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The Deputy Director-General of Exports at Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic), Ms Lerato Mataboge says South Africa’s approach to African integration ahead of the 15th Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) Summit next month include infrastructure development, industrial development and market integration. The summit will take place at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg from 22-24 August 2023, under the theme: “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development, and Inclusive Multilateralism”. It will be hosted by South Africa as the Chair of BRICS. 

Mataboge was speaking during the BRICS Business Editors’ Breakfast in Johannesburg today. The session was a high-level engagement with editorial heads of agenda-setting media titles with the objective to outline the trade and investment posture of the BRICS Business Council, programme of work of the economic workstream of BRICS in South Africa, as well as the tangible economic opportunities that emerge for South Africa and the African Continent. 

According to Mataboge, South Africa is going to the summit with the aim of bringing Africa’s agenda to the fore, and having a strong conversation on issues of diversifying exports towards value added trade, increasing productive capacities, increasing entrepreneurial opportunities and skills dividend, accelerating growth and accruing value on the African Continent, increasing investment flows to Africa, increasing technology transfer, increasing employment opportunities and improved incomes and economic inclusion and transformation. 

While outlining the benefits of the AfCFTA, Mataboge said it creates a legal framework that aims to remove barriers and unlock opportunities for trade and investment for local and global businesses, especially in the creation of regional value chains in Africa. Notably, she said women and youth-owned businesses are poised to benefit from the AfCFTA, with the necessary financial and non-financial support. 

“The AfCFTA creates a single market projected to grow to 1.7 billion people and $6.7 trillion in consumer and business spending by 2030. By 2050, the population would have grown to 2.5 billion people, with combined business and consumer spending reaching $16.12 trillion,” added Mataboge. 

In outlining the AfCFTA industrialisation opportunities, Mataboge said the AfCFTA Private Sector Engagement Strategy is poised to capture value into the Continent and pointed out four sectors which are automotive, agriculture and agro-processing, pharmaceuticals and transport and logistics as having high potential for investment, potential to meet African demand through local production and potential value as exports to the rest of the world. 

Notably, Mataboge said together, these four sectors represent R2.6 billion in goods and services’ imports per annum.  

South Africa became a member of BRICS in 2010 and attended its first Summit in 2011. BRICS established as a forum of like-minded, progressive emerging market and developing countries committed to the need to restructure the global political, economic and financial architecture to be more equitable, balanced and resting on the important pillars of multilateralism and international law.  

Over time, BRICS has extended its cooperation to three pillars: political and security, economic and financial, and social/people-to-people. At the initiative of South Africa, BRICS also expanded its reach beyond the BRICS members through the BRICS Outreach and BRICS Plus initiatives. 

Issued by The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic)