S Africa ideal launchpad for expansion in Africa
South Africa’s established infrastructure and its sophisticated accounting, banking, medical and legal environments, leverages the country as the ideal platform for foreign businesses to establish a presence and venture into the rest of Africa, a group of panelists said on Wednesday.
Speaking at Trade Winds Africa, a business development conference and trade mission by the US Commercial Service, in Johannesburg, water technology solutions provider Maskan Water director Gerhard Cronje noted that South Africa had forged many relationships with other countries on the continent, which ensured ease of doing business.
He pointed out that entering a country through a specific port anywhere in the world was problematic, but, in South Africa, the customs systems were “functioning really well” with road and inland customs offices being more efficient and quicker than the seaports.
“For example, we found that, when exporting products to Angola, it is a lot quicker and cheaper to bring a product in through Cape Town and then send it to Angola, as we can get through the border post there within one to three days. However, trying to get through the harbour in Angola can take anything from three to six months.”
He added that South Africa also had an established supply chain, which also made it easier to do business.
“With the products that we sell, being in the water industry, you always need a lot of accessories to go with the product. In most other African countries, there isn’t a supply chain, where you can drive down the road to a store and find what you need,” Cronje stated.
Also speaking on the panel, Judin Combrick director Micheal Judin highlighted that South Africa was the place to launch into Africa, as it was an “easy place for an international group to come and set up a head office and to move north from here.”
Article Enquiry
Email Article
Save Article
Feedback
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Sulzer South Africa, established in 1922, partners with critical industries like power, oil & gas, water, mining, and chemicals to boost...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Leading condition monitoring specialists, WearCheck, help boost machinery lifespan and reduce catastrophic component failure through the scientific...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
