The Southern Africa region is one of the most interesting and promising for doing business. Of all the countries in this part of the continent, the Republic of South Africa (RSA) is the most attractive. It is a country where people of many nationalities, ethnic groups and cultures live. Here, apartheid was defeated and democratic institutions arose to bolster sustainable development. The country is a member of BRICS and one of the most developed African states.
Market outlook
South Africa remains a critical economic and transport hub for the trade, technology and investment flows in the southern and central regions of the continent. At the end of 2024, RSA remained the continent’s largest economy with a nominal GDP over US$400 billion. Here, modern buildings and factories line the roads, and numerous shops and retail chains offer goods fr om almost every corner in the world.
At the same time, one must realise that working with South Africa, as with many African countries, has its downsides. Violent crime and corruption are still rampant here, and 32% of the working-age population is unemployed. The South African economy suffers from shortage of highly skilled labour, while the society - from disproportionate wealth distribution and a growing income gap between the rich and poor.
Our companies entering the SAR market must be aware of tough competition with numerous rivals from Europe, America and Aisa who have long established their distribution networks, assembly plants and won recognition of local consumers.
At the same time, South Africa is an ample and growing market, with room for everyone wishing to work here.
The Belarus’ Embassy in South Africa gets many export offers from Belarusian companies, but, unfortunately, few of them wish to bother with logistics, payments, after-sales and warranty service. Many offers are written in Russian only and contain no specific terms and conditions. Our exporters should realise that South African business is a highly discerning one, and what they propose as ‘attractive’ terms - self-delivery and full prepayment – catches very little interest here.
No application from a Belarusian company goes unnoticed by the Embassy and each gets due attention; we thoroughly process and work on it. If more information is needed, we contact the company. After processing, we send requests to South African business associations and chambers of commerce asking them to inform the local business community of our proposals.
We also actively use feedback from South African businesses during targeted presentations of Belarus’ economic opportunities.
A synergy of efforts between the Embassy and Belarusian business is necessary to successfully promote our goods in the South African market. The logic ‘we sent you our proposals - you take it from here’ makes no sense. A likely consumer of your company's products needs no assurances from diplomats.
Before they decide to buy, South African businesses need to talk directly to the seller’s specialists able to answer any questions regarding the product manufacturing, use and maintenance. Buyers want to see the samples, get guarantees of timely delivery and discuss possible deferred payment. Otherwise, the likely client will turn to a rival supplier.
Re-discovering South Africa
Last year saw Belarusian exporters featuring again at local exhibitions, a very important tool to get a foothold in the entire Southern African region. To encourage supplies of Belarusian liquor and other spirits to the highly promising market of South Africa, the Embassy together with the Belinterexpo exhibition company set up a Belarusian national stand at the ‘Africa's Big 7’, an international food show held in Johannesburg in June 2024.
Minsk Kristall Group Holding, Minsk Sparkling Wine Factory and OJSC Krinitsa showcased their products at the event. African consumers could enjoy the “Wagner” vodka, the holding developed especially for the local market. This was a wise marketing move, showing the producer's client-oriented approach. The result was not long in coming: the same year a trial batch of Belarusian spirits arrived at the Kingdom of Eswatini.
Another national stand was launched in cooperation with the Belneftekhim Group and the National Centre for Marketing and Price Study at the SAITEX international event on consumer goods. JSC Belshina, JSC Naftan, JSC Mogilevkhimvolokno, JSC Grodno Azot, JSC Gomel Chemical Plant, as well as JSC PO Energokomplekt and JSC Belsvetmet featured at the exhibition. Importantly, both Belarusian stands were visited by the leadership of the Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Africa’s oldest chamber of commerce and industry. Follow-up work is now under way to start commercial supplies of Belarusian tyres and cable products to Southern Africa.
Another important observation is that foreign sellers usually make the most of their presence in RSA market. They set up assembly plants, joint trading companies, representative offices and service centres. Thanks to that, they can swiftly respond to market changes, tackle emerging challenges, apply for tenders and government programmes in South Africa.
Belarus has its own success story. In 2021, work began to launch an MTZ tractor assembly plant in South Africa under the local Gandaganda brand. A licencing and trademark agreements were signed. In 2022, the Belarusian holding company ordered three ‘pilot’ Gandaganda tractors to be built at MTZ and brought to South Africa. They were actively used in the company's promotional events.
In 2023, a 5-year business plan was adopted to develop tractor assembly in South Africa, which foresaw the launch of the assembly line by the end of 2025. As the project aims to benefit the South African agriculture, create new jobs and enable technology transfer, it got the approval of the political leadership of the country and the region wh ere the assembly plant would be located. This is a good example of how one can penetrate the South African market through economic partnerships and joint ventures.
Co-operation options
There is no need for a newcomer to start by setting up a large company in Africa and incur serious expenses. Enough to keep here a core team of English-speaking experts, who would be able to come, negotiate and present in detail their company and its products. The Embassy, for its part, is there to offer advice, help with partner search, and a negotiating platform.
If one could bring together in a single delegation experts from a particular industry, then presentations in local chambers of commerce and even a business forum could be arranged. I strongly believe that such targeted events would be most successful.
Southern Africa countries constitute the South African Customs Union, one of the oldest unions on the continent. For this reason, Belarusian companies are encouraged to view South Africa as a gateway to the markets of all the five countries in the region: Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Eswatini and South Africa proper. Another important advantage of the RSA is the availability of seaports, capable of handling any type of cargo.
Our companies face impressive opportunities not only in South Africa, but also in neighbouring countries. We are well-placed to work in such sectors as agricultural machinery, transport infrastructure, construction and quarrying. Our companies can lay power grids, supply electrical equipment, hydraulic pumps, food and alcohol products, petrochemical products, cosmetics and much more. Providing digital services for logistics, banking, e-commerce and telecommunications also looks promising.
The Embassy is there to provide the necessary assistance to any Belarusian enterprise keen to work in the Southern Africa region. But Belarusian diplomatic institutions and business should act in synergy. This, I am sure, is the key to success.
Subscribe to news
