The export-led economic growth requires partnership between government, business, and labour. This was said by the Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Mr Zuko Godlimpi who was addressing the Export Symposium and Expo in Midrand, Gauteng today.
According to Godlimpi, in order to achieve export-led growth, government must create the enabling environment, negotiating market access, providing diplomatic support, offering financial support, delivering infrastructure, ensuring facilitative regulation, and providing market intelligence.
Godlimpi added that business must take risks, innovate, invest, and compete in tough international markets. He emphasised that businesses must invest in quality, innovation, skills development, and transformation, and look beyond short-term profits to build sustainable relationships.
“Our recent export performance shows both resilience and vulnerability. In July 2025, South Africa’s exports reached R184.3 billion, up from R170.7 billion in June. We recorded a trade surplus in August of nearly R4 billion. Our agricultural exports to Africa account for 40% of our agricultural export value, with maize, apples, pears, and wine leading the charge,” explained Godlimpi.
“However, our export basket remains too concentrated on a handful of markets and dependent on raw materials rather than value-added products. The automotive sector, aerospace and defence, pharmaceuticals, fashion, film, agro-processing, and advanced manufacturing all represent areas where South Africa has world-class capabilities,” noted Godlimpi.
Against this backdrop, Godlimpi said there was a challenge to scale up these successes and ensure that small and medium enterprises, particularly those owned by women, youth, and historically disadvantaged South Africans, participate meaningfully in the economy.
“The future must include thousands of small and medium enterprises, particularly those owned by women, youth, and historically disadvantaged South Africans. The ambition should be for these SMMEs to actively export within five years, creating tens of thousands of jobs and contributing billions to the economy,” stressed Godlimpi.
He noted that the launch of Proudly South African’s new online platform represented an exciting development in democratising market access.
“E-commerce and digital trade have fundamentally transformed how businesses reach consumers, enabling even the smallest producer to access global markets,” added Godlimpi.
He described value addition to raw material as the path to prosperity, adding that transforming raw materials into higher-value products was fundamental to South Africa’s industrialisation strategy.
“We need to beneficiate our raw materials into finished products and capture much more value and create high-skilled jobs. As the country applies the butterfly strategy for a comprehensive approach to market diversification, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), BRICS+ and emerging markets, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Gulf States and traditional European markets offer pathways to the world’s fastest-growing economies. The key is to pursue all these markets simultaneously with intelligence, coordination, and persistence.” added Godlimpi.
Godlimpi pointed out that the United States of America’s tariffs threaten jobs, global uncertainty creates volatility, competition is fierce, and climate change creates new barriers. Infrastructure constraints limit our export capacity.
“South Africa has overcome far greater challenges. We have resources, capabilities, and entrepreneurial energy, a sophisticated financial sector, world-class logistics, talented designers and engineers, productive agricultural land, vast mineral wealth, and sixty million people whose potential has been barely tapped,” he said.
The Export Expo will continue until 16 October 2025 and over 130 South African exporters from various key sectors are showcasing their high-quality proudly South African products and services.
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Issued by: The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic)
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