Last week was an important one for SA’s trade and investment prospects, with the relationship between the United States and South Africa the focus both here and in the US. Locally, the Agoa Summit took place at Nasrec, bringing together business and policy people from across Africa to engage with their American counterparts.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the conference that the US president wants to work with Congress to make it better. One way to do that was highlighted by President Cyril Ramaphosa who addressed the forum: extend Agoa for a sufficiently lengthy period so that African businesses can commit to long-term investments on the basis that Agoa supports demand for the long term. Governments also pushed for longer terms for the review of country eligibility.
At SA Tomorrow in New York, a joint effort by government and business was made to show some of the world’s biggest investors how our partnership is leading to real change. Several BLSA board members were there, alongside ministers including public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan and deputy minister of finance David Masondo, with finance minister Enoch Godongwana addressing the event virtually.