President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Alistair Ruiters as his special advisor for investment promotion. (@PresidencyZA/X)
President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Alistair Ruiters as his special advisor for investment promotion, helping to advance South Africa’s opportunities in that regard to drive inclusive economic growth and job creation.
The appointment of the former director general at the department of trade and industry comes two weeks after Ramaphosa named former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas as his special envoy to Washington amid a diplomatic freeze with the administration of US President Donald Trump and a simmering global trade war.
In a statement, the presidency said Ramaphosa’s government was looking to implement “a broad range of economic reforms aimed at rendering South Africa more attractive and rewarding for domestic and international investors; advancing greater diversification of the economy and broadening South Africa’s integration into continental and global supply chains”.
Ruiters worked in the department of trade and industry for 11 years before becoming its director general from 2000 to 2005. He was also the commissioner of the Competition Commission from 1999 to 2004.
He has held other leadership roles, including chief executive and chairperson of a number of institutions and businesses, such as the National Empowerment Fund, Pebble Bed Modular Reactor and Afarak Group, the presidency said.
During his five-year tenure as director general at trade and industry, Ruiters was criticised for delaying the formulation and implementation of an industrial policy strategy and for spending too much time on restructuring and renaming the department.
He holds a doctor of philosophy degree from Oxford University in the UK and a BA honours from the University of Cape Town, among other qualifications.