As part of a renewed strategy to intensify trade relations with the continent and further strengthen its export-led economy, Canada has announced the “revitalisation” of the South-Africa Chamber of Commerce (SACCB) and the establishment of Export Development Canada’s (EDC's) first African office, in Johannesburg.

The SACCB, which had been in existence for several years but had recently become inactive owing to its lack of a permanent office and staff complement, would provide a forum for Canadian companies and investors in South Africa to increase their profile in the country and promote networking and partnerships with South African firms.

The bilateral chamber would present a “collective voice” for Canadian firms, keeping its members informed of any local policy and regulatory amendments that may affect their local interests, while advocating on their behalf.

Canadian International Trade Minister Ed Fast, who was currently leading a Southern Africa-focused trade delegation of Canadian companies active in the extractives and energy sectors, said on Monday that the two countries’ newly strengthened trade relationship was poised to considerably boost yearly bilateral trade.

According to Fast, trade between South Africa and Canada totalled some $1.2-billion in 2013 – a figure he described as “modest”.

“South Africa is Canada’s most important commercial and political partner in Africa and is the only country in Africa – and one of only 20 around the world – to be identified by our government’s recent Global Markets Action Plan  (GMAP) as an ‘emerging market with broad Canadian interests’,” he noted at the launch event, in Johannesburg.

The 2013 GMAP outlined “the markets that mattered” to Canadian businesses, outlining a strategy to ensure the advancement of Canada’s interests in those markets.

Fast added that Canadian firms were, thus, cognisant of South Africa’s global economic relevance, its leadership role in Africa and its role as a member of the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, or Brics, grouping.

“Canadians do understand the importance of South Africa,” he commented.

Interestingly, Fast added that the SACCB would be administered by the local office of the US’s American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), representing the first trade collaboration of its kind between the two North American States in South Africa.

While AmCham would investigate opportunities in which the US and Canadian trade chambers had common interests, each would maintain its independence.

“In as much as we compete against each other, Canada and the US are also highly integrated and, as North American partners, there is more that we can do together than alone,” Fast said.

EXPORT DEVELOPMENT CANADA
Further bolstering Canada’s African trade ambitions, the newly established local branch of the EDC would focus on connecting more Canadian businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, to the growing supply chains in intra-African trade.

“When most Canadian businesses look to South Africa, they see a country so far away they think it’s impossible to trade with it. The EDC will change that,” Fast explained.

The self-financing EDC, which would be located at the Canadian Trade Office, in Rosebank, is Canada’s export credit agency, providing insurance and financial services, bonding products and business solutions as well as on-the-ground intelligence to Canadian exporters and investors.

Since its inception in 1844, the agency had facilitated over C$1.04-billion in exports and foreign investment by Canadian firms.

Canada’s recommitment to South Africa, however, was followed by caution last year when the Governor General of Canada David Johnston said at a networking lunch during a visit to Johannesburg that a “healthy” trade relationship would remain dependent on a continued sense of national trust between the two States.

“While we have a wonderful opportunity to deepen our trade ties for mutual benefit, the relationship on which those trade relationships are, at their very root, based, is trust. This can either be built up slowly over time or destroyed very quickly,” he said.