President Cyril Ramaphosa with Alibaba's Jack Ma on Wednesday morning (Elmond Jiyane, GCIS)
  • The founder of the world's largest e-commerce platform, Jack Ma, paid President Cyril Ramaphosa a courtesy visit on Wednesday morning.
  • The two discussed the global economy, and South Africa's $100 billion investment drive.
  • Ma is in the country for a conference where he's launching an entrepreneurship award. 

The founder of the world’s largest e-commerce platform Alibaba, Jack Ma, made a courtesy call on President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday morning. 

Ramaphosa and Ma spoke about the strength of the global economy and investment in South Africa, the Presidency said in a statement. 

“[The also spoke about] prospects for investment in South Africa where [the] government is putting in place measures to attract $100 billion in new domestic and foreign direct investment over the next five years," the Presidency said. 

During their visit, Ramaphosa wished Ma the best the during his visit to Johannesburg for Alibaba’s Netrepreneurs: The Rise of Africa’s Digital Lions conference.

Ma, who has an estimated net worth of R517 billion ($38.6 billion), is launching the Netpreneur Prize in South Africa. It will give 100 young African entrepreneurs grants totalling $10 million (R133 million) by 2030.

Ma helped found Alibaba in 1999 alongside 17 other investors to allow exporters to post product-listings that customers could buy directly.

With a current market capitalisation of more than $460 billion (R6.17 trillion), Alibaba is one of the world’s most-valuable companies.

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