South Africa needs to improve its trade relationships with Francophone African countries, Africa House MD Liz Whitehouse said at the organisation’s Doing Business in Francophone Africa Workshop, held in Johannesburg, on Tuesday.

There are 22 sub-Saharan African countries that have French as their official language, representing a total market of about 300-million people.

However, trade statistics indicate that South Africa’s exports to these countries is limited and dominated by trade with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The Francophone Africa region represents a major business opportunity for South African suppliers of goods, works and services.

Whitehouse dispelled the myth that France controlled the lion’s share of the market in Francophone African countries, with statistics showing that, in 2017, it only accounted for 9.1% of global exports to these countries.

Moreover, France’s exports to the region are decreasing.

As is the case in most other developing countries in the world, China is the dominant player. Of the top 15 suppliers to Francophone African countries, China accounts for almost 25% of exports, followed by India and then Belgium.

South African comes in at ninth position, and this did not constitute much, noted Whitehouse.

The country’s exports to France was only a small percentage of its trade into Africa, she said, adding that South Africa’s imports from these countries were also limited.

With regard to the factors that impede exports to the region, Whitehouse cited statistics from a 2013 study the organisation conducted. She noted that these factors remain today.

These include inadequate knowledge of the markets and opportunities, an inability to get into contact with the real decision-makers, difficulties in sourcing authentic business partners, difficulties in shipping logistics, lack of access to finance of projects and political interference.

Further, Whitehouse pointed out that South African companies, development institutions and representative bodies were not making strategic decisions about exporting to the Francophone Africa region, but were rather exporting goods and services on an ad hoc basis.

Moreover, this region is generally perceived as low priority for development by representative bodies and export councils, as their members were not active there, nor was there an interest to enter these markets.  

In entering these markets, Africa House projects and development finance director Paul Runge said people assumed speaking French would be necessary, but this was not the case.

Rather, he highlighted the need to understand customary business practise, the legal systems and technical specifications and standards.

Moreover, he emphasised the importance of being cognisant of the entrenched, tight relationship between the Francophone African countries and France, with political events in France influencing what happens in these countries.

Looking at the political landscape in Francophone Africa, and the security status in the region, Institute of Security Studies senior researcher Liesl Louw-Vaudran indicated that security had deteriorated in several of these countries, despite international efforts to intervene.

She pointed to Jihadist threats, violent terrorism, human trafficking and even ethnic conflicts in some countries.

However, she noted that despite the security picture being quite “grim” in some parts of West and Central Africa, the trends in the past decade have also shown a rise in democratic elections.