WEF: How can SA improve its trust deficit?

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JEREMY MAGGS: Representatives of governments and international organisations are arriving in Davos in Switzerland under the motto Rebuilding Trust. The 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) starts, aiming to discuss what is termed the basic principles of trust, transparency, coherence, and responsibility. With us now is Kuseni Dlamini, he’s a business leader and commentator. First up, how can, in your opinion, that trust issue be addressed?

KUSENI DLAMINI: Addressing the current trust deficit in geopolitics and geoeconomics is a very pressing challenge of our time. Needless to say, we are seeing the wars in Russia, Ukraine, and Israel and Gaza, specifically against Hamas. I think world leaders from both business and government gathering in Davos really have to reflect and think long and hard in terms of finding mechanisms to build bridges, build trust and confidence and address the differences that we see.

What we are seeing in terms of some research work done by the World Economic Forum recently, generally it concludes that there is an increase in the trust deficit between developing countries and developed countries.

Furthermore, that within developed and developing countries, there’s also an increase in the trust deficit between the rich and the poor. So we’re seeing this playing out at all levels, at a global level, regional level. So it’s really fundamentally important that leaders across all sectors think long and hard in terms of putting the interest of global peace and stability, and the interest of building a better world for all above all else.

JEREMY MAGGS: Among those key role players that will gather in Switzerland, do you think there’s a real willingness to build the bridges or do you think that we’ve got to a point now where it becomes incrementally more difficult to do so?

KUSENI DLAMINI: It seems to me that we don’t have any option but to face up to the challenge of how do we build trust, how do we ensure more collaboration, more cooperation and more engagement to bridge the differences that polarise the world. If you don’t do that, we will be plunged into an endless state of crisis and conflict, which is not helpful from an economic point of view.

Business cannot drive and cannot succeed in an environment where there is no peace and stability.

JEREMY MAGGS: So how do you start unlocking that key then?

KUSENI DLAMINI: So we just need to reset our approach to leadership. We need a new crop of leaders imbued with new philosophies that are deliberate and intentional in terms of building global peace and stability. In terms of strengthening the global multilateral system, what we’ve seen in recent years, has been the rise of political populism and economic protectionism. We need a new brand of leaders that look beyond political populism and economic protectionism.

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So to look at how do we unify the world, how do we use the globalisation project as a force for good? We have seen a trend also in terms of the world de-globalising. If one were to refer to global trade statistics, for example, we saw trade last year, according to the World Economic Forum, increase by 0.8%, whereas the global population increased by 2.8%.

In normal times and under normal circumstances, global trade should increase more than global population.

But now we are seeing the increase in global trade being below the increase in global population, which means that globalisation is actually taking a retreat, which is something that needs to be addressed if we are to build trust.

JEREMY MAGGS: And add to that problem, as far as trade is concerned, slow global economic growth and issues like rising debt and inflation. Again, it becomes increasingly more difficult for the WEF to contribute to restoring that trust in the system itself, doesn’t it?

KUSENI DLAMINI: It does indeed, and I think the key issue there, Jeremy, is also looking at how do we ensure inclusive growth? How do we ensure that the growth is resilient and that it’s sustainable? We don’t want to have a situation where a lot of people feel left behind, which has given way to political populists to take advantage of that.

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So the rise in inflation, rising interest rates, which combined result in the increase in the cost of living, which is affecting most people around the world, including us here in South Africa, is something that the World Economic Forum this year has got to deliberate on and look at finding sustainable and effective solutions on.

JEREMY MAGGS: Well, let’s pick up on South Africa and for that matter, the rest of the continent, representation this year, I think is fair to say that it’s modest. What are the implications for the continent’s role then in global discussions about trust and collaboration if we are not well represented?

KUSENI DLAMINI: The implications are very concerning, Jeremy, because I think the Davos forum provides a strategic platform for South Africa to be part of global conversations of a strategic nature. It also provides us with a platform to showcase our growth plans and the successes that we’ve made in implementing those growth plans.

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It’s fundamentally important or crucially important that we have senior and strategic representation and above all else that we have a very compelling story to tell that is fact based, rather than just based on throwing nice words here and there and trying to spin things from a PR point of view. Because let’s not forget that economic actors have got access to very sound analysis of what’s happening in most countries and regions around the world. There’s nowhere to hide in terms of not sharing honestly and openly in terms of what the opportunities are and what the challenges are.

JEREMY MAGGS: And in that case, things are particularly difficult for South Africa, given that we don’t have a particularly good story to tell right now, do we?

KUSENI DLAMINI: I think the challenges we face, Jeremy, are not unique to us. We have a mixed bag. There are challenges, especially in the three areas that have been identified by business and government. In the area of energy, we all know what the challenges are there. In freight and logistics and in the issue of crime and corruption, we have challenges there. What South Africa should be proud of is that those challenges have been identified and public-private partnerships have been set up to try and deliver workable solutions. I think Davos provides an opportunity for team South Africa to showcase that.

There are areas of opportunity where things are working well. If you look at our automobile manufacturing industry, Jeremy, it’s one of the emblems of excellence in the global economy.

You see cars driving in Europe and North America manufactured either in Uitenhage (Kariega) or Prospecton in Durban, or in Silverton in the case of Ford and BMW, and East London in the case of Mercedes Benz.

You look at our retail industry, it’s really world class and really outstanding by all accounts. Look at our financial services industry. Look at our media, the fourth estate, we are able to make sure that the constitutional democracy that we have is protected because we’ve got a very robust inquiring media that’s constantly pushed back against corruption, against maleficence and exposes wrongdoing.

We’ve got a judiciary that has recently also showcased itself. Above all else, what I’m also proud of is our university sector. I also happen to be the chair of the council of the University of Pretoria. We produce world-class graduates who stand their own against the best from all corners of the world.

JEREMY MAGGS: Kuseni Dlamini, thank you very much for talking to me.

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