South African president Ramaphosa praises Israel's hi-tech sector
Speaking at an economic conference in Johannesburg, he said that: "There is money: Come with plans and innovative ideas which we can fund, and then we can seed your business."
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa praised Israel's hi-tech sector during an economic conference in Johannesburg on Wednesday.Wednesday was the official commencement of South Africa's three-day investment drive led by Ramaphosa, where the country hopes to commit trillions of dollars to economic investments before the conference ends."The Israeli [hi-tech sector] funds enterprises in tech, in the technology space, and you call it a 'challenge fund,' the president said. "To me this is a very interesting nomenclature to say it is a 'challenge fund,' because it challenges the private sector, but it can also challenge the entrepreneurs themselves, who come out of the woodwork. There is money: Come with plans and innovative ideas which we can fund, and then we can seed your business," he said.Ramaphosa continued by adding that these types of investments are why Israel is leading the high tech industry by "leaps and bounds," and that the Israeli economy is innovative in many other sectors as well, such as agriculture, maritime."They have shown that they can lead, and we can learn a lot from what they do with challenge funds. I find this very interesting and I would like to know more, so we can discuss that [during the event]," he concluded.