South African businesses were encouraged to take advantage of Nigeria's recent tariff concessions under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to improve investment relations between the two countries during a South Africa-Nigeria private sector engagement at MTN Headquarters in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
This was the main message delivered by Minister of Trade, Industry, and Competition Parks Tau at the event, which comes after the two countries' December 2024 Binational Commission and Nigeria's formal gazetting of tariff concessions on April 15, 2025, a key step expected to boost bilateral trade.
“South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya are the co-champions for the AfCFTA Digital Protocol, it will be important to explore in which areas we can collectively champion trade and investment initiatives within the digital space,” said Tau.
“Nigeria remains South Africa’s foremost destination for exports and investments within West Africa. The preferential access that South African companies will now enjoy into the Nigerian market marks a turning point in our economic partnership."
He emphasised sectors with high potential for collaboration, including automotive manufacturing, agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, and renewable energy technologies like electric vehicles and battery production.
“The global energy transition offers both nations a historic opportunity to upgrade and diversify into technology-intensive global value chains, particularly in sectors such as electric vehicles, batteries, and renewable energy infrastructure,” said the minister.
The meeting also aimed to identify specific initiatives for both government and private sector action. Tau called on businesses to help identify products that Nigeria currently imports from outside Africa but could instead source competitively from South Africa.
As the two biggest economies in Africa, the event reinforced the two countries’ joint commitment to strengthening intra-African trade under the AfCFTA and ensuring mutually beneficial economic growth.
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