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Cape Town - The possibility of a free-trade zone stretching from the Cape to Cairo would probably be tabled in South Africa by mid-year, according to Trade & Industry Minister Rob Davies.
On Tuesday, at international consultancy Global Pacific & Partners’ fifth Africa Economic Forum in Cape Town, he said that the South African government wanted to highlight the importance of such a immense free-trade zone at the next Southern African Development Community (SADC) conference.
It would have to be brought about in collaboration with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) and the East African Community (EAC), involving 29 countries with some 700m people.
Africa needs a big regional market such as this to stimulate growth. African countries must learn to stand together at international level and extract greater economic benefit for the continent, said Davies.
Growth in its domestic market was originally the catalyst for India's economic growth, and Brazil and China were also busy developing their own domestic markets, he said.
There were 54 countries in Africa – what might China look like today if colonialism had divided it into 54 countries?
The Department of Trade & Industry, according to Davies, was busy with negotiating with India over the possibility of a preferential trade agreement.
Davies said that South Africa’s membership of the Brics countries indicated that it was a developing economy in its own right. In his view this served to amplify South Africa’s lasting and important involvement in Africa.
The challenges he expected to the establishment of a massive free trade zone included accelerating the development of infrastructure in South Africa's neighbouring countries, particularly in terms of transport.
There was also a huge challenge for African countries to add value to their exports and he would particularly like to see South Africa add value to its exports to other Brics countries.
For instance, the country received about $400/ton for mineral sands it exported. If it built a plant to convert the sands into titanium alloys, South Africa could easily earn $100 000/ton, said Davies.
- Sake24
For business news in Afrikaans, go to Sake24.com.
On Tuesday, at international consultancy Global Pacific & Partners’ fifth Africa Economic Forum in Cape Town, he said that the South African government wanted to highlight the importance of such a immense free-trade zone at the next Southern African Development Community (SADC) conference.
It would have to be brought about in collaboration with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) and the East African Community (EAC), involving 29 countries with some 700m people.
Africa needs a big regional market such as this to stimulate growth. African countries must learn to stand together at international level and extract greater economic benefit for the continent, said Davies.
Growth in its domestic market was originally the catalyst for India's economic growth, and Brazil and China were also busy developing their own domestic markets, he said.
There were 54 countries in Africa – what might China look like today if colonialism had divided it into 54 countries?
The Department of Trade & Industry, according to Davies, was busy with negotiating with India over the possibility of a preferential trade agreement.
Davies said that South Africa’s membership of the Brics countries indicated that it was a developing economy in its own right. In his view this served to amplify South Africa’s lasting and important involvement in Africa.
The challenges he expected to the establishment of a massive free trade zone included accelerating the development of infrastructure in South Africa's neighbouring countries, particularly in terms of transport.
There was also a huge challenge for African countries to add value to their exports and he would particularly like to see South Africa add value to its exports to other Brics countries.
For instance, the country received about $400/ton for mineral sands it exported. If it built a plant to convert the sands into titanium alloys, South Africa could easily earn $100 000/ton, said Davies.
- Sake24
For business news in Afrikaans, go to Sake24.com.
