Whether the success of South Africa’s widely acclaimed World Cup will translate into more foreign direct investment for sub-Saharan Africa’s most important economy remains a subject of conjecture. Or so it seemed panelists concluded at a World Affairs Council event in Atlanta July 27.

“The World Cup Is Over…Now What?” event held at Coca-Cola Co.’s headquarters was the first of the newly formed council, which is affiliated with Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business.

Alexander Cummings, Coca-Cola’s chief administrative officer and executive vice president; Stephen Hayes, president and CEO of the Washington-based Corporate Council on Africa, and Atlanta attorney Toni Castel, president of the South African-American Chamber of Commerce in the Southeast, were the panelists.

Cedric L. Suzman, the council’s executive vice president and director of programming, served as the moderator. The discussion was the council's first public event.

It was held in the J. Paul Austin conference room and drew some 100 attendees. The conference room is named after the company’s former president, CEO and chairman, who during part of his career was based in Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa.

The panelists were unanimous that the World Cup had been a success. Even the picky FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) gave the event a score of nine out of 10.

“They proved that they can do it,” Mr. Cummings said, praising the success of private-public partnerships, the facilities, the police training and effective security at the matches.

The World Cup showed that South Africa “is not just bush, but a high-tech country with high-tech capabilities,” Ms. Castel added.

And Mr. Hayes underscored the potential for its success as a springboard for a variety of businesses including tourism, hotels, agriculture, security, information technology and health infrastructure.

He added that U.S. educational institutions had important opportunities there in a wide variety of fields.

“If we don’t take these opportunities we will lose out,” he said, referring to U.S. business in general.

That said, the panelists began to discuss the problems the country faces in attracting foreign direct investment, particularly from the U.S.

“I almost feel sorry for the country now that the World Cup was such a success,” said Ms. Castel. “The stadiums will be empty. People in the streets will be wondering whether it was worth it.”

And from a foreign investors perspective the challenges can be daunting: a rigid business structure, racial quotas under black empowerment policies (BEE); HIV/AIDS; widespread poverty, severe crime, contentious unions and debilitating strikes.

“Strikes at the ports almost closed down the World Cup,” Mr. Suzman remarked.

Mr. Hayes pointed to the successes of the U.S.-South Africa Business Forum, formed in recent years, and the Corporate Council since It was created in 1993, to encourage business and partnerships between U.S. and South African companies.

Yet, he also said, that while the major U.S. energy companies and corporate heavy weights such as Coca-Cola and General Electric Co. are involved, if the energy sector is removed the involvement by U.S. companies is comparatively meager.

In addition, Mr. Hayes called for a more coherent U.S. policy towards Africa. He said that he views the U.S.'s African policy as being somewhat "piecemeal" with an important aid and development component, but a lack of awareness about the importance of private sector development.

He predicted that the U.S. soon will fall behind China as the largest foreign investor on the continent.

Despite its problems, South Africa is without question sub-Saharan Africa's most important economy, accounting for 40 percent of the gross national product of all the sub-Saharan countries. Mr. Cummings said it was among Coke’s top 10 markets in the world.

And Mr. Hayes pointed out that if the U.S. energy companies were excluded in calculations, South Africa was a bigger investor in the rest of the continent than the U.S. itself.

In view of Coke’s success in the country, Mr. Cummings appeared quite optimistic, if philosophical. It’s just a matter of time for the country to reach its full potential, although that might entail quite a bit of more time, he added. Coke has benefited from its presence in South Africa for already more than 100 years, he said, and it would continue to do so in the future.

He also said that it was important that the government stimulate the economy through public-private partnerships and not rely solely on free market policies. In addition, he said that South Africa and the continent generally would benefit from the strengthening of its regional compacts.

Ms. Castel said that, despite the problems, her law practice was active introducing potential partners and aiding U.S. companies to do business there, while assisting South African companies enter the U.S.

Mr. Hayes also said that if small- to medium-sized companies would become more involved, the U.S. middle class would benefit as well from South Africa’s progress.

To learn more about the World Affairs Council, go to http://robinson.gsu.edu/wacatl/index.html

The website for the Corporate Council on Africa may be found at http://www.africacncl.org/%28hc425c55upsao0juugl3on55%29/Default.aspx

2010 The Agio Press, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without expressed permission.