‘UK is uninvestable’: Oppenheimer, South Africa’s richest woman, warns investors

South African investors have delivered a stark message to the UK, arguing that economic mismanagement and painfully slow delivery of infrastructure make it “uninvestable” at present.

• South African investors Jonathan Oppenheimer and Magda Wierzycka say the UK has become challenging to invest in due to sluggish infrastructure delivery and policy missteps.
• Oppenheimer argues that the projected 30-year timeline for upgrading the A66 reflects deeper structural problems.
• Wierzycka criticises the government’s handling of the economy and highlights labour shortages worsened by Brexit.
• Their comments come as Prime Minister Keir Starmer seeks to attract billions in foreign investment and push through new planning reforms.

Their warning comes amid growing concern over the country’s business climate.

Jonathan Oppenheimer, executive chairman of the Oppenheimer Generations philanthropic and investment group, highlighted the problem by pointing to a long-standing infrastructure proposal: converting an 18-mile stretch of the A66 road in northern England into a dual carriageway. What should take months, he said, is being estimated to take 30 years.

“So long as the UK takes 30 years to do a nine-month project, it’s uninvestable,” he told a panel at the Bloomberg Africa Business Summit in Johannesburg.

Magda Wierzycka, CEO of Sygnia Ltd., a financial services firm that opened a UK office in 2019, echoed his concerns.

She described the UK’s economic stewardship as “mismanagement” and offered a blunt assessment: “A scary country, wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole.”

Their remarks come despite Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s efforts to attract foreign capital.

The UK government claims it has secured approximately $131 billion (originally £100 billion) from BlackRock over the next decade, plus another $66 billion (around £50 billion) from other US firms.

Reforms are underway to simplify planning, and the government has approved 20 major infrastructure projects in its first year, compared with 57 during the previous five-year Conservative administration.

Additionally, the government is pushing pension-fund reforms to channel more local capital into national infrastructure, housing, and green energy, aided by new institutions such as the National Wealth Fund and the National Housing Bank.

But Wierzycka raised deeper concerns. She argued that Brexit has “basically eliminated” the inflow of skills into the UK.

With about a quarter of the population on social welfare, she said, the labour market has become constrained: “Try finding a waiter, try finding a builder, it’s unavailable except for Polish people.”

Oppenheimer and Wierzycka’s combined warnings suggest that, despite high-profile foreign investment pledges, serious structural issues may be undermining the UK’s long-term appeal to global and African capital.