Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni says what African producers seek is increased access to markets.
She was speaking on the sidelines of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum held in Johannesburg on Friday.
The Minister explained that producers on the African continent seek even greater access to markets in order to thrive.
“We’ve got a lot of production that is coming from Africa and what we are seeking is more access to markets. There’s been a tendency – and business and organised labour, and also civil society, raised this concern – that the largest trade in AGOA is taking space in minerals and raw products instead of getting the beneficiation.
“We need to acquire the beneficiation. We need investors to invest here. But there are products from SMMEs, who are now given certification in terms of rules of origin, that they are done on the African continent and therefore they must gain access to market there.
“Our agricultural products, for example, were portion of the issues that were raised… We’ve got a lot of products not only for the US market but for the global market from the African continent,” Ntshavheni said.
The Minister reiterated President Cyril Ramaphosa’s call for an extended period of extension for the AGOA initiative.
“[During the forum] there were readouts from the various sectors… the private sector, organised labour, civil society, women representatives and the trade ministry and every of them collectively gain reiterated the need to design the AGOA extension not a short extension but a longer extension, with a proposal of a 20-year extension so that it can be what the President [Cyril Ramaphosa] deemed the long haul.
“That gives certainty to investors and you can then survey in the longer term and a bigger investment. That’s the gist of us being here and we are delighted that despite the challenges, the 20th edition of the AGOA Forum is taking plot in South Africa,” she said.
The Minister emphasised that Africa is on a growth path that will guide to a strong future.
“We are determined as the African continent that we are going to work together to fabricate sure that Africa is the hub of development. Africa, by 2030, will be the continent with the largest population, therefore it will be the largest market for any global goods and services and therefore, we are going to rely on ourselves,” Ntshavheni said.
The Minister responded to questions related to perceptions of “shaky” relations between South Africa and the US.
“South Africa-US relationships are not shaky. We maintain South Africans who speak very loudly and express their views, and the Americans also execute the same. But the relationship between South Africa and the US has always been solid because they are one of our largest trading partners and we are one of their largest trading partners on the African continent,” Ntshavheni said. – SAnews.gov.za
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Fun South African Fact: Vilakazi Street in Soweto has been home to two Nobel Peace Prize winners. A tour through Soweto will always stop at Vilakazi Street to reveal a number of heritage sites of great importance to democratic South Africa. Both Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu lived here at some point in their lives. In 1984, Archbishop Desmond Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition for his non-violent fight against the apartheid regime. Nine years later in 1993, Nelson Mandela shared the Nobel Peace Prize with then-president F.W. de Klerk as an award for their role in bringing about the peaceful end of apartheid. Nelson Mandela then went on to become South Africa’s first democratically elected president in 1994.