South African president Cyril Ramaphosa wants to mobilise investment worth R2tn ($110bn) in the country over the next five years, he said during a speech at the South Africa Investment Conference, held in Johannesburg on April 13.

He said the country’s beleaguered energy sector, which has been causing chronic power outages for years, is the government’s foremost priority. “The lack of reliability in electricity supply weakens business and consumer confidence, taints international perceptions about our country and affects investment sentiment and decisions,” he said.

The government has held the annual conference since 2018 to drum up capital pledges from local and international investors. During his speech, Mr Ramaphosa said almost 70% of the R1.14tn-worth of pledges made during the first four events have completed or are on their way to completion. 

On the same day, AWS announced it will invest R30.4bn in its South African cloud infrastructure by 2029. 

Investment fallout from Israeli reforms

A survey of Israeli start-ups and investors has found that more than 80% believe that controversial judicial reforms proposed by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government will negatively impact their companies. 

The results of the survey, which gained 1142 responses and was conducted by local non-profit Start-up Nation Central in March, was published on April 13. Respondents’ concerns include difficulty raising capital, acquiring customers, retaining talent, owning intellectual property and managing corporate governance.

The survey was conducted in response to the government’s proposal to give the executive control over appointing judges which has sparked fears over judicial independence and months-long protests across the country. 

Spain’s Mercadona expands in Portugal

Spanish supermarket chain Mercadona plans to open 10 new stores in Portugal this year. In a statement on April 11, the firm said the project is valued at €280m — which doubles its level of investment in the country — and will create 650 new jobs.

The new stores will be located in the districts of Porto, Braga, Lisbon, Setúbal and Coimbra. Mercadona first entered Portugal in 2019. 

And finally: Last year, Apple manufactured more than $7bn-worth of iPhones in India, accounting for 7% of the device’s production up from just 1% in 2021, Bloomberg has reported citing unnamed sources.