The chemicals, cosmetics, plastics and pharmaceutical sectors are set to get acquainted with the benefits offered under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
This will occur during a virtual workshop on the implementation of the AfCFTA hosted by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) on Wednesday, October 11.
The dtic has already embarked on provincial awareness workshops, which provided a platform for information sharing with the private sector on the benefits offered under the agreement.
The workshops were also used to identify South African companies in various provinces, in the targeted sector master plans and other priority sectors that have the capacity to export to the rest of the continent.
More workshops focusing on different sectors are being organised.
The workshop seeks to engage the chemicals, cosmetics, plastics, and pharmaceutical sectors, as well as industry agencies, associations and export councils, including their members, on the benefits of exporting under the AfCFTA.
Trade, Industry and Competition Deputy Minister Nomalungelo Gina said the interactive workshop was critical as it would afford the department an opportunity to provide a status update on the progress made in the development of the National Implementation Plan of the AfCFTA.
This includes the establishment of the National Implementation Committee.
“The department will update the sectors on the role expected of them in the implementation of the AfCFTA and essentially obtain challenges that the sectors may be facing in accessing the market on the continent. Obtaining this intelligence will assist the department to unlock the bottlenecks that the sectors may be facing,” Gina said.
Additionally, the workshop seeks to communicate and engage with the private sector, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as well as women and youth-owned export-ready businesses, on the status of the implementation of the AfCFTA, including opportunities for South African companies to participate in preferential trade beyond the southern African region.
“I am making a call to all these sectors to take advantage of the opportunities that the agreement is expected to unlock for companies.
“This agreement intends to create a large single continental market with a population of about 1.3 billion people and a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of approximately $3.4 trillion and we cannot lose out on it,” she said.
Gina describes the chemicals, cosmetics, plastics and pharmaceutical sectors as important to the South African economy as they play a critical role and are interwoven with the manufacturing sector which creates much-needed employment.
South Africa is Africa’s largest market for cosmetics and personal care products.
In 2018, the sector recorded close to $3.2bn (R62.2bn) in revenue. Imports of cosmetics have almost doubled in the last 10 years, presenting opportunities for localising production. – SAnews.gov.za
