Photo: Lindi Botha
Since it’s integration into the BRICS, trade between South Africa and the other BRICS countries has been underwhelming.
Agbiz chief economist Wandile Sihlobo said that BRICS members account for a relatively small share of South Africa’s agriculture exports, an average of 8% over the past 10 years, amounting to US$9,9 billion (about R184 billion).
“BRICS imported an average of US$241 billion (R4,5 trillion) worth of agricultural products from the world market annually over the past decade. The imports by those countries from South Africa over the same period make South Africa a small player in the agricultural trade of this grouping, with room to grow.”
He noted that in terms of all products traded across the economy, South Africa currently had a positive trade balance with the world, but a negative balance with other BRICS states.
However, with China lifting the ban on imports of South African beef last week, and the avocado industry one step closer to sending fruit eastwards, export value was set to grow.
The Chinese customs administration declared multiple regions in South Africa, including the Northern Cape, Eastern Cape and Western Cape as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)-free zones.
This declaration extended to sections of Limpopo, the Free State, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and North West. The Chinese ban on beef imports, imposed in March 2022 after an FMD outbreak on a North West cattle farm, has now been reversed.
This week, 11 memorandums of understanding and other agreements were also signed by the two countries. This included Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Thoko Didiza signing an agreement on sanitary requirements for the export of avocados from South Africa to China.
ZZ2, Core Fruit and Mission Produce, some of South Africa’s largest players in the avocado sector, expressed immense gratitude and relief, after waiting years for the go-ahead. Clive Garrett, marketing manager at ZZ2, said that market access to China was crucial as volumes in South Africa were growing exponentially, while the traditional European market was becoming saturated.
“Avocados have the potential to create much-needed employment in the country, boosting the economy. South Africa has the potential to triple its avocado plantings. We have the resources in terms of land, water, people and know-how to reclaim our place as a real force in the worldwide avocado market. We also have decades of experience in long-distance shipping.
“The avocado market in South Africa became stagnant due to a lack of market access, but we hope that the opening of China and further markets, including India and Japan, will provide the necessary momentum the market needs,” Garrett said.
