Remarks by Deputy President Shipokosa Paulus Mashatile at the South Africa - Ireland Business Forum, Conrod Hotel, Ireland

Friday, 27 September 2024

Programme Director and Moderator, Mr Yunus Hoosen;
Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Andrew Whitfield;
Ambassador-Designate Nicolette Schreiber;
Mr Frank Gormley, Business Ireland SA;
Mr John Mulder, Chair of the SA Ireland Chamber of Commerce;
Mr Johnny Sexton - whom we cannot but make a special mention of - being a rugby loving nation;
Distinguished guests;
Ladies and gentlemen;

It is a privilege to be here at the Ireland-South Africa Trade and Investment Roundtable with you today, demonstrating the solid and long-lasting relations between our two countries.

Our nations share a vision of prosperity and sustainable growth, built on the foundation of mutual respect, trust, and collaboration that began many decades ago.

This roundtable aims to strengthen bilateral trade and investment relationships between Ireland and South Africa, focusing on growth opportunities. The global economy is rapidly evolving, and adapting and innovating are crucial to seize these opportunities. The engagement aims to enhance the bilateral trade between the two countries, improving people's lives.

The focus is on understanding the potential for growth in the global economy. It is our responsibility as leaders in our various regions to cultivate an environment that promotes entrepreneurship, stimulates innovation, and propels inclusive prosperity.

South Africa is committed to creating an enabling business environment that attracts investment, spurs economic development, and creates job opportunities. We understand the significance of collaboration with countries like Ireland, which share our values and aspirations for a better future.

As a country, we want to enhance our exports of value-added goods and services to Ireland. It is admirable that the two countries already trade in food and beverages. However, I must admit that the global pandemic has hindered our trade partnership, leading to only modest progress. We must identify measures to expedite international investment. I strongly believe that there is significant potential to significantly increase the volume and value of various products, including those that are manufactured.

Ladies and gentlemen, as investors, you might be asking why you should invest in South Africa?

One of the many reasons to invest in our country is that we have had political stability and peaceful elections since 1994. We emerged from a peaceful election and formed a Government of National Unity. All parties in the Government of National Unity pledge to uphold the 10 fundamental principles of respect for the Constitution, non-racialism, social justice, human dignity, nation-building, peace and stability, accountability, evidence-based policy, professional developmental public service, and integrity.

We further consider the following factors as key drivers for investing in South Africa: quality infrastructure and logistics, the largest presence of multinationals in Africa, a well-developed and diversified manufacturing base, a lucrative emerging market, favourable market access to the global market, an innovation and technology hub, abundant natural resources, Africa's leading financial hub, a young labour workforce, and excellent quality of life.

Several South African key science and technology innovations and achievements include the Kreepy Krauly automatic pool cleaner, CAT scan, Q20 lubricant, Pratley Putty and Smartlock Safety Syringe. The Square Kilometre Array, SKA, in the Northern Cape Province will be a catalyst for science, technology, and engineering business opportunities, jobs, and innovation, with the potential to put South Africa on the map as a world big data and analytics hub.

As I have mentioned earlier, the global pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus has led to unprecedented economic slowdowns across both developed and developing economies. In response, countries adopted a variety of stimulus and economic recovery plans to spur and revive economic activity.

South Africa adopted the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan prioritizing spending across infrastructure, providing employment stimulus to sustain jobs, and implementing measures to deepen local industrialization. South Africa's Economic Recovery Plan is underpinned by a social compact between government, business and labour, and sector representatives.

Ladies and gentlemen,

South Africa prioritised policies and initiatives that were designed to stimulate industrial development, such as Operation Phakisa, in order to facilitate a rapid economic recovery. The Presidency and National Treasury initiated Operation Vulindlela, a collaborative effort to expedite the implementation of economic and structural reforms, thereby stimulating job creation and development.

Initiatives like this provide investors like yourself with opportunities to get involved in a variety of projects.

In terms of industrial growth, we are backing massive growth in local production to make South African exports more competitive.

A vital part of growing the industrial base is through the development of master plans for industries such as agriculture and agro-processing, renewable energy, and aerospace and defense. In addition to the aforementioned, the industrial base is being expanded through the securing of new investments announced at the annual South African Investment Conference.

To ensure the rapid expansion of energy generation capacity in South Africa, the government has announced various interventions. Eskom, the national electricity supplier in South Africa, will be split into three separate units, namely for Generation, Transmission and Distribution.

South Africa's Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has announced that a further 6800 MW of solar PV and wind power is being procured through Bid Windows 5, 6, and 7. Future windows will procure an additional 3000 MW of gas and 513 MW of battery storage. The government has boosted private sector participation in energy generation by removing the 100MW Nersa licence threshold, a game-changing announcement for the industry.

It should also be noted that the Hydrogen Economy has been identified as a potential game changer for South Africa. The Hydrogen Economy is key to a 2050 just transition of the economy with the potential to decarbonise various value chains and to provide security of energy supply. Investors are currently identifying various projects for potential future investments.

In addition to the investment opportunities in the energy space, South Africa wishes to explore cooperation for investment projects in sectors such as Food Tech, Global Business Services, Film, Financial Technology (Fintech), and infrastructure in Ireland.

South Africa can benefit from Ireland's expertise in the tech sector. South Africa is currently attracting a lot of back-office service operations from foreign companies. However, foreign companies from Ireland have been slow in relocating operations to South Africa. This engagement presents an opportunity to reverse this trend.

In terms of Fintec, there is a lot of capital available in Ireland that could boost South Africa's innovative Fintec. Furthermore, the film industries of both countries could benefit from enhancing cooperation in the film space could benefit both countriesfilm industries. We urge Ireland to assist South Africa with the successful implementation of the projects, in particular with the provision of requisite skills in these sectors.

Ladies and gentlemen,

There are real signs of early-stage entrepreneurial growth in SA, and there is already a lot of awareness of the potential partnerships and benefits to both countries.
Already, there are large numbers of foreign companies setting up service operations in South Africa. We are hoping to see more of Ireland's companies in our country.

Ladies and gentlemen, South Africa and other African countries recently concluded the Africa Free Trade Agreement, which came into effect in January 2021. This agreement has created the world's largest free trade area, connecting 1,3 billion people across 55 countries with a combined Gross Domestic Product value of US$ 3.4 trillion.

As South Africa, we are encouraging foreign companies to invest in South Africa and benefit from the free movement of goods, services, and people from South Africa to other parts of Africa. This is indeed a game-changer development for Africa.

I therefore desire to motivate Irish businesspeople to participate in this development by establishing a presence in South Africa and conducting business with the rest of Africa from our stunning country, which we also referred to as a "gateway to the African market."

Ladies and gentlemen, as you can deduce from my speech, there are numerous business opportunities available in South Africa. I hereby wish to invite Irish businesspeople to visit our beautiful country for business purposes but also for tourism in order to enjoy the beauty of our country.

I am confident that today's discussions will yield new ideas, forge new partnerships, and unlock new opportunities for collaboration between Ireland and South Africa. Together, we can build a stronger, more prosperous future for our nations and contribute to the economic prosperity of our regions.

Let us work hand in hand to harness our partnership's full potential and leave a legacy of shared success and prosperity for generations to come.

I thank you.