World Cup to earn S. Africa Sh150bn

World Cup tourism will inject 15 billion rand (Sh150 billion) into South Africa’s economy this year alone, the country’s Finance minister has said.

Pravin Jamnadas Gordhan said while it had been predicted that 0.5 percentage points would be added to the country’s economic growth this year, the figure went lower when Fifa confirmed that around 350,000 World Cup tourists would come down from the initial forecast of 400,000.

“The National Treasury estimates that tourists will contribute about 15 billion rand to our economy through spending in hotels, meals, transport and so on,” the minister said. “This money will circulate throughout the economy, spreading benefits much wider than just the hospitality and transport industries.”

There are huge gains to Africa’s largest economy for hosting the football showcase with Gordhan, in figures released to financial information resource Bloomberg, saying the positive effects of the tournament would be felt outside South African borders.

The World Cup host nation spent a third of Kenya’s annual budget — about 30 billion rand (Sh300 billion) — on the World Cup alone, upgrading transport and communications, building six new stadiums and upgrading four others.

Low income

“The 11.7 billion rand (Sh117 billion) investment in 10 world class stadiums alone created 66,000 new construction jobs, generating 7.4 billion rand (Sh74 billion) in wages, with 2.2 billion rand (Sh22 billion) going to low income households and, therefore, contributing to a reduction in poverty,” the minister reports.

The South African Government spent 13 billion rand (Sh130 billion) to upgrade the transport and telecommunication network, with 1.5 billion rand (Sh15 billion) going into broadcast technology, most significantly an expansion of broadband internet access.

Security services also received a major shot in the arm, with 1.3 billion rand (Sh13 billion) going towards the war against crime.