FOCUS ON OPPORTUNITIES TO ENHANCE TRADE AND INVESTMENT BETWEEN SA AND ANGOLA

Opportunities to enhance trade and investment relations between South Africa and Angola will be high on the agenda during the South Africa-Angola Business Forum that will be hosted by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the DTIC) at the CSIR International Convention Centre in Pretoria on 12 December 2024 from 8:00.

The forum will take place under the theme, South Africa and Angola: Working Together to Forge a New Era of Cooperation and Partnerships to Increase Mutually Beneficial Trade and Investment between the Two Countries. The Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Mr Parks Tau, and the Angolan Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr Rui Minguêns de Oliveira will address the forum.

The high-level event will bring together 300 attendees, including business leaders, representatives from development financing institutions, and senior government officials, to discuss ways to boost trade and investment flows between Southern Africa’s two leading economies.

The business forum will provide a platform to discuss areas of cooperation and explore the synergies between the two countries that can enhance structural transformation, trade and investment. It will also help to identify concrete economic projects to advance these objectives.

The focus of the session will be on increasing economic cooperation, facilitating business collaborations, and discussing ways to unleash the full potential for trade and investment between the two countries in the following strategic sectors; agriculture and agro-processing, energy, rail rolling stock and infrastructure, healthcare, mining, mineral beneficiation as well as oil and gas.

Potential exists for outward investment of about R24 billion in these sectors that South African companies can tap into, as well as R2.5 billion untapped export opportunities for 253 products that South Africa has comparative advantage in to access the Angolan market. One of the outcomes of the session is expected to be an increase in trade between the two countries. In 2023 total bilateral trade between South African and Angola was more than R13.5 billion.

The session will also afford a platform for business-to-business interactions. It will also allow private sector participants from both nations to build networks, consider collaborative projects, and exchange market insights that are essential for enabling the ease of doing business in the respective economies.