Digitisation is enabling small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in southern Africa to overcome historic export barriers to tap into regional and global value chains, according to a study by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
SMEs are using online platforms and e-commerce marketplaces to reach customers around the globe.
An example is Feeling Good in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, which is leveraging its organic certification to access premium markets.
Feeling Good is a vertically integrated agro-industry project involved in organically certified cultivation, processing, packaging and sales of whole cane sugar, cashew kernels, moringa powder and medicinal alcohol, according to the company.
Entrepreneurs are taking advantage of the fragmentation of production to access global markets as providers of components or services.
The report cites Botswana-based Delta Automotive Technologies as an example. The company supplies wiring harnesses to Volkswagen, Renault and Nissan.
In 2023 Botswana exported wiring sets to South Africa, Germany, North Macedonia, Romania and Zambia, according to World Bank statistics.
- Read the full article in our Freight Features edition on "Africa Outlook".
