SA’s trade with Africa – the star performers

“South Africa ranks thirteenth in terms of destination countries for products exported by Africa and ninth in terms of supplying markets for products imported by African countries,” according to Lizanne Case, business analyst: import export economics at First National Bank. “Nigeria has grown significantly as a supplying country for South Africa’s imports. Since 2003 it has grown by 56% to R14 billion in 2007, predominantly with crude oil imports. “Angola has performed exceptionally as a source of imports for South Africa to rank fourteenth as a supplying market. There has been a 1 528% p.a. growth between 2003 and 2007, albeit off a low base of R28 million in 2003 to R10.3 billion in 2007. Again imports consist largely of crude oil. “Zambia in twelfth, Mozambique in fourteenth and Zimbabwe in sixteenth position are significant markets for South African exports. Exports to Zambia grew by 22% from 2003 to R8.8 billion in 2007. Similarly, exports to Mozambique grew by 12% to R8.4 billion in 2007 and exports to Zimbabwe grew by 5% to R7.7 billion. “Other than its commitment to Nepad and the SADC, South Africa is also involved in significant investment and development initiatives on the continent involving infrastructure, water and waste management, agribusiness, mining and human resource development, amongst others,” concludes Case.