President Jacob Zuma of South Africa : Africa is a new frontier for trade and business development
By Deidré Heim, The Afro News Report
The African Chamber of Commerce of the Pacific Northwest, a branch of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with O 2 Joy Consulting hosted a meeting with the Ambassador General’s Representatives of the South African Consulate for the United States of America on February 22, 2011 in Seattle, Washington State.
There are favourable discussions being held between the USA and several countries in Africa that would like to further expand their trade commissions with each other. This action invokes that Africa is a new frontier for trade and business development and gives rise to opportunities for North American businesses to do trade of goods and services with Africa.
Latest statistics show that Africa has rebound and expects to see a 5% increase in their gross domestic product (GDP) by 2012. China is active in 39 countries and has invested $20 Billion so far in Africa. India also has significance in 11 countries.
South Africa, Ghana, Ethiopia, Congo, Botswana, Mozambique, Libya, Angola, Tanzania, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Cote D’ Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea are among the top countries that are doing trade with China and India, however; the European Union is still the forerunner. Africa possesses lucrative products in oil, mining, telecommunications, banking and agriculture.
The Ambassador General of the South African Consulate for the USA, Ebrahim Rasool was called to a summit in South Africa shortly before the scheduled meeting and was unable to attend as originally planned. His representatives, Consulate General Mr. Cyril Ndaba and Mrs. Jpotso John from the Consulates office in Los Angeles and Mr. Darius Jonker from the office in Washington, DC presented the members of the African Chamber of Commerce of the Pacific Northwest and the invited guests with a snapshot of the benefits of doing trade with South Africa.
Africa is a new frontier for trade and business development
President Jacob Zuma was elected in 2009 and his promise to the citizens is to build a better South Africa. Southern Africa presents a sophisticated and vibrant economy that is open for business with the emerging world markets. Therefore a trade alliance with the USA poses a good fit as South Africa is the gateway to Africa, it is ranked 35th in the world for banking, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange is ranked in the top 20 of the global exchange houses, the cities of Cape Town and Durban boasts large harbours, gold, platinum, rhodium, chrome, manganese and diamonds are a large part of the natural resources of this country.
The economy is expected to grow with five million more jobs being forecasted by 2022 in various sectors. There are approximately 250,000 jobs alone in building and enhancing the infrastructure of the country. Construction, Manufacturing, Tourism, Business Services, Solar Energy, Bio Fuels, Wind Energy, Information Technology, Health Care, Social Economy – Not for Profit Organizations, Public Works and Services, Education are all sectors of business that is open for trade.
Having recently hosted the World Cup Soccer Event in 2010, $3.2 billion was invested into airport improvements and a new International Airport was constructed in Durban along with a new Trade and Convention Centre in Cape Town. At the present time there are also favourable discussions with the Port of Seattle in Washington State and the Port of Durban, South Africa to establish Sister Port relations.
Trade missions are being planned for November 2011 in Seattle, WA to which South African businesses interested in partnerships with USA businesses will be invited to and a reciprocal event will be held in Durban in March 2012 inviting USA businesses interested in establishing partnerships with South African businesses or other parts of Africa.
For more information about these upcoming trade missions please contact the writer at: jewel_africa@yahoo.ca
