Western Cape grows DRC exports

WESTERN CAPE trade and promotion agency Wesgro has teamed up with CNBC, the first 24-hour international business channel, to showcase the province’s business potential to the world. These are busy months for Wesgro which will shortly be accompanying eight Western Cape companies on a trade mission to the Fancy Food Show in New York, heading the second trade mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo later this month, and promoting and positioning the Western Cape in the premier trade exhibition in Cameroon in December. The DRC is emerging as a key export market for South African products and services. Western Cape exports to the DRC have grown significantly in recent years, up at an annual rate of 10%. The agency has also been interacting with Mozambique by hosting a business opportunities seminar with Centro de Pomocao de Investimentos, where it became evident Mozambique was ready for business. Total exports by South Africa to Mozambique (up to November 2007) were valued at more than R8 billion while South Africa imported goods from Mozambique valued at more than R2 billion over the same period.