South African High Commissioner to Mozambique Mandisi Mpahlwa has said partnerships in megaprojects are critical to the success of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Mpahlwa was speaking on day two of the South Africa and Mozambique virtual Trade and Investment seminar, which took place under the theme ‘Developing Afrocentric solutions and forging partnership in response to Covid-19’.

More than 360 businesspeople attended the webinar, which was focused on trade and investment opportunities available in Mozambique.

Participants also discussed strategic issues regarding Mozambique’s investment plans to stimulate the country’s economic growth amid and beyond the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to Mpahlwa, large industrial and infrastructure projects require collaborative approaches and have an important dimension with regard to facilitating market access, because they assist in putting in place the necessary integrative infrastructure, which brings the countries together and eases the flow of goods between countries.

“If we [are not] able to have these major projects that are going to help to integrate our continent, this agreement is going to be dead in the water.

"We have had a good account on the Maputo Development Corridor and the key issue to highlight is the importance of government leadership to crowd in the private sector and unlock economic potential using public-private partnerships,” said Mpahlwa.

He noted that it was going to be critical for business people from both countries to learn from each other how to conduct business, specifically in terms of operating in Mozambique.

He added that it was important for South African business people to harvest the experience of and learn from those that came before them.

While summarising the discussion, Department of Trade, Industry and Competition division Trade Invest Africa chief director John Rocha said five working groups had been established.

“The five working groups are on agriculture and agroprocessing, natural gas, electricity and power, transport and logistics infrastructure, and trade and investment. We have also agreed to mainstream within these working groups, the financing element and industrialisation component in terms of the regional value chains that can be developed and created,” said Rocha.

The working groups are intended to share information on business and market intelligence, ensure better aligned approaches and harmonised planning for more effective implementation and, lastly, to ensure ease of follow-up on some of the areas of interest expressed by a number of companies.

“Importantly, the issues around capacity building, training and skills development, and local content will all be mainstreamed in all of the five working groups,” he outlined.