A group of South African business people representing 35 companies are expected to travel to Mozambique in search of investment and trade opportunities, the trade and industry department said on Friday.

The group will be participating in an Outward Trade and Investment Mission to Pemba and Maputo organised by the department from November 24 - 29. They will leave for Mozambique on Sunday.

The objective of the trip is to increase bilateral trade and investment between South Africa and Mozambique by exposing South African companies to opportunities available in Mozambique. Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Nomalungelo Gina will lead the mission.

According to the department, the specific focus of the mission will be on designated industrial and infrastructure projects as envisaged in the memorandum of understanding on economic cooperation between South Africa and Mozambique. 

The executive director of the Steel Tube Export Association of South Africa, Keitumetse Moumakoe, said his main objective for travelling to Mozambique is to identify tubular products that South African manufacturers can be able to supply to the gas exploration projects.

“We are also looking for possible opportunities for investment and partnerships with Mozambican companies that are also gearing themselves to take part in energy projects.  Our goal is to see South African steel tube products being exported to Mozambique for use in the projects. The mission provides us with a chance to market our steel tube material to the engineering, procurement, and construction management companies that are in charge of those energy projects,” said  Moumakoe.

The export manager of Clotan Building Systems, Jardus Smith said Mozambican will be rolling out one of the biggest liquefied natural gas projects in Africa and it is incumbent upon companies in the continent to ensure that the bulk of the content of that project is African.

“The implementation of the LNG project will create a lot of other projects that will provide unlimited opportunities for companies like ours to take advantage of. It is important for us to position ourselves as one of the companies that have the capacity to provide expertise and products when required. The mission will enable us to determine what the status of the projects is and where we can potentially get involved,” Smith said.

Mozambique is South Africa’s third-largest trading partner on the continent. 

Total trade between the two countries has grown from R43.9-billion in 2013 to R52.4-billion in 2018. South African companies, State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) have invested over R90-billion across a broad spectrum of sectors in Mozambique between January 2003 and March 2019.