The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will take a group of black industrialists on an outward trade mission to Uganda from September 18 to 23 to assist them in the search for a market for their products.
The mission will include export-ready black industrialists operating in the economic infrastructure, agroprocessing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, plastics, electronics and textiles, footwear and leather sectors.
According Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies, the mission is part of the implementation of the Black Industrialists Programme (BIP).
The programme is one of government’s industrialisation initiatives aimed at expanding the country’s industrial base and injecting new entrepreneurial dynamism in the economy as outlined in the Industrial Policy Action Plan.
“The BIP is specifically dedicated to supporting the growth and building the global competitiveness of majority black-owned and managed businesses in the manufacturing sector. The intention is to contribute towards shifting the demographic composition of South Africa’s industrial sector by engaging with and nurturing emerging black industrialists to tap into a reservoir of potential jobs, revenue, taxes and innovation,” Davies said in a statement.
He added that the BIP was anchored on three fundamental pillars, namely access to capital, access to markets and nonfinancial support.
“The trade mission is expected to open a market for the black industrialists for trade and investment in Uganda and potential markets in other parts of the East African region.”