Local companies sign export deals worth over R1,8 billion

22 September 2019

It is pleasing to note that Wesgro, the City of Cape Town’s international trade and investment promotion agency has helped to facilitate over R1,8 billion worth of export deals for local companies in the 2018/19 financial year.

These figures were revealed in Wesgro’s combined quarterly report for the year against a set target of between R103 million and R210 million.

I am particularly pleased with the agency’s performance during such challenging economic times. This achievement demonstrates the importance of exports to the Cape Town economy, to stimulate growth and create jobs.

As a result of these export deals, 56 business agreements have been signed that will translate into approximately 733 jobs being created by exporters in Cape Town over the next five years.

The agreements were signed with buyers in countries such as Japan, Singapore, China, The Netherlands, Ethiopia, Senegal, France, the UK, Mozambique, Nigeria, Thailand, Malaysia, the USA, Kenya, Rwanda and the United Arab Emirates. It covers key sectors for the Cape Town economy including agri-processing, manufacturing, medical devices and cosmetics.

Wesgro also reported that as part of the Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI) Strategy, which seeks to help Cape Town companies invest in the rest of Africa, over 10 OFDI business agreements were signed during the financial year to the value of over R1,4 billion. This far exceeded the target range set at between R200 million and R500 million.

This strategy is a critical component of our efforts to leverage the projected growth on our continent, and to help ensure that Cape Town becomes the headquarters of choice for local and global companies looking to do business in the rest of Africa.

According to research conducted by Wesgro, over half of the companies surveyed on their Africa strategy said that Cape Town was the best, or one of the best base cities for doing business into the rest of Africa.

These latest figures bear testimony to this sentiment.

Currently the Western Cape exports more to the rest of Africa than anywhere else in the world, valued at R46 billion as of 2018.

These figures all confirm that Cape Town has established itself as the go-to-city on the African continent. We are committed to growing these figures further, and together with our mandated agency, Wesgro and our other special purpose vehicles, I am confident that even more jobs will be created in Cape Town by our globally competitive exporters.

The Enterprise and Investment Department funds Wesgro to grow exports out of the City as well as facilitate foreign direct investment.

Issued by James Vos, Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management, 22 September 2019