It is no longer business as usual in South Africa, Angola and Zimbabwe as new leaders take charge, tackle corruption, roll out economic reforms and go after the vestiges of the old guard in a bid to breathe new life into their ailing economies.
The bold moves being undertaken by Angola's Joao Lourenco, Zimbabwe's Emmerson Mnangagwa and Cyril Ramaphosa, the ruling party's leader in South Africa, have sent the message, loud and clear, that there are new sheriffs in town.
This week's World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, gave the leaders of the three countries an opportunity to mingle with the global business elite and make their case for investment.
Their countries are now back on the radar of foreign investors, which are eyeing opportunities in the Southern African Development Community.
The renewed interest in the countries is a result of a series of economic and political upheavals within their borders.
After 38 years at the helm of oil-rich Angola, José Eduardo dos Santos stepped down last year, while Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, who had been in charge for 37 years, resigned in November. Ramaphosa won the leadership of the ANC in December - a victory that has put him in line to become president of the country.
These developments are likely to have a lasting impact, particularly on the economies of the three countries, which had been in different stages of decline.
South Africa, the regional powerhouse, was downgraded last year by global credit ratings agencies, and foreign investors had left amid subdued economic growth.
Angola, the continent's second-largest oil producer, was hamstrung by the bust in the commodities cycle boom. Oil accounts for nearly 95% of its foreign exchange receipts, and an oil price crunch severely hamstrung its US dollar earnings. Net foreign exchange reserves have fallen by more than 50% since 2013.
Exx Africa executive director Robert Besseling said there was little risk of a technical default on Angola's debt in 2018 as the government seeks to restructure its obligations.
Zimbabwe, the region's economic black sheep for the past two decades, had also been in a downward spiral, amplified by a severe US dollar shortage, international isolation, company closures and unemployment of 95%.
John Ashbourne, senior analyst at Capital Economics in London, said it was an interesting time for SADC, with the pace of change in Angola, in particular, surprisingly fast.
"There will be an economic effect in South Africa in that Ramaphosa's election has already boosted the rand and helped to improve business confidence. I think that the rand will probably weaken a bit later this year, but the currency will probably help to keep inflation in check and boost consumption," Ashbourne said.
"In Angola, the devaluation of the kwanza has boosted competitiveness and provided more reason to be optimistic about the medium to long term.
"In the short term, though, the economy will probably fall back into recession due to the inflation shock. In Zimbabwe, given the very poor state of the economy there, almost any change in policy could have an outsized effect on growth."
The new leaders have gone for the jugular in their efforts to revive their economies, with accountability and transparency being buzz words.
This week, public servants in Zimbabwe were given until February 28 to declare their assets. An amnesty programme that runs until March 1 for individuals and companies is also under way to enable them to return foreign currency stashed offshore on a "no questions asked" basis. There have also been high-profile arrests of former ministers.
Lourenco has fired people linked to the old guard. Africa's richest woman, Isabel dos Santos, was removed last year as the head of Sonangol and her brother José as head of Angola's $5-billion (R59-billion) Sovereign wealth fund.
In South Africa, the leadership rot at Eskom is now under scrutiny, fuelling optimism that, under Ramaphosa, the country could finally clean up the malfeasance at most state-owned enterprises.
But the decisive actions of Ramaphosa, Lourenco and Mnangagwa have raised questions among political observers over whether they are driven by the need to boost their economies - or to ensure their own political survival.
Darias Jonker, the executive director for Southern Africa at Eurasia Group, a global intelligence firm, said the three leaders had realised that they needed to deliver much more than just liberation-era platitudes and were now operating in a different environment.
"They realise that their political survival depends on younger voters born after the liberation years, who are much more informed and connected than the generation of their parents ... This changed environment also means that patronage needs to change, and heightened scrutiny by this new generation will see patronage advance to a more sophisticated and subtle system."
Jonker said the weakness of opposition parties, particularly in Angola and Zimbabwe, was a significant driver of this new class of leadership.
"Thus the impetus for change isn't because of the threat of an opposition winning, but rather that apathy will grow and the social contract will further weaken: a toxic recipe for social instability," he said.
"In South Africa, there is a real chance of losing to the opposition, however, and thus the ANC under Ramaphosa will need to respond to this threat by adopting popular policies of the opposition such as ... the EFF's stance on land, and also neutralise opposition arguments against the ANC.
"But overall, these trends mean that jobs need to be delivered, especially because the revenues of the commodity boom years have dissipated and can't be used to buy support."
The IMF's forecast for economic growth for sub-Saharan Africa is looking up at an estimated 3.3% this year, a significant improvement on the sub-par growth recorded since the commodity cycle crash.
Only time will tell whether the new leaders' push will pay off and the region will become a foreign investors' paradise - after years of drought, despotic rule and contracted economic growth.
ndlovur@sundaytimes.co.za
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