By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/karen-gilchrist/">Karen Gilchrist </a>



For decades, political and economic policies have been built on the promise of helping people do better than the generations before them. But still today, in 2020, the opportunities we get in life remain largely dictated by the socio-economic circumstances we’re born into.



That’s the finding of a new report from the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/davos-world-economic-forum/">World Economic Forum</a>, which says that most countries are failing to stamp out historical inequalities that prevent people from realizing their full potential.



In its inaugural&nbsp;<a href="https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-social-mobility-index-2020-why-economies-benefit-from-fixing-inequality" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Global Social Mobility Index</a>&nbsp;released Monday, WEF found that just a handful of governments — specifically those in Scandinavian countries — have succeeded in laying the foundations for greater social mobility and more prosperous futures for their citizens.



Social mobility refers to the ability for individuals, families or households to move between various socio-economic strata within a society.



The social framework has long been used as a measure of a society’s socio-economic progress, comparing outcomes such as a person’s earnings versus their parents. However, WEF’s new report looks instead at inputs, such as the policies, practices and institutions within a society.



The report comes as leaders gather to discuss key global issues at WEF’s 50th anniversary in Davos, Switzerland.



<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/id/10000268">Denmark</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/id/10000281">Norway</a>, Finland,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/id/10000286">Sweden</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/id/10000276">Iceland</a>&nbsp;— incidentally some of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/video/2020/01/09/why-finland-and-denmark-are-the-happiest-countries-in-the-world.html">world’s happiest countries</a>&nbsp;— ranked as the five most socially mobile countries, thanks to their supportive education and employment frameworks.



Other major economies like the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/united-kingdom/">U.K.</a>&nbsp;(21st),&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/id/10000385">U.S.</a>&nbsp;(27th),&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/china/">China</a>&nbsp;(45th) and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/india/">India</a>&nbsp;(76th), however, failed to make the top quartile.



To conduct the research, WEF benchmarked 82 countries according to 10 pillars deemed necessary for cultivating social mobility. Those included health care, education, technology access, work opportunities, working conditions, fair wages, social protection and inclusive institutions.



WEF&#8217;s Global Social Mobility Index Ranking 2020 



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Make-it-WEF.png" alt="" class="wp-image-353936" width="479" height="559" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Make-it-WEF.png 469w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Make-it-WEF-257x300.png 257w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Make-it-WEF-359x420.png 359w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 479px) 100vw, 479px" /><figcaption> Source: <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/oTOMN/2/" target="_blank">World Economic Forum</a>  <a href="data:application/octet-stream;charset=utf-8,Country%2CRank%20(Out%20of%20100)%0ADenmark%2C85.2%0ANorway%2C83.6%0AFinland%2C83.6%0ASweden%2C83.5%0AIceland%2C82.7%0ANetherlands%2C82.4%0ASwitzerland%2C82.1%0AAustria%2C80.1%0ABelgium%2C80.1%0ALuxembourg%2C79.8%0AGermany%2C78.8%0AFrance%2C76.7%0ASlovenia%2C76.4%0ACanada%2C76.1%0AJapan%2C76.1%0AAustralia%2C75.1%0AMalta%2C75%0AIreland%2C75%0ACzech%20Republic%2C74.7%0ASingapore%2C74.6">Get the data</a>  <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.datawrapper.de/_/oTOMN/" target="_blank">Created with Datawrapper</a> </figcaption></figure></div>



In particular, it found that most countries lagged behind in four areas: fair wages, social protection, working conditions and lifelong learning.



Social mobility — or a lack of it — has serious implications not only for individuals, but also for the societies they live, the report noted. While some nations have taken steps to build more inclusive systems, much remains to be done to get the foundations right, according to WEF’s founder and executive chairman, Klaus Schwab.



“The social and economic consequences of inequality are profound and far-reaching: a growing sense of unfairness, precarity, perceived loss of identity and dignity, weakening social fabric, eroding trust in institutions, disenchantment with political processes, and an erosion of the social contract,” Schwab.



“The response by business and government must include a concerted effort to create new pathways to socioeconomic mobility, ensuring everyone has fair opportunities for success.”



This article was first published on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/21/wef-where-youre-born-determines-the-opportunities-you-get-in-life.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/21/wef-where-youre-born-determines-the-opportunities-you-get-in-life.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

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Where you’re born determines the opportunities you get in life, says the World Economic Forum

South African finance minister Tito Mboweni held a priceless piece of history in his hands but tossed it the bin in the snows of Switzerland. It would have been worth a fortune today. 



The pile of paper in question contained a speech by the then president- in-waiting Nelson Mandela who was the star of the World Economic Forum in Davos back in 1991. Fresh from 27 years in prison, Mandela addressed the forum and earned a 10-minute standing ovation before he uttered a word.



READ: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/zdnl-mc/2020/01/16/sas-finance-minister-how-rats-and-thieves-are-nibbling-and-pilfering-sas-pockets/">SA’s Finance Minister: How rats and thieves are nibbling and pilfering SA’s pockets</a>



Mandela was also trying to negotiate his way to power by carrying the wishes of the rank-and-file African National Conference members. On the cusp of power they wanted nationalisation of the banks and mines as laid down in the country’s sacred Freedom Charter penned by liberation activists in 1955. 



READ: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/2020/01/16/this-is-how-sa-will-sell-its-investment-case-at-wef-2020/">This is how SA will sell its investment case at WEF 2020</a>



Mandela has laboured over a hand written speech promising nationalisation as
a cornerstone of a socialist economy. At the time, with globalisation on the
march, it would have gone down like a lead balloon with foreign investors who
were already edgy about the ANC, that had not long put down its weapons, taking
over the then biggest economy in Africa.



Mboweni recalled that among the first people Mandela met with in Davos, as
he worked on his nationalisation speech, were leaders of the communist parties
in Vietnam and China. 



&#8220;Both of them said to him we are leaders of communist parties we have
economic liberalisation programmes on our agenda. They said leading a national
liberation movement and we are leading communist movements how come you are
more radical than us?&#8221;



But ANC advisors persuaded Mandela to throw the speech away and the young
31-year-old exiled activist, duly cast the pile of papers in the bin.



“He was persuaded that a very long speech on nationalisation might be appropriate
for another forum but not Davos,” says Mboweni at the breakfast on the road to
Davos held at a Rosebank hotel in Johannesburg Thursday.&nbsp;



“It was a big pile of paper. My biggest regret is that I threw it away
because it is part of history and it would be worth a fortune now. The one we
used was only about three pages.”



Those three pages changed history and ushered in a golden decade of growth
and prosperity. Foreign investors, encouraged by swift free market reforms and
easing of exchange controls, queued up to invest in the new South Africa when
Mandela took power in 1994. GDP growth peaked at around 5% in 2005; fourteen
years on the country’s battered economy, plagued by power cuts, is struggling
to make one per cent.



“It’s no longer 1994!” exclaimed one business editor at the road to Davos
breakfast when asked about the country’s current new investment prospects in
Switzerland , “South Africa is just another small country in a big and more
complicated world.”



Fair enough. There are those in business who feel that South Africa didn’t
cash in enough on those gilded days of the Mandela feel good factor and is now
paying the price in the current difficult world economic climate. Many of them
are probably right. &nbsp;&nbsp;

How Tito Mboweni tossed a fortune into the bin

South African finance minister Tito Mboweni has two major headaches to sort out before the budget in February- how to cut the ballooning civil service wage bill and how to banish “rats and thieves” in the cause of cutting government spending.



Mboweni, who heads to the World Economic Forum in Davos next week, says wastage and corruption were the biggest drains on the country’s fiscus.



READ: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wef/2020/01/16/this-is-how-sa-will-sell-its-investment-case-at-wef-2020/">This is how SA will sell its investment case at WEF 2020</a>



“The problem with government contracts is that when there are the big ones
with lots of money – that is when the rats and thieves come out!” he told a
Davos breakfast in Rosebank, Johannesburg.



“The public sector wage bill is also a huge threat to the fiscus and we will
be trying to find a solution before the February budget.”



Mboweni has his work cut out. Along with the job of convincing the world,
next week, that South Africa can change its economy quicker he has to think
hard about the budget in February. He has pledged many times not to risk
fuelling inflation by printing money to bail out government coffers, the
prudent alternative is likely to take a lot of canny though.



Corruption is only likely to be quelled by convictions and stiff sentences.
The civil service wage bill may be an even more arduous task and more than one
previous finance minister have fought shy of cutting it; the unions are strong
in South Africa’s civil service and are likely to fight the minister
tooth-and-nail.



February’s budget could be very interesting indeed.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

SA’s Finance Minister: How rats and thieves are nibbling and pilfering SA’s pockets

South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni heads to the World Economic
Forum in Davos, Switzerland, next week ready to tell world leaders that South
Africa does have electricity – despite what they may have read in the papers –
but also ready to admit that the country is lagging in its economic reform.



The outspoken finance minister will field questions in the Swiss ski resort
– where 30,000 delegates will gather next week &#8211; resort from everyone from
presidents to the heads of multinational companies about everything from reform
the economy of Zimbabwe. The South African mission is bent on networking with
international investors and journalists asked Mboweni at a breakfast in
Rosebank, Johannesburg, Thursday about how difficult will this be for a country
struggling to maintain its electricity supply.



“When we are asked why there is no electricity in South Africa our answer is
going to be that this is not true. Yes, we are experiencing load shedding while
Eskom fixes this… You cannot be a doom day sayer and say there is not
electricity in South Africa. It is not true and that is the approach we will
take,” says Mboweni.



“We don’t want to go and lie to people if you lie to people you get caught.”



The finance minister also said the unbundling of the national power
generator Eskom into generation, transmission, distribution entities was moving
forward and be financed from the state budget and not the printing of money.



Yet Mboweni was scathing about failing state owned enterprises in general.



“We will tell in Davos of the determined effort to put state owned
enterprises on a good path, those which do work, those that don’t work should
get out of the way.” 



The finance minister also admitted that the structural reforms of South
Africa, promised with the advent of President Cyril Ramaphosa two years ago,
are behind and he expects questions about this in Davos.



“They will ask about the Reserve Bank and I will tell them the Reserve Bank
will stay independent and serve the needs of the people without fear nor
favour. We will also tell them that it is honest to say the pace of structural
reforms is not the way we want it to be so we must speed up,” says Mboweni.



Economic development minister Ebrahim Patel said South Africa could report
back to Davos on progress on a number of promises made in Switzerland last
year. He said the business portal – a one stop shop for entrepreneurs – had
made setting up and registering a business in South Africa much quicker.
&nbsp;&nbsp;

This is how SA will sell its investment case at WEF 2020

DAVOS 2020 – WHY THE WORLD IS LESS COOL THIS YEAR. 



By Chris Bishop



Next week world leaders will meet at one of the coldest
spots on earth to discuss this divided planet’s burning issues that threaten
its very survival.



For years, the World’s Davos gathering has been around
issues of globalisation, the Fourth Industrial Revolution and artificial
intelligence. It is 50 years since the free market optimist Klaus Schwab
launched the gathering, in the Swiss ski village, aimed at bringing the world’s
economies closers.



The wags used to paint it as the great, good and the
powerful linking arms to sing: ‘We are the World.’ This year, the song of Davos
could be closer to a Bob Marley’s So Much Trouble in the World on the aptly
named album Survival.



As raging fires lay waste vast tracts of Australia – the
word is they won’t be doused until March – the World Economic Forum says the greatest
risk, in its 10 year outlook, is extreme weather destroying property and taking
life, followed closely by the failure to tackle climate change. Both lurk
beneath the glow of Australia’s ruinous bush fires.&nbsp; &nbsp;



The other greatest risks, according to 750 global experts
polled by WEF, are: environmental crime and mistakes, like radiation leaks and
oil spills; followed closely by the destruction of natural resources, tsunamis
earthquakes and geomagnetic storms. 



“The political landscape is polarised, sea levels are rising
and climate fires are burning. This is the year when world leaders must work
with all sectors of society to repair and reinvigorate our systems of
cooperation, not just for short-term benefit but for tackling our deep-rooted
risks,” said Borge Brende, President of the World Economic Forum. 



This is the second year running that that climate and
environment concerns top the list; one reason why issues like climate change
are shooting up news agenda in newsrooms around the world and causing companies
worldwide to rethink their investments. 



Aside from the fury of the elements, 2020 threatens to be a
dangerous and depressed year all round.



“The report forecasts a year of increased domestic and
international divisions and economic slowdown. Geopolitical turbulence is
propelling us towards an “unsettled” unilateral world of great power rivalries
at a time when business and government leaders must focus urgently on working
together to tackle shared risks’,” says the report.



The leaders of the South African delegation to Davos meet at
a plush hotel in Rosebank, Johannesburg, to set out their stall for yet another
pitch to the world for investors as the economy stalls with growth expected to
be less than one per cent this year.



As usual, the South Africans will be looking largely for
investors in heavy industry, tech and mining. Maybe the country – on of the
biggest polluters in Africa &#8211; should be looking to attract investment into
renewable energy to help avert climate change before the elements eat it for
breakfast. &nbsp;&nbsp;

WEF 2020

Where you’re born determines the opportunities you get in life, says the World Economic Forum

How Tito Mboweni tossed a fortune into the bin

SA’s Finance Minister: How rats and thieves are nibbling and pilfering SA’s pockets

This is how SA will sell its investment case at WEF 2020

These are the world’s greatest risks

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WEF 2020

Where you’re born determines the opportunities you get in life, says the World Economic Forum

How Tito Mboweni tossed a fortune into the bin

SA’s Finance Minister: How rats and thieves are nibbling and pilfering SA’s pockets

This is how SA will sell its investment case at WEF 2020

These are the world’s greatest risks

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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