‘We’re beginning to get the balance right’

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FTW2943
FROM an SA perspective there are very few
countries in the region where there is a positive
trade balance with South Africa.
Chief among these are Angola and Nigeria
because they are oil producers.
In Zambia a narrowing of the trade gap was
due to the import of copper and cobalt for
beneficiation here and re-export, which is not
good for the region.
In DRC the governor of Katanga province
at one stage banned the export of copper and
cobalt demanding that it be processed locally.
Getting the balance right is critical for the
long-term sustained growth of the region.
And this is starting to happen, as the graph
illustrates, with the trade surplus between
South Africa and the rest of the continent
shrinking from 6.6:1 in 2001, to just 1.8:1 in
2006, although once again most of this is as
a result of oil and mineral imports from the
continent.