Technology is leading societal and business changes, and South Africans need to ensure they don’t get left behind in the fourth industrial revolution.
That’s the word from Finance Minister Tito Mboweni, presenting his 2019 budget.
“As we look to the future, I see the huge shifts in society and the world,” he says.
“The first is the rise of technology. Twenty-five years ago, the budget was prepared on reams of paper, carefully stapled together.
“I reviewed this speech on my tablet, and you can keep track of the speech on Twitter right now. Who knows how the Budget will be prepared in 25 years’ time?” he asks.
“Our budget spending has to focus on getting our country ready for technology.”
The first step, says Mboweni, is to fix the education system. As part if this, government is rolling out a maths and science grant.
Meanwhile, the governor of the South African Reserve Bank is driving an ambitious fintech programme, together with colleagues from the other financial-sector regulators.
“The sustainability challenge affects us all,” Mboweni adds. “Climate change is real. The steps being undertaken at Eskom will allow us to expand renewable energy, and the carbon tax will come into effect from 1 June 2019.”
The third challenge is rapid urbanisation. “We cannot go on building horizontally; serious consideration must be given to ‘going up’ as part of an integrated development strategy,” he says.
“The final challenge is nationalism,” according to Mboweni. “In many successful economies, immigrants have been a source of dynamism. Narrow nationalism often leads to stagnation.
“We need to redouble our efforts to attract highly-skilled people to South Africa. Professor Ricardo Hausmann of Harvard University talks of the ‘know-how’ that these individuals bring. Their skills are complementary to our own.
“We need to free our entrepreneurs from stifling regulations and complicated taxes,” Mboweni adds.