Despite significant opportunities across a range of sectors, the Francophone African markets remain relatively untapped by South Africa, speakers stated at the ‘Doing Business in Francophone Africa’ business forum.

Speaking at the forum in Johannesburg, Africa House strategy and business development director and expert on African commercial environments Duncan Bonnett highlighted the need for South Africans to embrace the opportunities in Francophone markets.

Bonnet noted that, while South Africa’s main trading partners were in Anglophone Africa, it did export some products into Francophone markets, with its largest exports to Cameroon being packaged foodstuffs, including wine. South African exports to Côte d’Ivoire were high-value products, such as plastics, rubber and machinery.

Further, South Africa was regarded as a valued trading partner in Africa, as 90% of its exports were value-added products.

He, therefore, emphasised that increasing this trade into Francophone markets offered significant potential, particularly as global markets retracted.

Further, key benefits of operating in Francophone Africa included investors having to deal with only two currencies linked to the euro, thereby reducing currency volatility.

The region also comprised an integrated legal system across all French-speaking countries. Although this different legal system was cited as a barrier for companies from Anglophone countries, once mastered, it made it easier to operate across multiple jurisdictions in Africa, Bonnett said.

While barriers included perceptions that business opportunities were reserved for companies from France, which benefited from the close links between France and its former colonies, Bonnet emphasised that trade patterns were diverse, with new investors from China, Europe, the US, India, South Korea and Brazil.

The business forum aims to support South Africa in its ambition to build economic ties between South Africa and Francophone African countries, with particular focus on four Francophone countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Gabon – countries with significant economic potential.

Another objective of the forum is to encourage networking between South African companies interested in investing in the region and French companies already active in Francophone Africa. More than 300 French businesses based in South Africa provide a valuable resource for South African firms, according to the French embassy to South Africa.

InvestSA director-general Yunus Hoosen further stated that the African continent remained a new frontier for investment.

While Africa had the fastest-growing population in the world and a growing middle class, the need for diversification away from commodities provided a significant opportunity for companies that could take advantage of the growing regional integration and move toward a continental free trade area, he said.

Highlighting that these developments were important for South Africa, which, along with France, was one of the top five investing nations in Africa, Hoosen said it was essential to harness key players such as France to help to realise the goals of economic development, employment creation and poverty alleviation.

The French embassy in South Africa and the Centre for Dynamic Markets at the Gordon Institute of Business Science, in partnership with auditing firm Mazars, the AfricaFrance Foundation, Business France, the French-South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Business Unity South Africa and the Black Business Council, hosted the forum.

Aspects discussed at the forum included business opportunities and barriers to trade in Francophone Africa and an analysis of cultural differences in business practices in South Africa and Francophone African countries, as well as an overview of the technical supports facilitating investment implementation in this part of the continent.

The forum also hosted three roundtables. The first, ‘Overview of business opportunities and trade barriers’, presented investment opportunities and economic landscapes in three targeted countries, including regulatory frameworks and constraints for foreign investors.

The second roundtable, ‘Overcoming cultural differences’, focused on each country’s cultural background, the way it influenced the business environment and how it differed from the South African business culture.

The third round table tackled the appropriate financial, legal, logistics and other tools to conduct profitable and sustainable investments in Francophone African countries.