Gigaba calls for regional partnerships to grow revenue

Regional partnerships are key if South Africa’s state-owned enterprises (SoEs) are to expand their customer base and increase revenue. Speaking at the monthly Transport Forum in Johannesburg last week, Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba said partnerships between African countries was a sure way to extend revenue streams, while it also allowed for the important transfer of skills. Gigaba last week led the first trade mission of its kind to Ghana with South African Airways (SAA), South African Express, Broadband Infraco, Transnet and Denel to seek regional partnerships that would allow for much-needed growth for the countries’ SoEs. “We need more intraregional trade and by partnering with other African countries we can achieve this while also expanding the revenue stream of our SoEs,” he said. Gigaba, however, warned that it was uncharted territory and did not come without risk. “Should we however succeed, the entry into other African countries could set a precedent for SoEs to become instruments of continental development beyond our national boundaries,” he said. “South Africa has a strong interest in seeing the African continent grow and opening up regional trade.” Gigaba said the trade mission had identified various opportunities for public–public partnerships with other African SoEs, while they had also met with private businessmen to see to what extent relationships could be developed. “We are of course being asked the question why we are heading off to form partnerships in Africa when many of the SoEs do not have strong balance sheets here at home,” said Gigaba. “If we followed that chain of thought we would actually achieve nothing. We have said to our SoEs they must invest in the economy beyond what their balance sheets can afford and they have been responding, with Transnet and Eskom leading the way. These partnerships with our African counterparts are an opportunity for an SAA for example to grow its revenue base.” CAPTION Malusi Gigaba ... 'We need more intra-regional trade.'