Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel has set up a national committee, comprising representatives from business, labour and government, to develop action plans around the new African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

The committee was set up at a strategic session between the Ministry and social partners at the National Economic, Development and Labour Council (Nedlac), and was the first session held with the new Ministry following the combination of the departments of Trade and Industry and Economic Development.

The day-long session gave rise to a number of tripartite working groups to speed up actions to grow the number of jobs in the South African economy.

The engagement focused on a number of key developments in the local and global economy, including the new industrial strategy outlined by President Cyril Ramaphosa during his State of the Nation Address in June, and the AfCTFA, which has been ratified by 27 African countries, including South Africa.

This is intended to be implemented from July 2020 and has been recognised by all constituents as a game-changer for African economies, with the opportunity for new markets for South African goods, balanced by the risk that certain industries may come under threat from imports from across the continent.

The engagement has also resulted in a number of working groups and committees, with constituents drawn from government, business and labour. These include a Ministerial Export Promotion Panel that will be constituted shortly, a Special Economic Zone reference team and a Working Committee on trade policy and the digital economy.

Working groups are expected to meet during August and September.

Through reflecting on the state of the South African economy, Patel said the country had “an opportunity to build on its real strengths as a nation, to turn the relatively modest job creation into a significantly larger effort, with workable and actionable solutions to unblock growth, investment and job creation in the economy”.