the south african competitiveness forum · conducted during the 2015/16 financial year. background:...
TRANSCRIPT
THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMPETITIVENESS
FORUM
Key lessons from the provincial SACF Focus Groups
conducted during the 2015/16 Financial Year
Background: South African Competitiveness Forum
● Strategic, consultative platform through which Brand SA engages with
business, government, civil society & academia
● SACF focus for 2015/16 FY: focus group consultations in all 9 provinces
● Key issues discussed:
Country/provincial reputation
Country/provincial competitiveness drivers
Sector-specific issues
Ideas for country messaging
Recommendations & actions to rectify shortcomings, and enhance &
leverage off recognised competitive and reputational strengths
● 13 lessons with implications for Nation Brand were derived from provincial
SACF Focus Groups
● To feed into planning the Nation Brand Summit as well as Brand South Africa
planning for provincial & local-level marketing, activations and stakeholder
engagements
Coordinate and Consult
● In terms of the nation brand architecture, i.e. Corporate Identity, and the
use/application thereof by government entities, provincial and city
participants noted the need for closer cooperation on several levels,
including:
– Need for government entities to align to nation brand CI when
communicating & marketing internationally;
– Need for coordination of international visits and to make available
country messaging, corporate identity and related resources to state
owned enterprises, cities, provinces, and government institutions;
Recommendation:
● Develop national policy framework on the application of the nation brand CI
to assist in clarifying issues and manage alignment at national level
● Nation Brand Forum to be utilised as central platform to create such a
framework
Lesson 1
Place Branding and Rebranding
● Availability of resources poses key challenge to rebranding processes: actors
must also consider capacity and time required to implement and
communicate such a positioning locally, nationally, and internationally.
● Re-branding exercises at times not implemented, not completed or
implemented inconsistently. Such branding attempts do more harm than
leaving what exists intact
● Need for clarification around re-naming of Industrial Development Zones to
Special Economic Zones. Terms are currently used interchangeably
Recommendations:
● Place branding, re-branding processes to be undertaken within context of
provincial & national strategic objectives and in alignment and consultation
with the nation brand identity
● Organisations that run IDZs/SEZs must entrench and use correct terminology
when communicating with investors and citizens
Lesson 2
Seeding the country positioning: Inspiring New Ways
● Brand SA requires adequate budget resources to market, communicate &
entrench the country positioning in domestic & international environments.
● State-owned enterprises, cities, provinces and other gov agencies conduct
business and stakeholder outreach projects internationally. Yet coordination
is poor if not lacking entirely.
Recommendations:
● Brand SA to market, communicate and entrench country positioning in
domestic and international environments through: Nation Brand Masterclass;
Enhanced digital brand management platform; Additional budget for domestic
& international ‘above the line’ marketing; Established, clear national policy
level guidelines on application of nation brand corporate identity in domestic
& international marketing, communications, & stakeholder relations
engagements.
● Incorporate nation brand corporate identity, messaging, & related marketing
material into international engagements by government institutions,
corporations, and agencies to create more brand awareness & coherence
Lesson 3
Streamline communications between spheres of government
● Crisis communication management at local, provincial & national level needs
clear channels and enhanced coordination.
● When national incidents that impact on country reputation emerge,
provincial & city structures need to speedily access national level messaging
guidelines and response guidance (e.g. attacks on foreign nationals,
Marikana)
● Challenge: lack of systematic response mechanism to enable national
government to respond and guide the provinces
Recommendations:
● Establish a pro-active government communications mechanism to provide
coherent and timely messaging on incidents that affect country reputation as
a guideline to local, provincial and national level government stakeholders
Lesson 4
Create the brand message & position from the bottom-up
● Cities and provincial offerings play critical role in shaping the competitive
profile and reputation of the nation brand.
Recommendations:
● Brand SA & relevant provincial/city structures to coordinate and collaborate
on absorbing unique projects, interventions, opportunities, and developments
in provinces to showcase as part of the nation brand marketing efforts.
● Proposed Brand SA Knowledge Hub/Portal can consolidated above efforts. Hub
will function as informative, innovative & inspiring online portal intended to
serve stakeholders & general public domestically & internationally.
Lesson 5
Tourism: A notable common strength
● While each province has unique opportunities, human and cultural attributes,
there are common areas of strength:
Tourism
Climate
Perceptions of the people
● Challenge: rivalry between provinces regarding tourism positioning
● While certain level of cooperation exists, there continues to be a need for
more proactive interventions.
Recommendation:
● Provinces to enhance cooperation efforts: e.g. WC, NC & EC to further
expand offerings for tourists that visit usual ‘hot spots’ such as Cape Town &
Garden Route; Mpumalanga to further expand offering of tourism packages to
domestic tourists that incl. trips to Mpumalanga, Swaziland and Mozambique.
● Provincial tourism departments to step up efforts to develop tourism in
municipalities.
Lesson 6
Leverage notable common strengths
● Other common strengths that impact positively on the nation brand include:
Infrastructure – Western Cape, Gauteng, KZN (airports, roads, rail, ports)
Tertiary education – Western Cape, Gauteng
Business sophistication & diversification – Gauteng, Western Cape, KZN
Special economic zones & investment incentives
DTI – One Stop Investment Centres
● Challenge: good provincial initiatives abound, yet poor cooperation between
relevant provinces to leverage off these common strengths
Recommendations:
● Provinces to enhance cooperation efforts to leverage off common strengths
through improved communication
● Brand SA to facilitate high-level alignment by strengthening links with key
stakeholders, e.g. from DPE, School of Government, COGTA, SALGA, South
African Cities Network
● These entities also to participate in Nation Brand Summit
Lesson 7
Common Challenges
● Infrastructure development to support rural economies – e.g. Northern Cape,
Eastern Cape, rural Free State & Kwazulu-Natal
● Education quality
● Mismatch of education offerings with primary economic activities in the
provinces, e.g. no tertiary education institutions in renewables ‘hotspot’ NC
offer training to prepare locals for employment in the industry
● Perception of local government and governance; linked to service delivery
challenges.
Recommendation:
● Emulate KZN example by conducting Citizen Satisfaction Survey to gauge
levels of satisfaction with local government performance. In 2015, KZN
provincial government conducted Citizen Satisfaction Survey of 22,000
households. Also enabled provincial administration to identify key priorities
going forward (e.g. increasing employment opportunities & accelerating
housing delivery)
Lesson 8
Land access, agricultural & rural development
● Land reform remains a national imperative, but challenges remain that
hamper rural and agricultural development.
● Reputation challenge because it can easily be misrepresented as factor that
drives ‘policy uncertainty’, while from a citizen perspective government can
be criticised for being too slow to arrest historical challenges
● Challenges: limited budgets for land reform programmes, perceptions of lack
of government commitment, and post-settlement conflicts involving trustees
and Amakhosi (chiefs) in KZN for example
Recommendations:
● Enhance country reputation through improving development prospects in rural
areas by focussing on effective implementation of Agri-villages to support
small-scale agriculture
● Position narrative on land redistribution as constructive and intended to
improve livelihoods, support human development, and correct past wrongs
● Highlight interventions & cooperation between established ‘white farmers’
and emerging farmers, also cases where shareholding by farm labourers have
had a positive impact on agricultural productivity and labour relations.
Lesson 9
Provincial, city & national initiatives to enhance nation brand profile
● Challenge: media reporting & profiling of SA dwells mainly on national
interventions, strategies and development initiatives.
● Yet through SOPA, provincial planning initiatives, and specific interventions at
city and provincial level, significant resources are devoted every year to
improve conditions for communities.
● Such interventions often go un-noticed, and can add much to improve the
governance and service delivery profile of the nation brand as a whole.
Recommendation:
● Profile, for example, Operation Phakisa and its impact on coastal regions,
new infrastructure, Gauteng’s interventions to support SMME’s and local input
into development planning, Special Economic Zones and many more.
Lesson 10
Energy strengths and challenges
● Coal dominates SA’s indigenous energy-resource base (provides 65% of energy
needs). Provides cheap access to electricity, but ensuing pollution threatens
food and water security.
● SA has also become renewable energy hotspot thanks to Renewable Energy
Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPP)
● Subsidy-driven growth triggered significant technology improvements, mass
manufacturing and subsequently reduced costs.
● CSIR study highlights financial benefit of renewable energy to the value of R4
billion more than they cost during the first half of 2015.
Recommendations:
● Mandate provincial department officials to oversee implementation of
operating companies and enforce compliance with CSI commitments
● Develop business case for SA to produce carbon-neutral synthetic fuels from
cheap renewable power (CSIR study)
Lesson 11
Diversification of provincial/local economies
● SA economy as a whole relatively diversified, yet specific provinces,
particularly those with strong mining sectors (Limpopo, North West, Northern
Cape) require more diversification.
● Challenge: fluctuation of global commodity prices threaten economic stability
Recommendations:
● Support development of provincial strategies to diversify respective
economies.
● Advance beneficiation along the value chain as means to promote socio-
economic growth in these provinces.
Lesson 12
Social cohesion and identity
● Social cohesion improves a country’s overall competitiveness and economic
performance and contributes to sustainable economic growth (good health,
child development and labour market adjustments)
● Challenge: Race-related violence on university campuses across the country
Recommendations:
● Government to encourage social cohesion through strategies geared towards
narrowing the gap between those with access to quality basic services
● Highlight and support initiatives such as the Anti-Racism Network South Africa
to tackle racism on a national scale
● Call on all South Africans to make individual effort to overcome divisions,
educate their children about equality, to build society not divided by
privilege based on race, class, space or gender
Lesson 13
Summary: Recommendations (1)
● Develop national policy framework on the application of the nation brand CI
to assist in clarifying issues and manage alignment at national level
● Nation Brand Forum to be utilised as central platform to create such a
framework
Lesson 1 - Coordinate & Consult
● Place branding, re-branding processes to be undertaken within context of
provincial & national strategic objectives and in alignment and consultation
with the nation brand identity ( e.g. City of Durban, North West Province,
Eastern Cape)
● Organisations that run IDZs/SEZs must entrench and use correct terminology
when communicating with investors and citizens
Lesson 2 - Place branding & re-branding
Summary: Recommendations (2)
● Brand SA to market, communicate and entrench country positioning in
domestic and international environments through:
Nation Brand Masterclass
Enhanced digital brand management platform
Additional budget for domestic & international ‘above the line’ marketing
Established, clear national policy level guidelines on application of nation
brand corporate identity in domestic & international marketing,
communications, & stakeholder relations engagements.
● Incorporate nation brand corporate identity, messaging, & related marketing
material into international engagements by government institutions,
corporations, and agencies to create more brand awareness & coherence
Lesson 3 - Seeding & entrenching the country positioning Inspiring New Ways
Summary: Recommendations (3)
● Establish pro-active government communications mechanism to provide
coherent & timely messaging on incidents that affect country reputation as a
guideline to local, provincial and national level government stakeholders
● Brand SA & relevant provincial/city structures to coordinate and collaborate
on absorbing unique projects, interventions, opportunities, and developments
in provinces to showcase as part of the nation brand marketing efforts.
● Proposed Brand SA Knowledge Hub/Portal can consolidated above efforts. Hub
will function as informative, innovative & inspiring online portal intended to
serve stakeholders & general public domestically & internationally.
Lesson 4 - Streamline communication between spheres of government
Lesson 5 - Create the brand message and position from the bottom-up
Summary: Recommendations (4)
● Provinces to enhance cooperation efforts
● Provincial tourism departments to step up efforts to develop tourism in
municipalities.
● Provinces to enhance cooperation efforts to leverage off common strengths
through improved communication
● Brand SA to facilitate high-level alignment by strengthening links with key
stakeholders (e.g. DPE, School of Gov, COGTA, SALGA, SA Cities Network
● These entities also to participate in Nation Brand Summit
Lesson 7 - Leverage notable common strengths
Lesson 6 - Notable common strengths - tourism
Summary: Recommendations (5)
● Emulate KZN example by conducting Citizen Satisfaction Survey to gauge
levels of satisfaction with local government performance & identify key
priorities going forward
● Enhance country reputation through improving development prospects in rural
areas by focussing on effective implementation of Agri-villages to support
small-scale agriculture
● Position narrative on land redistribution as constructive and intended to
improve livelihoods, support human development, and correct past wrongs
● Highlight positive interventions & cooperation in agricultural sector
Lesson 9 - Land access, agricultural & rural development
Lesson 8 – Common Challenges
Summary: Recommendations (6)
● Profile, for example, Operation Phakisa and its impact on coastal regions,
new infrastructure, Gauteng’s interventions to support SMME’s and local input
into development planning, Special Economic Zones and many more.
● Mandate provincial department officials to oversee implementation of
operating companies and enforce compliance with CSI commitments
● Develop business case for SA to produce carbon-neutral synthetic fuels from
cheap renewable power (CSIR study)
Lesson 11 – Energy Strengths and Challenges
Lesson 10 – Highlight/profile provincial, city & national initiatives
Summary: Recommendations (7)
● Support development of prov. strategies to diversify respective economies.
● Advance beneficiation along value chain to promote socio-economic growth in
provinces
● Government to encourage social cohesion through strategies geared towards
narrowing the gap between those with access to quality basic services
● Highlight and support initiatives such as the Anti-Racism Network South Africa
to tackle racism on a national scale
● Call on all South Africans to make individual effort to overcome divisions,
educate their children about equality, to build a society not divided by
privilege based on race, class, space or gender
Lesson 13 – Social cohesion and identity
Lesson 12 – Diversification of provincial/local economies
Nation Brand Performance Presentation
Prepared by Brand South Africa Research
Contact:
Dr Petrus de Kock, General Manager – Research
Dr Judy Smith-Höhn, Research Manager
Leigh-Gail Petersen, Researcher
Readers are welcome to use the data contained in
this report for their own purposes provided they
acknowledge the source as: Brand South Africa,
Research & Nation Brand Performance Presentation,
October 2015, available at:
www.brandsouthafrica.com