Trade and Investment Mission to Zambia Successful-SA Business Representatives |
| The South African business representatives who participated in the Outward Trade and investment Mission to Lusaka and Kitwe in Zambia have expressed satisfaction with the outcomes of the mission and described it as a success.
The 28 South African businesspeople funded by the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) through its Export Market and Invest Assistance (EMIA), scheme state-owned development finance institutions such as Export Credit Insurance Corporation of South Africa, and export councils such as the South African Electro-Technical Export Council, South African Capital Equipment Export Council, Rail and Roads Association of Southern Africa and the Steel Tube Export Association of South Africa were part of the delegation. The mission was led by the dti with the aim of facilitating market access and expose the South African companies to the Zambian market while deepening bilateral trade relations. The founder and Chief Executive of Grandstage Trading, Ms Christine Masaiti said she managed to secure good partnerships in the areas of rural electrification. “We will be dealing with the Department of Planning and Development in Zambia which we started engaging during the 2019 Africa Energy Indaba. We will be signing documents that will see us doing business in Zambia. Within the energy sector, we were presented with opportunities that we hope to engage more on, particularly on electrifying rural Zambia as per our vision to electrify rural areas in Africa,” said Masalti. According to the Chief Executive Officer of Conax Manufacturing, Mr Freddy Mugeri his objective to participate in the mission was to understand current conditions in Zambia and solicit new business from existing and new relationships. “In terms of new business, we held successful meetings with potential clients and I have gained a better understanding of the economic and business environment in Zambia. We are already looking at products that we want to develop and test in this market. The Lusaka meeting helped me understand what is happening especially with the issues of tax, VAT and sales tax situation,” said Mugeri. The Manager AJ Broom Road Products, Ms Angela Janice Broom also said she had productive engagements and already had a commitment to sign memorandum of understanding with a business in the construction sector. “These potential partners want us to start engagements and training on our products as there are a lot of opportunities our products in road maintenance. We are pleased with the interest our product received and the opportunities that were presented to us,” said Broom. A representative from Consolidated African Technologies, Mr Ashton Enoch who are the field work digitization experts for utilities and municipalities within Africa said the mission provided him with more than what he expected. The Chief Executive Officer of the South African Electrotechnical Export Council (SAEEC), Ms Chiboni Evans described the mission as extremely successful, mainly because they got a buy-in from both the ministers of North-West and Copperbelt to the idea that South Africa had come not just to sell but to partner and to that end the delegation was exposed to a number of projects in the mining and energy sector particularly. “The ministers gave us assurance that they will put us in contact with the right people in the ministries to be able to look at water and road construction projects. Most importantly, we discussed how South Africa would help the Zambians achieve their local content requirements in their projects. In the energy space we secured commitments to come back and presentations and see how we could partner to supply our products and services,” said Evans.
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