ECIC Acting CEO, Ntshengedzeni Gilbert Maphula joined the Department of Trade, Industry & Competition’s (the dtic) Chief Director for Exports, Willem van der Spuy and BER Chief Economist, Hugo Pienaar for a discussion on CNBC Africa’s Power Lunch with host Fifi Peters on the potential opportunities South Africa’s weak currency holds for local exporters.
Hugo Pienaar kicked off the insightful discussion by outlining some of the challenges faced by local exporters which included the riots and floods of 2022 as well as logistic issues related to poor transport infrastructure. All these factors he explained, were impediments to South Africa reaching its full export revenue potential. While the panellists agreed that these domestic factors were substantive, there were still significant opportunities for South African exporters of goods and services.
Willem van der Spuy highlighted that the real growth potential for South Africa in terms of export lies in the manufacturing sector, especially in relation to job creation. He said that in 2022 “we saw significant growth in our manufacturing exports”. Willem underscored the opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and said that in view of these, more local manufacturers were scaling their production, in spite of domestic and international logistics and other challenges.
ECIC Acting CEO, Ntshengedzeni Gilbert Maphula concurred and said that ECIC was focused on facilitating local manufacturers to export. He highlighted that in the next 6-8 months ECIC anticipated that there would be a great deal of activity in terms of project implementation. Gilbert continued to explain how ECIC had experienced increased interest from long term investors and that the future for South African exports looks bright.