Politics sets South Africa on a new path

With the election of Cyril Ramaphosa, there is a new sense of optimism in the country. Bankers talk of Ramaphoria and hail the first signs of a long-overdue improvement in the economy.

South Africa president Cyril Ramaphosa

How important is Cyril Ramaphosa’s ascent to the presidency for South African business?

Ask the country’s browbeaten bankers and it seems they have added ‘Ramaphoria’ and ‘the Cyril Spring’ to their lexicon to describe the new confidence sweeping the nation ever since the 65-year-old Ramaphosa became president in February and put an end to years of dysfunction under Jacob Zuma.

Bankers say the hope surrounding Ramaphosa, a former trade union firebrand who became one of South Africa’s richest and most successful tycoons, reminds them of the optimism that marked the start of the Nelson Mandela era in 1994.

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