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The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) will organize a virtual investment and foreign trade mission with Ethiopia this week.
The department says the goal of the seminar, which will take place Nov. 25-26, is to increase bilateral trade and investment between South Africa and Ethiopia.
“The mission is an ideal platform for South African companies wishing to export value-added products to Ethiopia, as well as those wishing to seek investment opportunities in the East African country,” said Deputy Minister of dtic, Nomalungelo Gina.
Gina said South Africa’s exports to Ethiopia are diversified, covering several of the department’s reinvented industrialization policy sectors.
“This presents potential to increase the volume of value-added products, as well as investments in Ethiopia by South African companies looking to expand their presence in the larger East African market.”
Agricultural products, among them the main ones, are coffee and spices, which dominate the country’s imports from Ethiopia.
Gina believes that South Africa’s exports to Ethiopia in 2019 indicate the demand and potential for expansion of exports and investment in inputs from the industrial and agricultural sector.
Meanwhile, the target sectors of the Trade and Investment webinar are agricultural processing; chemical and pharmaceutical products; energy and electrical engineering, and footwear and leather products.
“In 2015, a Memorandum of Understanding between South Africa and Ethiopia was amended to allow for the establishment of a Joint Committee on Trade (JTC). One of its tasks is to facilitate structured and regular engagements to discuss trade and economic issues, as well as address any trade issues. access to markets, “Gina said.
According to the Deputy Minister, the Main Directorate of Trade Invest Africa is helping the South African business community to establish and expand its presence on the African continent.
