Amidst a backdrop of global turmoil, 2024 is likely to be one of the most volatile years for geopolitical risk in decades. As tensions continue to escalate, with ongoing conf licts in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, the Western Cape’s trade and investment agency, Wesgro, finds itself operating in increasingly challenging times.According to Wesgro CEO Wrenelle Stander, with the Western Cape government intent on growing its economy by between 4% and 6% by 2035, Wesgro is taking very specific and targeted measures to attract, facilitate and support foreign direct investment (FDI) into the province. “We will look to attract investment into energy resilience, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), as well as the green transition, including renewables, green hydrogen, and water. Notwithstanding the importance of our traditional FDI source markets – Europe, USA, UK and Africa – we will look to unlock new markets such as China, ASEAN, and the Middle East.”She told Freight News that there was a vested interest in ensuring that Western Cape businesses remained confident about the future of the province and were supported to increase investment. In addition, a green hydrogen Investment Promotion Plan was being developed that would inform the approach to capturing the Western Cape’s share of global green hydrogen investment.Asked about challenges, Stander said the main concerns raised by investors and exporters remained load shedding, the visa regime, crime and the performance at the Port of Cape Town. “Global trends expecting to impact exports from the Western Cape, positively or negatively, include geopolitics, the election this year in South Africa and elections in more than 60 other countries, South Africa trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area, ongoing uncertainty around the Agoa trade agreement, and the increase in e-commerce and digital trade.”Stander also highlighted the province’s strengths, saying it remained a popular choice for investors looking at South Africa, thanks to its well-established and high-quality export capabilities. “The Western Cape also has export presence and networks in most major markets while it offers an extremely enabling environment. The advantageous geographic location, with proximate access to export markets by land and sea, offers real opportunity.”The alignment across the different tiers of government and collaboration with the private sector further stood the province in good stead, she said.According to Stander, specific strategies are being implemented to grow trade, with particular emphasis on increasing exports out of the Cape. Several programmes, including export training and mentoring, continue to support emerging exporters.She said leveraging technology and e-commerce to expand exports on online platforms was bearing fruit.
