Exploring opportunities in Ethiopia and South Sudan

Ethiopia and South Sudan are on Beyond Africa Logistics Consultants’ radar for crossborder growth, said Ruth Butcher, business development director for the company. “Both have fast-growing economies and offer a lot of opportunities. For example, Ethiopia has seen an annual gross domestic product growth (GDP) of 5.19% since 1982 and the continued growth of its agricultural and manufacturing industries bodes well for the future,” commented Butcher. The resumption of oil production in South Sudan has also opened up several opportunities, she added. “In fact, power generation projects on the continent, along with oil and gas developments in other parts of Africa, provide major expansion opportunities for us,” she said. Butcher told FTW that she had seen an increase in intra-Africa trade over the past few years. “A lot of our current clients in South Africa are opening up branches across Africa and I believe an increase in intra-trade is a natural progression as a result of this. Furthermore, Africa’s middle class is constantly growing as rapid urbanisation takes place and the opportunities for intra-trade are growing on the back of that,” she said. According to Butcher, South Africa – as the second largest economy in Africa, accounting for nearly 30% of the continent’s GDP – should be driving mutually beneficial trade in the region. “Improving cross-border trade should be the first step, which would include removing a range of non-tariff barriers to trade, import and export bans, and onerous and costly import and export licensing procedures,” said Butcher. INSERT & CAPTION A lot of our current clients in South Africa are opening up branches across Africa. – Ruth Butcher CAPTION Resumption of oil production in South Sudan is creating new logistics opportunities in Africa… oil storage facilities at Bentiu, Unity State, South Suda