Audrey D’Angelo
African economies were growing faster than the global average and one of the biggest challenges this country faced at present was the low level of infra-African trade, Nils Flaatten, the chief executive of Western Cape agency Wesgro, said yesterday.
Outlining opportunities for exports to increasingly prosperous African countries, he said at a seminar on doing business with Africa that Cape Town was “the springboard for doing business in west Africa. It is a growth area for us.”
Durban, on the other hand, was the springboard for doing business with Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries and with India, a fellow member of the Brics bloc of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa.
Flaatten said that Asia had been South Africa’s biggest trade partner in 2011, “which is part of the Brics picture”.
However, Europe, with which trade was slowing down at present, was the main trading partner for the Western Cape.
There was also a danger that Africa might not retain its favourable terms for trade with the US under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) and it was important to lobby against its possible exclusion.
In these circumstances it was important to build on opportunities to build up trade with Africa as insurance against “big shocks from other markets”.
Emphasising that South Africa “should not walk away” from its established trading links with Europe and the US, Flaatten said it was important, however, to maximise the export opportunities with other SADC countries. He added that conditions at border control posts could be improved.
It was an advantage for South Africa that some west African countries, including Ghana, were English speaking while Cameroon spoke English as well as French.
Mozambique was the biggest trading partner in Africa this year and the Mozambican government was encouraging trade links. Zimbabwe was in second place and Zambia in third.
But Flaatten said trade was not only a matter of goods. About 32 percent of foreign direct investment in the continent was through South Africa, whose biggest asset in this aspect of trade was “our stock market and banks”.
A list of local companies investing in Africa included financial services companies, hotel companies and developers. Some hotel development included retail shops.
Michael Bagraim, the president of the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said Africa was booming and there had never been a better time to do business with it.
South Africa had been slow to recognise the opportunities on offer, but the offshore oil industry presented major opportunities as the rigs moved south. Cape Town provided the nearest harbour with sophisticated engineering services. Exports to west African countries were growing.
“Doing business in Africa has been a good idea for a long time, but in the last 12 months it has got a whole lot better with some spectacular oil and gas discoveries in east Africa, both on and offshore.