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Johannesburg – Donald Trump’s US election victory does not “immediately mean anything” for South African businesses, said outgoing Black Business Council (BBC) CEO Mohale Ralebitso.
This was Ralebitso’s response during a question and answer session following his address at the Enterprise and Supplier Development conference held in Fourways, Johannesburg on Thursday.
“Donald Trump will not be really able to undo Agoa [African Growth and Opportunity Act],” he said. It was a difficult set of negotiations and the agreement served as a catalyst for growth among African economies.
Fin24 previously reported that policy uncertainty in the US may have implications for trade between the US and the developing world. Agoa gives preferential treatment to 39 African countries by waiving import levies on more than 7000 wide-ranging products.
READ: How Trump policies could hit SA economy
Political analyst Daniel Silke told Fin24 that the future of Agoa may be impacted. During his campaign, Trump shared his intentions to protect US domestic business and manufacturing from threats abroad. This could mean added import duties being placed on South African exports into the US market.
However, the real issue for these countries which needs to be addressed is how to reduce their dependence on exporting commodities to the US market, explained Ralebitso.
Developing intra-African trade
“The key thing is what are we going to do as South Africa and other African countries to grow intra-African trade?” he said. This is a challenge we need to solve, however we are stuck in a paradigm where “other economic environments” provide opportunities.
In South Africa, the sub-surfaces of the economy which have grown, such as tourism and others, is mainly due to business opportunities from within the continent. The highest spending tourists that generate the most value in South Africa, actually come from the rest of the continent.
Our products and all those sort of things are configured for the West. Our Visa granting systems have a bias towards those who come from European countries, he added.
“The business reality is that the rest of the continent is a better opportunity for us,” he said. But due to the inferiority complex we have as a nation, which has resulted because of Apartheid, policy frameworks are often developed and geared towards the West.
