IATF will pave way for greater intra-African trade – Davies
Dr Rob Davies, South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry says South African business people should consider the continent as an extremely important market, especially for trade in value-added products.
Davies, who is the leader of South Africa’s delegation to the Intra-African Trade Fair says the Fair provides a platform for sharing trade, investment and market information and enabling buyers and sellers, investors and countries meet, discuss and conclude business deals.
While he commends the achievements of the last IATF in Cairo in 2018, describing it as an excellent opportunity for South Africa to grow its export volumes, especially into the rest of the continent and to promote the export of goods and services. He sees the next Fair coming up next year in Kigali Rwanda as a game changer. “When we look at trade with the continent from the South African point of view, there is an easy way of telling the big story. The story is that two-thirds of South Africa’s trade is with the world, whilst a third of the trade is with the African continent. Of the latter, two-thirds comprise trade in value-added products,” Davies notes.
What is more, even though total trade among African countries is still lower compared to other continents, Davies is optimistic that platforms such as the IATF will pave the way to increase trade in Africa. “We believe that during the course of the Intra-African Trade Fair, South African exhibitors will find trading partners with the Egyptian business community and hopefully, with other African countries too,” he says.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.