Boeing aims to soar in Africa:
Boeing says Africa will not be able to integrate without the expansion of the aviation sector and the company is growing its business to take advantage of the demand for air travel and cargo movement on the continent.
There is a direct correlation between economic expansion and the growth of air travel globally, Boeing Africa managing director Henok Shawl said at the Africa CEO Forum held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, earlier this week.
“For us, it’s quite straightforward. This is a continent that is growing and growing very fast. And, in this respect, that translates directly to air travel growth that means more Boeing products and services will be sold into this continent,” Shawl told a session discussing “a new paradigm to United States business partnerships with Africa”.
This was why the company opened a new office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia two weeks ago, he added.
“We foresee, over the next 20 years, that this continent will need 1?200 new commercial aircraft. That’s a lot of aircraft, and that’s a lot of US exports, and that’s also a lot of US and African jobs.
“So, it’s in the interest of Boeing, the US government and African governments to be realising its goal,” he said.
“We are very much bullish and that’s why we’ve opened an office in Africa. We have to be where the market is… We are in Abidjan, Kenya and Morocco. We’re everywhere because the market dictates.”
Shawl said the company was investing in science, technology, engineering and maths education; aerospace engineering development with African institutions, as well as in manufacturing in countries such as Morocco and Ethiopia.
“We want to grow together and enable this continent to connect itself. Because one thing that has to be said clearly — this content will not integrate without aviation. It’s just too big — 30-plus million square kilometres, which is bigger than the US, China, India and Japan combined. Geographically, you cannot integrate it on rail or roads,” he said.
“Integration, if it’s to happen, will happen by aviation and, essentially, passenger and cargo services.
“So, we are willing to obey that infrastructure, the aviation infrastructure, empowering Africa’s economic integration.”
Shawl said Boeing accounted for 70% of the aviation market in Africa “and we want to maintain that and even grow”.
“Africa is the place with opportunity and those that don’t come here are actually doing themselves a disservice. The population is growing very fast, so if you’re not here, then you will really miss it.”
US ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire Jessica Davis concurred, telling the forum that Africa was the region with the greatest unrealised potential in the world, largely thanks to the continent’s human resources.
The head of the US State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, Troy Fitrell, said it had recently made a change to focus on commercial advocacy as the “top job” of its ambassadors on the continent.
“In addition to the commercial diplomacy, our embassies are now looking directly at the absolute overall business environment. What are the obstacles to trade? Let’s look at those policy decisions that need to be addressed,” Fitrell said.
“Every minister I met, and I probably met with 20 ministers of trade just in the last 24 hours here, every one of them wants more business. The question is, what is holding that back? Let’s address that, let’s work with it, with the countries, on what we can do to create the environment where companies can thrive.”
He said the US had financing tools meant to operate “in a place where no one else will operate” and the government’s participation of 20% had the effect of de-risking projects, allowing other financiers to invest.
“And, of course, we’re sitting on $ 30 trillion of investment funds in the United States. This is all the private sector. It’s the retirement funds, the equity funds, but getting access to that and demonstrating that there is tremendous opportunity on this continent, that is part of our job, and we’re on that as well,” Fitrell added.
The session was held against the backdrop of punitive tariffs levied by US President Donald Trump against countries — including some in Africa — he accuses of ripping off the US.
This has lowered hope of the extension of a trade pact under which African countries have had preferential export access to the US market under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. The pact expires in September.
Ramaphosa to push for tariff relief, address refugee claims in US visit:
President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to use his upcoming visit to the United States to press for the removal of trade tariffs on South African exports and to confront recent diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
Speaking after his keynote address at the ANC’s provincial executive committee induction in Kimberley on Friday, Ramaphosa said discussions with US officials would be conducted in a “businesslike manner”, focusing on advancing South Africa’s national interests.
“We’ve got a number of issues to discuss – trade issues, diplomatic issues, and relationship issues,” he said. “We are not going to be distracted by anything. We will focus on what is important for our country.”
Ramaphosa’s visit to the US is expected to take place from Sunday 19 to Wednesday 22 May, according to the presidency. It will mark one of the most diplomatically sensitive trips of his presidency, as Pretoria seeks to defend its international standing while protecting crucial trade relationships in a fraught geopolitical climate.
Central to the president’s agenda is the US’s continued imposition of trade tariffs on South African goods, particularly vehicles and agricultural products. Although some of the tariffs have been deferred, Ramaphosa said the matter requires urgent resolution.
“They have imposed tariffs on us even though they’ve postponed them. We need to deal with that. Our vehicles go there. Our vegetables and our agricultural products go there,” he said. “They are our trading partner. Whether we like it or not, we are joined at the hip, and we need to be talking to them.”
Ramaphosa said the team was heading to the US with the increasingly complex nature of South Africa’s bilateral relationship with the US in mind, adding it was important to maintain dialogue even where there are differences.
“You don’t talk only to your friends. You also negotiate with those you may have differences with,” he said.
The president is also expected to address international criticism of South Africa’s domestic human rights record, particularly allegations of state-sanctioned violence against minority groups, including Afrikaners who have accepted refugee status from the US.
Forty-nine Afrikaners have already settled in the US, arguing that they were being targeted and felt unsafe in South Africa because of their race.
Ramaphosa dismissed the claims as false and harmful.
“There’s been noise about South Africa committing a genocide. But we all know, as South Africans – black and white – that there is no genocide here. We are not genocidal,” he said.
He insisted that South Africa remains committed to constitutional values, including nonracialism and equality before the law. “We are a peace-loving country. We are committed to transformation and to ensuring that all our people have a better life – black, white, all South Africans,” he said.
Ramaphosa said the country’s message in Washington would be “strong and robust”, and aimed at countering what he described as misinformation. “The false stories that have been bandied around are not a reflection of who we are,” he said.
The visit comes at a time when domestic governance issues have also resurfaced, including the recent nullification of several public board SETA appointments. Ramaphosa described the matter as a result of administrative errors, saying the relevant minister was “trying to correct” the issue.
“We should also be grateful that we have a government that listens, even when it has made mistakes,” he said. “The important thing is to listen and to correct.”
Asked about the country’s rising unemployment rate – a figure that increased to 32.9% this week from 31.9% last year, according to Statistics South Africa – Ramaphosa said job creation remained the government’s top priority.
“I am continuously worried about the state of unemployment. We are taking all steps to grow our economy,” he said. “We need to unleash the levers of our economy and attend to the constraints that are keeping growth down. We want young people and even those older than 35 to be employed.”
He said both public employment initiatives and the easing of private sector constraints would be key to addressing the crisis.
Ramaphosa also confirmed that Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana is finalising the third national budget, which is due to be tabled on Tuesday 21 May, and which will also provide solutions to the unemployment concerns.
“The budget is almost ready. The minister of finance is putting the final touches to it,” he said.
Transformation fund introduces new empowerment codes for transport sector:
Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition (the Dtic) Parks Tau said on Friday that the R100 billion transformation fund will set aside resources for black-owned businesses operating within the transport sector.
“Too many businesses remain on the margins. We must double down on efforts where transformation has stalled. Enforcing existing codes will lead to deeper integration of the sector,” Tau said.
Small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) account for about 90% of businesses in South Africa, yet many are unable to access opportunities due to high asset requirements and limited credit histories, he said.
The sector-specific fund will allocate resources for inclusion and capacity building in aviation, rail and ports.
Tau said the fund will facilitate market access and provide export-readiness programmes with the goal of ensuring that the benefits of modernisation reach all stakeholders.
In March, Tau proposed the creation of a R20-billion-a-year transformation fund in a concept document currently open for public comment.
The goal of the fund is to promote the participation of black-owned enterprises and marginalised groups such as women, youth and persons with disabilities.
The transformation fund has received criticism for repeating race-based legislation after 30 years of democracy, which has had disputed outcomes.
A distinguishing feature of this new initiative is its explicit focus on high-risk rural and township enterprises, which have previously been neglected.
Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy said the draft transformation fund and integrated sector codes will consolidate support for better outcomes in broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE).
Creecy stated that the logistics and freight subsectors remain largely untransformed, and that increasing the participation of black-owned businesses will have a positive effect on economic inclusion.
The sector-specific fund will also focus on financing for taxi recapitalisation and aligning provincial regulatory frameworks.
The government has therefore honed in on inclusion as the solution to unemployment and stagnant economic growth, while critics have said corruption-inducing BEE is the cause of joblessness.
The new sector codes propose an equity-equivalent programme for multinationals and the removal of BEE recognition for companies that lose black ownership.
Board voting rights held by black individuals will increase from 50% to 65%, and specialised technical positions will be reserved for junior black managers.
The transport fund will deploy debt, grant and equity instruments to diversify economic activity beyond urban centres.
The fund will therefore target support for rural and township enterprises operating outside of traditional value chains.
The government’s contribution will serve as seed capital to leverage further private sector investment.
The fund also seeks to address the practice of superficial compliance aimed solely at avoiding penalties, which the government says undermines genuine transformation and meaningful market participation of black people.
In response to the fund, the South African Institute of Race Relations (IRR) said that BEE legislation amounts to race quotas that have led to the decline of state-owned entities.
The IRR argues that using race as a proxy for disadvantage is unfair and illegal, and that the government should follow the non-racial ethos of the Constitution.
The IRR has also praised the Democratic Alliance for challenging employment equity laws in court.
The institute believes that less race-based legislation and more investor-friendly policies will drive economic growth and reduce unemployment.
However, the Black Management Forum (BMF) has said that in a country where 81% of people are black, with most living in poverty, neoliberal, trickle-down economics would not resolve this crisis and therefore the government should build the kasi economy.
The BMF has criticised the World Bank for suggesting that South Africa should roll back its BEE policies to attract foreign investment.
The bank argued that the country’s excessive affirmative action regulations need to be overhauled for the country to grow, while the BMF said the private sector should carry a significant burden of the country’s economic woes.
The forum also criticised Old Mutual for appointing Jurie Strydom in May as chief executive, calling it a setback for transformation in a statement.
“As an institution with deep African roots and a significant continental footprint, Old Mutual is expected to reflect South Africa’s diversity at all levels of leadership, particularly the executive level,” said the statement.
Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) welcomed the fund’s intent but raised concerns over past empowerment failures, including weak risk management and poor recovery of allocated funds.
The organisation said too much time had been spent on funding mechanisms and too little on mentorship and capacity building.
The BLSA urged the government to clearly articulate how the final fund design will move beyond financing to achieve long-term transformation outcomes.
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