22-08-2017
Wesgro is proud to announce that the Ethiopian mission facilitated by our International Trade team and led by City of Cape Town Executive Mayor Patricia de Lille last month has already resulted in over R200 million in export deals.
The mission to Addis Ababa, which featured 15 Western Cape companies, sought to strengthen economic ties between the Ethiopia and the Cape, and has achieved an astounding result that will create dozens of new jobs for the province.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) ranks Ethiopia as among the five fastest growing economies in the world. Ethiopia has achieved high growth rates through government-led infrastructure expansion and commercial agriculture development.
“The mission was in line with our Organisational Development and Transformation Plan’s priorities to position Cape Town as a forward looking, globally competitive business destination and especially pursuing our Enhanced African Agenda to strengthen ties between our city and our African counterparts. This is wonderful news and we look forward to facilitating even more trade and investment for our local companies to do business with their Ethiopian counterparts in order to strengthen our respective economies," said de Lille.
“This is excellent news for the Western Cape economy, and speaks to the continued business confidence in our province. In 2016, Wesgro secured billions in investment for the province, delivering a significant boost to job creation and economic growth. I would like to commend Wesgro and the businesses involved on their success during the Ethiopian mission. Ethiopia is an important trade partner and these deals will further strengthen our economic partnership with the region,” added Western Cape Minister of Economic Opportunities Alan Winde.
Wesgro has been working hard to build relationships with Ethiopia and the rest of the continent, and last December Cape Town Air Access facilitated the increase of Ethiopian Airlines’, one of the fastest growing and most profitable African airline, flight frequency to Cape Town to 10 times per week.
“These developments indicate confidence to the Cape as a trade and investment destination, and is a testament to the work Wesgro has done to promote our region as a business hub for Africa,” concluded Wesgro CEO Tim Harris.