EXPORTS TO the rest of Africa continue to grow strongly, Customs and Excise figures show.
The rand volume of sales to the north have more than doubled since 1994 from R8,63bn to R17,4 bn in 1996. Africa is now our third-biggest export market after Europe and Asia.
Sales to Asia rose to R26bn last year from R15bn in 1994. Exports to Europe have climbed from under R30bn in 1994 to more than R38bn last year.
Total exports for the year reached R126bn, compared to R102bn for 1995.
Imports stood at R115bn by the end of 1996, an increase over the R97bn recorded for 1995.
This left a surplus of R10bn in SA's favour, more than double the just over R4bn surplus for 1995.
