‘We’re beginning to get the balance right’

S e r v i n g S o u t h A f r i c a Johannesburg: Tel: 011 873 2117/8/9 Fax: 011 873 2176 Durban: Tel: 031 206 2910/2973 Fax: 031 206 2976 email:arnold@reddycargo.net ■ Local and Republic wide transport ■ Cross border transport ■ Warehousing, storage and packaging ■ Hazardous Cargo Certification ■ Project and Breakbulk cargo ■ Road Bond facilities available 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.