networks
14 November 2006
Despite the pessimism in global trade talks, trade in services in Africa is
growing fast. African exports of commercial services jumped 46 percent in two
years according to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Between 2003 and 2005,
exports rose from $39 billion to $57 billion for transport, travel, business,
professional and other services.
Taking advantage of this growth trend, service sector associations
representing thousands of firms from 12 African countries are meeting with
South African construction, transportation and financial services firms. The
event "Bridges Across Borders" takes place in Centurion, South Africa from 13
to 15 November.
Exports of services contribute directly to job creation and development and
these sectors offer tremendous new export potential.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol in Transport, now
being implemented shows the potential for growth with 10 transport corridors
underway in the region.
The International Trade Centre (ITC), a Geneva based United Nations (UN)
agency conducted surveys in the 12 countries showing that construction,
transportation and financial services all have good potential for regional
co-operation and development. These are three of nine services sectors in the
region that have well established firms with export experience. This event
focuses on these three sectors because of the partnership potential in building
regional transport networks and firms can "bundle" their services in bidding
processes to make more competitive offers.
For example, three South African firms have just linked up with a Namibian
firm in a consortium to construct the Trans-Kalahari Railway, valued at $1
billion, linking Botswana mineral reserves to Walvis Bay, Namibia.
In partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti), ITC has
convened the meeting to help African firms find new business partners in the
region, build new opportunities for regional co-operation and development among
service industry associations and identify challenges affecting growth in trade
in services.
Participating countries are Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Lesotho, Madagascar,
Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland and
Zambia.
Trade in services is vital to economic growth in these countries. South
Africa, Zambia, Namibia, Mozambique and Mauritius all have service sectors that
contribute 60 percent to 70 percent of their overall Gross Domestic Product
(GDP). Botswana, Swaziland, Madagascar and Malawi have economies that are based
roughly 50 percent on services.
In South Africa half of new small businesses are services providers and
services sectors now account for more than 70 percent of total employment
nationally. Services industries account for almost all employment growth and
reflect the most consistent positive performance, according to recent economic
indicators.
Services are also the backbone to produce and deliver manufactured goods yet
the potential of services sectors both in South Africa and on the continent has
been largely untapped. "Think of all the transportation corridors being
developed around southern Africa," says Emmanuel Barreto, ITC's Senior Adviser
on Trade in Services. "How do you make the corridors operational without
transit and customs agents, freight forwarders and cargo operators?"
Opening the event were Tshediso Matona, Director-General of the dti,
Remigius Makumbe, Executive Secretary of the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) and Stephen Browne, Deputy Executive Director of ITC.
"African companies have a tremendous opportunity to collaborate across
borders to increase their export markets," says Mr Browne. "There are many
large development projects taking place in the region that Southern African
services providers could participate in and benefit from as an entry into SADC
markets."
Also attending are embassy representatives from the 12 countries, the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the African Development Bank (ADB) and
the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
This is the second "Bridges Across Borders" event to be held in South
Africa. In December 2005, the dti and ITC hosted an event that brought together
165 service sector associations from nine SADC countries with 616 bilateral
consultations between participants. Engineering firms from Zambia, Swaziland
and South Africa have already created new business partnerships as a result of
last year's event.
Contact in Geneva:
Ms Natalie Domeisen
ITC Senior Public Information Officer
Tel: +41 22 730 0370
E-mail: domeisen@intracen.org
Contact in South Africa:
Ms Nicci Columbine
Columbine Communications
Tel.: (011) 880 8137
Cell: 084 880 8138
E-mail: info@columbine.co.za
Donavan Jacobs
Media Relations
Department of Trade and Industry
Tel: (012) 394 1641
Fax: (012) 394 2641
E-mail: DJacobs@thedti.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Trade and Industry
14 November 2006
