Davos Diary Day 3: Hope springs as momentum shifts gears, experts agree

It’s the middle of the road at the World Economic Forum in Davos 2017, and the conversations are really starting to heat up. And Alec had a great day with mic in hand. He caught up with the man who runs the company that accounts for one fifth of the JSE Top 40 index, Bob van Dijk of Naspers. He also caught up with a South African business stalwart who has seen it all, the man at the helm of Investec, Stephen Koseff. And what’s the message he’s taking from all these conversations? It’s one of change, and of a change that’s starting to shift gears. Could 2017 be the year things turned, it’s looking more likely from the seats at Davos, let’s hope the message carries through down south. – Stuart Lowman

Well, here we go. Davos Diary: Day 3. We certainly are hitting our straps here in the World Economic Forum. It’s been a day, for us, of interviews. Davos is a great place to come to, to see people that you wouldn’t see/find difficult to see at other times of the year.

How’s this? I haven’t ever met Bob van Dijk before. If you recall…if you have a look at the JSE, he’s the Chief Executive of Naspers. Naspers accounts for 20% of the JSE Top 40 Index so this is a guy whom everybody in South Africa should know and should know more about but because he’s based in the Netherlands and because he spends 75% of his time travelling the world, nobody really gets to see the real man. I did today. I spent half-an-hour with him, pulled out the microphone, had a good chat, and I think your savings with Naspers are in very good hands as are the Investec guys. It was a terrific interview with Stephen Koseff. It gave me a lot of hope that South Africa’s going in the right direction.

Often, at the end of my articles, I write ‘hope springs’ and sometimes, maybe you think I’m being a little bit optimistic but this time around, when I say ‘hope springs’ I can assure you that it isn’t optimism that’s driving that philosophy. When you hear, and listen to that interview with Stephen Koseff, you’ll get a pretty good idea that there is an enormous amount happening behind the scenes.

It almost reminds me of ‘the faith man’ Jim Wallis, whom we interviewed yesterday. He said, “During the Apartheid era, it was very hard for people to imagine that the country would change. It was a police state but the faith-based community pictured a different future – a future of freedom and democracy. They imagined it and it manifested.” He said, “Just do the same thing now South Africa, and you’ll get through your challenges.” I love that.

This is Davos Diary with Alec Hogg. I’ll be back again tomorrow and of course, it’s brought to you with the sponsorship of BrightRock.

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