If our citizens do not start to believe that we are a country of incredible opportunity, then Brand South Africa is going to have a tough time selling this message to the rest of the world. So in the year ahead, we will

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Brand South Africa Annual Report 2012 2013

“Africa promises to be the next economic growth frontier and South Africa, as the powerhouse of the continent, is ideally positioned to capitalise on the many opportunities this will bring”.

continue to work tirelessly to engage with people from all sectors of society to bring home the importance of the contribution that can be made to nation building and the attainment of the goals of our NDP by each and every South African.

We will continue to seek opportunities within the BRICS formation and other emerging markets and work to consolidate the many gains we have made in establishing the country’s profi le as an emerging market that matters.

Appreciation

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, my heartfelt appreciation goes to President Jacob Zuma for his continued support of Brand South Africa, and Minister in the Presidency, Collins Chabane and his Deputy Minister Obed Bapela for their ongoing guidance and the valuable insights they provide. Special mention must be made to the Minister’s eff orts in driving greater co-operation between the various entities tasked with marketing South Africa at home and abroad.

Brand South Africa acknowledges the support from Old Mutual in providing offi ce space to our UK staff , as well as their immense support to WEF Davos, over the years. We look forward to a continued partnership with them.

To my fellow Board members, thank you for the passion you bring to serving Brand South Africa. To those Board members whose tenure ended in the past year, your contribution to building our nation was greatly valued.

The CEO, his executive team, and the rest of the Brand South Africa contingent continued to infuse great enthusiasm in sharing the South African narrative, while at the same time running a professional and effi cient organisation.

Finally, to those South Africans, both at home and abroad, who live out the values of our Play Your Part campaign, thank you for keeping our national fl ag fl ying high and for so generously embracing and spreading the spirit of Ubuntu.

Together, we can propel South Africa forward and entrench the view that we are indeed a winning nation.

Chichi MaponyaChairman: Board of Trustees

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