Ramaphosa says SA will be able to showcase an economy on the rise as it prepares to host G20 Summit

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the country will be able to showcase an economy on the rise as South Africa prepares to host the first G20 summit on African soil.

Ramaphosa says several key indicators and developments in the past week illustrate "green shoots" of an economic recovery taking shape, from improved job numbers to better credit ratings.

Ramaphosa was writing in his latest newsletter, as world leaders from the biggest economies prepare to descend on South Africa for this weekend's G20 leaders summit in Johannesburg.

Ramaphosa said that in the country's economic recovery, the most noteworthy improvements have been witnessed in the energy sector.

He said Eskom is now on the road to recovery with massive investment in renewable energy generation and vastly improved electricity supply.

Ramaphosa said unemployment is also down, with the latest data from Statistics South Africa showing that the official unemployment rate fell to 31.9% between July and September this year.

It's down from 33.2% recorded in the previous quarter.

He said this translates to nearly a quarter of a million more people were in employment in the third quarter.

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Ramaphosa said of these, around 130,000 were added in the construction sector.

Ramaphosa wrote that modelling from the University of Stellenbosch's Bureau of Economic Research (BER) has estimated that the potential impact of the Operation Vulindlela reforms could lift South Africa's long-term growth rate by as much as 3.5% when fully implemented.

Ramaphosa said following a "ruinous period of economic stagnation and capture of the state", the country has been able to chieve sustained progress in a relatively short period of time.