Success! A recent trade mission to Maputo in Mozambique saw some Western Cape exporters clinch new business deals. It was all part of the provincial government’s deliberate push for more trade on the African continent.
“I aimed to secure [a position as] importer and distributor in Mozambique,” says Denise Stubbs, managing director of Thokozani Wines.
“I networked hard, had many meetings, and concluded a deal to bring 3 000 bottles of Thokozani Spumante into Maputo. Mission achieved.”
Stubbs believes that the 57th FACIM trade exhibition – which attracts more than 2 500 exhibitors and 50 000 visitors from 20 countries – was the most engaging and successful exhibition she has attended to date.
She was a member of a delegation led by the Western Cape minister of agriculture, Dr Ivan Meyer, to the fair where agripreneurs had the chance to market their ventures business to business.
“The Western Cape’s African Agricultural Strategy aims to support agripreneurs seeking access to African markets,” says Meyer about why attending the fair was so important to him. “Mozambique offers a significant export market opportunity for a wide range of goods and services from the Western Cape.”
He adds that the province’s wines are already doing exceptionally well in Mozambique and are sold in stores from all the major retailers in the country and served in restaurants in Maputo.
The delegation’s aim was therefore to promote further investment and business opportunities and establish new partnerships between the two countries, and Meyer complimented Wesgro – the Western Cape’s tourism, trade, and investment agency – on arrangint the very successful trade mission.
The minister used the opportunity to also visit the Maputo port, where he was impressed by the management team’s excellent performance, efficiency, and productivity, and met with his Mozambican counterpart to agree to stronger bilateral ties.
Port of Cape Town in the spotlight
In other news from the Western Cape, a recent study that was commissioned by the provincial government showed that optimal investment in the port of Cape Town could potentially accommodate an additional R6 billion in exports and stimulate the creation of roughly 20 000 direct and indirect jobs, over R1.6 billion in additional taxes, and an additional 0.7% to the Western Cape gross domestic product.
In a press release issued earlier this month, the provincial government says that this is the high-growth scenario in the research report, which was presented to stakeholders from across the port logistics value chain in a workshop hosted by the department of economic development and tourism to highlight the impact of the Port of Cape Town on the local economy.
The port of Cape Town made headlines in recent months for delays and inefficiencies that reportedly stem from old equipment and staff shortages. It has severely impacted some agricultural commodities such as citrus and deciduous fruits.
During the recent workshop, however, finance and economic opportunities MEC Mireille Wenger congratulated Transnet on recent improvements.
“Specifically in the waiting time to berth being one day or less for the last five consecutive weeks, for the average total turnaround time for vessels coming in under the target time for the for last four weeks, and especially for breaking the highest weekly volume of [20-foot containers] moved in early August, with moving roughly 19 500.”
The minister believes that private sector participation in boosting the health of the Cape Town port will be key.
“To achieve this high-growth scenario, the Western Cape government is committed to working together with all levels of government and the private sector to unlock the port’s full potential. It remains a top strategic priority and collaboration will be essential.”
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