If anything, Anheuser-Busch InBev‘s R1.4 trillion bid for SABMiller - which the local brewer says undervalues it - has thrown the spotlight on SA and its companies.
SABMiller is a legacy, a heritage, a fine example of a home-grown company that has made it big.
It sprung up from Joburg’s dusty streets when this city was a mere tent town to become the world’s second-largest brewery.
But it’s not the only success story this sun-drenched country has to offer.
There’s also MTN, which grew from humble beginnings in 1994 to become Africa’s biggest cellphone operator, with more than 200 million subscribers. No wonder Bharti Airtel wanted to buy it a few years ago - but the government put a quick stop to that.
Pick any sector at random and you’re likely to find a local success story; a company that went global in a big way.
Mining - even though in the doldrums currently - has several examples. There’s Anglo and all its spin-offs and, regardless of the corporate thinking behind moving to London, that company has become a global name.
De Beers, for example, is synonymous with diamonds around the world.
Johann Rupert’s Richemont is another example - that’s a luxury company with brands that are known globally, such as Cartier and Mont Blanc.
Shoprite may not be a global name yet, but it is a huge deal in Africa, and Woolworths is taking a traditionally difficult playing field - Australia - by storm by the looks of it.
Discovery is in the UK, Naspers is pretty much everywhere, Dimension Data spread its wings across the globe before being bought out by a Japanese entity, although its home is still north of Joburg.
The ever-colourful Sol Kerzner has built an empire of hotels around the world after starting out with a Durban hotel in 1962, although the hotel magnate will probably always be best known for Sun City.
Gold Fields has gone from being a South African miner to one that has pretty much divested locally, but remains listed here.
All these companies are fantastic examples of one South African setting his (mostly) sights on a goal and making it big.
I wouldn’t be surprised if more international companies come knocking on our doors to snap up a local company that has built a global empire. After all, Africa is where the growth is at.
So, we’ve proved time and time again that we can do it.
Why then do we have a situation in which some South Africans are pretty much forced to go overseas to make a go of it?
Vinny Lingham, Elon Musk, Mark Shuttleworth... you get the idea. All these bright sparks have come up with clever ideas, sold them, and moved to the US to make it even bigger.
Why?
We have great ideas here, and clever people, and a gung-ho, just-do-it attitude.
What we seem to be sorely lacking is an environment that is conducive to people getting something off the ground and then making it big.
We don’t have an angel fund culture, or a venture capital base that will take big risks, or a public that is keen to invest in what could be SA’s next big success story.
We don’t have nearly enough in the form of an enabling environment from government: tax breaks, trade protection and incubators enmeshed in the DNA of the economy.
Which makes me wonder if we will ever again see the likes of another SABMiller, or MTN, starting small in SA and staying here while taking over the world.
We all need to get behind clever ideas, and sooner rather than later, given our economic climate.
Let’s just do it!
* Nicola Mawson is the online editor of Business Report. Follow her on Twitter @NicolaMawson or Business Report @busrep.
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