Gerrie Fourie, Capitec CEO, believes that Capitec’s reinvestment of 1.4 billion back into the business will see great potential in South Africa. The bank prioritised more investments as they went on hiring more of IT technicians and fourth industrial skilled people and buying Mercantile Bank back in 2021.
In a bank’s latest financial results presentation Fourie told investors that,
“South Africa has got immense potential and growth opportunities. I think that’s what Capitec is in South Africa and wholly South African-focused.”
Fourie also stated that South Africa needs to invest more in Education, as the country lacks critical skills that are necessary for business demands. The CEO also touched on short-term issues that South Africa will be facing throughout the year such as high-interest rates, aggressive spending during a pandemic, and threats of recessions across the world.
Fourie believes that South Africans need to take ownership of their lives. He went on to admit that with load-shedding, crime and corruption, the country being greylisted, it’s easy for one to focus on such problems instead of what they can do to better their lives.
If we really want to get it right, then we, as South Africans, need to take ownership of our destiny.
“I see too many people saying the government must do this; companies must do this,” he said.
Speaking to News24, Fourie says that there is room for South African to pave their own destinies instead to trusting the unreliable state.
“And they will probably have this entitlement culture that the company or somebody else must look after them instead of saying, what can I do for myself?”
He also acknowledged those who need help due to the dismal state of education in South Africa.
“If we want to be a successful country, we need to invest in our education. We can’t have a 30% Matric pass rate, we need to make certain that we get people with Maths, Science, etc.”
“We really can make a difference. I think it’s a different mindset that we need to have. There are opportunities. But you will never find those opportunities if you’re negative…Take ownership. Look for opportunities, and let’s be positive,” he added.
According to the CEO, The bank still plays a role in education through partnerships
“We (Capitec) are giving R100-R200 million a year on education. But let’s put ten companies together, and suddenly you’ve got R1 billion to R2 billion, and we can really go and make a difference.”
