Pretoria - South Africa and Kenya can complement one another, says Chief Director of Export Promotion and Marketing at the Department of Trade and Industry (dti), Zanele Sanni.
Sanni was speaking during the first leg of the Outward Selling and Investment Mission, which is currently underway in Nairobi, Kenya, which is led by the dti.
Sanni was speaking to 31 local companies that are on the investment mission to Kenya.
Both South Africa and Kenya are renowned for the soundness and advances made in their financial services sector, particularly in the banking sectors.
Pairing the strengths of Kenya in mobile money transfer (M-PESA) with South Africa’s large pool of the unbanked can help catapult the latter’s fledgling industry in this subsector.
“On the other hand, South Africa’s expertise in the development of capital equipment, deep mining technologies and manufacturing can be exchanged between the businesspeople to stimulate the optimal, responsible and sustainable use of Kenya’s new found mineral resources,” said Sanni.
Sanni cited developments at the recent African Union summit held in Ethiopia, where both President Uhuru Kenyatta and President Jacob Zuma reiterated their commitment to the aspirational pillars of a prosperous Africa that is based on inclusive growth and sustainable development amongst others.
This, according to Sanni, obligates both the public and the private sector to work together to attain these ideals of a progressive and influential Africa.
“What this translates to is that businesspeople in both countries need to work on the synergies that would give life to these political commitments,” she said.
According to her, memoranda of understanding (MoUs) aimed at boosting trade and investment were being discussed with a view of finalising them in mid-2015.
These include the MoU between Trade and Investment South Africa (TISA) and Kenya Investment Authority (KenInvest), and the Export Promotion Council (EPC), the MoU on Standardisation between Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) and the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), and the MoU on Common Mutual Assistance Agreement between the South African Revenue Services (SARS) and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), among others.
The mission aims to increase trade and investment between South Africa and the two countries.
The Kenya leg of the investment mission, which kicked off on Monday, concludes today. - SAnews.gov.za
