A local company that will partake in the Department of Trade and Industry’s trade and investment mission to Ghana and Nigeria is keen to seek new markets on the continent.
Isivuvu Technical Solutions is among the companies that will participate in the department’s Outward Trade and Investment Mission to Ghana and Nigeria. It will get underway next week.
Nhlanhla Maphalala, the Managing Director of the Gauteng-based civil engineering and multi-disciplinary service company in the built environment, said the mission will grant his company an opportunity to take advantage of trade and investment opportunities available in Ghana and Nigeria.
He said his company wants to play a role in the expansion and delivery of electricity in Africa.
“Most power and electricity transmission infrastructure in Africa presently operates at a fraction of installed capacity, owing to insufficient maintenance and lack of modernisation. Across the continent, infrastructure such as power plants and transmission lines is either disrupted, damaged or non-existent. However, investment in energy infrastructure is critical to the continent reaching its economic potential and exploiting its current growth trend.
“We have learnt that there are numerous infrastructure development projects in Ghana and Nigeria and our main objective of travelling there is to explore possibilities of participating in these projects and penetrate the West African region through these two strategic countries,” said Maphalala on Thursday.
Maphalala is of the view that participating in the mission will afford his company an advantage for extensive data collection of generation capacity and transmission networks. It will also help assess the demand and supply balance.
“We need to align ourselves regionally. Regional integration needs to be looked at right down to the consumer level. The introduction of cross border projects can provide great economies of scale to the African continent. Critical infrastructure changes the economy from an employment perspective, and a key enabler and the rest follows,” said Maphalala.
Identifying export markets
The Outward Trade and Investment Mission to the two African countries forms part of the Department of the Trade and Industry’s objective to identify and create export markets for South African value-added products and services.
Minister Rob Davies says South Africa has prioritised Ghana and Nigeria as part of the country’s integrated national export strategy.
“We have prioritised engagements with these two strategic markets as part of our integrated national export strategy aimed at developing new markets for South Africa’s value-added and manufactured goods, and services with an emphasis on Africa and emerging markets. Furthermore, the mission is in line with the dti’s outcome-oriented goal of building mutually beneficial regional and global relations, in order to advance South Africa’s trade, industrial policy and economic development objectives,” said Minister Davies
The investment mission will also serve to promote South African products and services, while creating opportunities for business partnerships between business communities of the respective countries.
Minister Davies added that the mission will also create a platform to facilitate networking and the obtaining of information on the dynamics of the industries, as well as availability of partnership opportunities in both Ghana and Nigeria.
The total value of trade between South Africa and Ghana for 2017 amounted to R5.5 billion, while with Nigeria for the same year it amounted to R28.5 billion.
Sectors targeted for the mission are agro-processing and agribusiness, furniture and wood processing, infrastructure as well as the built environment professionals. The programme for the mission will include trade and investment seminars, site visits and business-to-business meetings.
The trade mission will run from 19 – 23 March. - SAnews.gov.za
