On 14 July, TFSA and Wesgro co-hosted an export trade business networking event. The event was attended by high-level officials, including: British High Commissioner to South Africa, Antony Phillipson; Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, Mireille Wenger; City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth, Alderman James Vos; and Wesgro CEO, Wrenelle Stander. The purpose of the event was to:
- Present the trade opportunities that stem from the Southern African Customs Union Member States and Mozambique (SACU+M) and the United Kingdom Economic Partnership Agreement (UK EPA),
- Unpack opportunities embedded within the SACUM-UK EPA for businesses in South Africa
- Showcase the performance of the export relationship between the UK and Western Cape
- Showcase TFSA services, tools and support for selected sectors and Women in Trade
- Reconnect and build new relationships with businesses within Western Cape
The UK and Western Cape have a longstanding mutually fruitful relationship that significantly contributes to both economies. In 2021, the UK was the third largest destination market for Western Cape’s exports, reaching ZAR12.5 billion, with wine representing the largest export. Grapes were the 2nd largest export, while citrus fruit accounted for the 3rd largest exported product. Through the TFSA programme and its interventions, we aspire to build export capacity in the #RenewableEnergy #FruitsNutsandVeg #NaturalIngredientsandCosmetics #Condiments and High Value Specialty Foods and #Aquaculture. To learn more about our export capacity building opportunities contact us here.
During the event we had the opportunity to engage some of our guests. We met Tamburai Chirumbi, creator of the Business of Creative Entrepreneurship (BCE) programme and co-founder of African luxury brand One of Each – an all-women company focused on exporting luxury fashion accessories and apparel that are proudly designed and made in Cape Town. Tamburai shared that, after visiting the TFSA Trade and Information Hub and utilising the TFSA School of Export , she has adapted the AGOA export trade training she facilitates through BCE to now include content from the School of Export as an added benefit for the 40 country wide businesses she trains in South Africa.
To learn more about our export capacity building opportunities contact us here
