Recent developments within the Southern African Customs Union region, alongside fresh US tariff announcements, have reinforced why trade remains central to South Africa’s economic prospects, noted the Presidential Envoy on Agriculture and Land, Wandile Sihlobo. Opening new export markets ranks among the most pressing issues raised repeatedly by organised agriculture and the government recognises the sector’s dependence on trade, with export expansion a standing item for ministers in the economic cluster.
Recognition alone will not suffice, Sihlobo argues. South Africa needs greater capability and human capital across its trade portfolios, and the more than 100 missions and embassies it maintains abroad should be staffed with people focused specifically on maximising economic opportunity, work he places at the heart of the country’s economic diplomacy strategy. Without that focus, South African businesses risk falling behind competitors in markets where the country lacks free trade agreements.
Trade matters economy-wide but Sihlobo stresses it is especially critical for agriculture, where roughly half of everything South Africa produces already goes to export markets. As production expands through initiatives such as the Agriculture and Agroprocessing Master Plan and as the government releases state owned land to beneficiaries holding title deeds, the urgency of new markets will only intensify. Growing production without matching export opportunity risks jeopardising new entrant farmers in a local market that is already fairly saturated.
A less settled global trade environment sharpens the case. Neighbouring Mozambique and Botswana have signalled plans to limit South African agricultural imports to boost local production, following a pattern Namibia already set. Suspending imports is an appropriate response to genuine disease outbreaks, Sihlobo noted, but these restrictions are typically aimed at protecting local farmers, undermining the spirit of both the customs union and the African Continental Free Trade Area.
The United States has added its own pressure, lifting import tariffs on South African goods from 10.0 to 12.5 percent as part of a broader effort to reorientate global trade. Any increase is undesirable, Sihlobo acknowledged, but the new rate remains far below the 30 percent South African exporters faced before the US Supreme Court ruled those tariffs illegal. This is because competitors face the same rate, the playing field stays even, keeping South African agricultural exports broadly competitive in the US market, even if a lower, more predictable regime remains preferable.
These developments should push South Africa beyond rhetoric and toward measurable action, Sihlobo concluded. He calls for a comprehensive review of the customs union framework, with the flexibility to sign bilateral trade agreements as the ultimate goal, alongside building human capital across South Africa’s missions to support businesses expanding into new markets. Greater Asia and the Middle East represent the most significant long term growth opportunities, even as South Africa works to retain existing markets across Africa, the European Union, the Americas, the United Kingdom and beyond.
