Trade in the defence and security sector between the UK and South Africa is increasingly significant, British high commissioner to South Africa Judith Macgregor told Engineering News at the recent Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) 2016 exhibition at Air Force Base Waterkloof, just south of Pretoria. “It’s not a huge part of our trade relationship but it is important and growing and it’s a growing area of cooperation,” she pointed out.

British defence and security exports to South Africa are worth some £22-million a year, she reported. This amounts to about a third of total British defence and security exports to sub-Saharan Africa. “And security broadens into protecting infrastructure, protecting people, protecting animals,” she noted. “And there’s cyber [security], of course. And the South African government has identified the Blue Economy (the broad maritime sector) as a priority, and I don’t think we have even scratched the surface of [the opportunities provided by] that.”

In a media briefing, she stressed that the UK, and British companies, wanted to develop partnerships and joint ventures with enterprises in South Africa and Southern Africa. On the defence side, she noted, there was a British military peace support team deployed in South Africa. This is to assist the South African National Defence Force with its peacekeeping preparations.

“We roughly have a [total] trade balance of £10-billion a year between us. We want to grow that,” she told the journalists. “The UK is still the single biggest foreign investor in South Africa. It’s a very balanced trade. We both really want to increase that [trade].”

In answer to a question from a journalist about the effects of the UK leaving the European Union, she affirmed that there would be “absolutely no change in our worldwide trading profile”. If anything, there would be a greater stress on international trade. “We’ve always been a global nation. Trading and investment are hugely important for us.

“We want to strengthen our trade with South Africa,” stated Macgregor. “It’s a time of dynamism in our relationship.”

“South Africa is our priority market in the [African] region,” highlighted Britain’s Defence and Security Organisation (DSO – a unit of the Department of International Trade) regional director for Europe, Africa, the Middle East and South and Central Asia Sophie Lane at another press conference at AAD 2016. The DSO had a successful appearance at the Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) 2014 exhibition, which led to a number of British and South African companies signing partnership agreements, and the agency was seeking to build on this success at AAD 2016.

She also pointed out that another objective of their participation in the 2014 exhibition had been to spotlight that South African companies could bid for British defence contracts, and explain to them how they could do that. Since then, a number of South African companies had registered with the UK Ministry of Defence and are now bidding for contracts. (The website is www.contracts.mod.uk and the contract information is now made available free.)

“It’s a real partnership – a two-way street,” she affirmed. The British were hoping to build on the partnerships that were already in place. AAD 2016 was attended by 27 British companies. “We had a lot less two years ago.” While some of these companies were represented on the DSO stand, or had their own stands, others are hosted on the stands of South African companies, testifying to the partnerships that have been created over the last couple of years. These partnerships also serve to support South African companies in export markets.

“We’ve also increased our discussions with the [South African] government,” reported Lane. “We’ve been having really good discussions with Armscor and with the Department of Defence.” There have been a number of visits to South Africa by Royal Navy ships, which have showcased British capabilities. British border security technologies have also been showcased to South Africa. One aim is to identify those areas where British technologies can complement South African technologies.