South Africa’s construction sector is one of the largest in Africa and currently worth about 15 billion USD while contributing 4% to the country’s GDP. Unfortunately, it has been in recession since 2017. The overall growth rate in the past decade has been relatively low at only 2.47%.
A struggling economy and a 12% reduction in spending on infrastructure by the government have negatively affected the sector, and even in the current year 2019, some players report that business is shrinking further.
africon completed a local research project in this sector, which was aimed at achieving a detailled market understanding as well as identifying suitable business partners in South Africa for our client.
Despite the current situation, a short to medium term upturn is likely as there are still many planned projects. Additionally, the government has recently established a 27.5 billion USD infrastructure fund and targets infrastructure spending of 59 billion USD over the next 3 years.