I recently had the opportunity to visit South Africa, which has seen its fair share of challenges over the past few years. Arriving in sunny Cape Town with its beautiful views of the Atlantic and Indian oceans, spectacular Table Mountain and invigorating weather, I found it difficult to become too negative about the country, at least from a traveler’s perspective simply because the people are so friendly and because the integration of so many cultures living and working together make me optimistic. Cape Town sits at the southern tip of Africa, and is just one corner of a tremendously diverse nation. There are 11 official languages in South Africa: Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Swati, Tswana, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu. I had just finished reading Roger Crowley’s “Conquerors: How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire,” which tells the story of the intrepid, ambitious and aggressive Portuguese explorers like Bartolomeu Dias who, after the deaths at sea of many of their compatriots, were finally able to reach and pass around the tip of South Africa in 1487. Portuguese King John II named that tip the Cape of Good Hope (which eventually became Cape Town) because of the fortunes they expected to find ahead in the East Indies. In the 1600s, the Dutch East India Company overtook the Portuguese and established resupply posts for their ships in the Cape area. The Dutch-style homes are testament to how favorable they found the place. Afrikaans is actually a dialect stemming from Dutch settlers, sometimes referred to as “kitchen Dutch.” By the start of the 1900s, Britain had won full control of the country, and South Africa’s gold and diamonds created many fortunes. Traveling via train from Pretoria to Cape Town, I stopped at the historical De Beers diamond area, where millionaires were created almost overnight in the late 1880s for those lucky few who discovered large diamonds there. My colleagues and I were able to see the “Big Hole,” an enormous crater in the ground that was dug out over the years by hand. Two brothers (Diederik Arnoldus De Beer and Johannes Nicolaas De Beer) had owned the land and rented out plots where diamond hunters could dig. Eventually, Cecil Rhodes (who became famous for the Rhodes scholarship, among other things) purchased and consolidated all the mines and became one of the world’s richest men. There are, of course, many books and articles about South Africa’s history and apartheid, a legacy the country still grapples with. The African National Congress (ANC) spearheaded the struggle to end apartheid, and by the 1990s, apartheid laws were abolished and the ANC’s most notable political prisoner, Nelson Mandela, was released from jail. I had the opportunity to meet President F.W. de Klerk around that time and heard him describe the very difficult time he had reconciling his own party to the change. The meeting with President de Klerk was in his office in Cape Town and it was clear at that time that he and Mr. Mandela did not agree on a number of issues and he was quite frank about it. But his tolerance and patience shone through the challenges he was facing. His openness and strength of character made me confident that the political transition would work. Since then, the country has become known as the “Rainbow Nation,” not only because of its multicultural diversity but also because of its tolerance. For example, South Africa was one of the first countries to legalize gay marriage. The ANC won by a massive majority in South Africa’s first universal elections in 1994, and has continued to win subsequent elections. Unfortunately, the government change has not substantially improved the economic situation for the majority of people previously denied political and social freedoms; unemployment levels hit a 13-year high of 27% in 2016.1 Poverty remains prevalent, and in 2014, the United Nations Human Development Index of South Africa ranked the country 116 out of 188 countries and territories. The country has failed to significantly improve its standing since the 1990s.2 The ANC’s previous dominance is beginning to crack amid South Africa’s lack of economic progress. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), founded by the radical Julius Malema—former president of the ANC’s Youth League who was thrown out of the ANC—has been rising in popularity. If South Africa’s economic situation doesn’t improve, attracting the young and unemployed could make the EFF a more potent force. Opposition parties have been gaining control of key cities, and their strength has increased when they are able to better provide services such as water, power and public transport. Since taking office in 2009, Jacob Zuma’s administration has been plagued with scandals and allegations of nepotism. One political blunder was the appointment of a finance minister many saw as unqualified—who was then quickly replaced after a dramatic market reaction. Despite setbacks, the ANC still supports Zuma, and it seems that he will be able to survive his second and final term, which ends in 2019. Some analysts say that over the next two years, the ANC will likely become increasingly subject to competing factions, resulting in government paralysis and potential for further downgrades in the country’s credit ranking. The country’s economic growth has also suffered, although we are seeing a signs of improvement on the horizon. Economic Growth South Africa has been lacking any real growth drivers over the past year, and estimates for 2017 gross domestic product (GDP) remain lackluster, albeit slightly better than in 2016. The International Monetary Fund is projecting growth of 0.8% this year, while the South African Treasury predicts growth of 1.3%.3 On the fiscal side, the government is trying to manage the deficit as best it can with finance minister Pravin Gordhan at the helm, but the slow economy and a small but highly taxed base makes it harder to grow government revenues. Revenue is dependent on a healthy tax base, but the percentage of households receiving at least one social grant increased to 45.5% in 2015 from 29.9% in 2003.4 Higher food and fuel prices ignited...
Investment Adventures in Emerging Markets - Notes from Mark Mobius
Mark Mobius, Ph.D., executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group, joined Templeton in 1987. Currently, he directs the Templeton research team based in 15 global emerging markets offices and manages emerging markets portfolios. As he spans the globe in search of investment opportunities, his “Investment Adventures in Emerging Markets” blog gives readers a taste for what he does, when, where, why and how. Dr. Mobius has written several books, including “Trading with China,” “The Investor’s Guide to Emerging Markets,” “Mobius on Emerging Markets,” “Passport to Profits,” “Equities—An Introduction to the Core Concepts,” “Mutual Funds—An Introduction to the Core Concepts,” ”The Little Book of Emerging Markets,” and “Mark Mobius: An Illustrated Biography."
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