China’s One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative, introduced by President Xi Jinping in late 2013, opens significant opportunity for Africa to increase trade and investment. This is the view of Perry Fung, CEO Middle East and Africa for the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), who has encouraged South African exporters to seek out these opportunities sooner rather than later as the OBOR continues to gain momentum. “The question is not whether you should be looking at OBOR, but rather how you can capitalise on this initiative for your own benefit.” Fung said there was no doubt that Africa had long been an important market for China, and it was a trend that would continue. This included the trade relationship with South Africa, he added. “President Jinping has committed China to investing $14.7 billion in South Africa,” he said, a clear indication of South Africa’s importance to China. He said OBOR focused on connectivity and cooperation among countries along two main routes: the land-based Silk Road Economic Belt and the ocean-going Maritime Silk Road, which runs through the continents of Asia, Europe and Africa. The Maritime Silk Road touches on a number of African countries in East and south eastern Africa including Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Madagascar and South Africa, as well as Egypt, Morocco and Algeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Zimbabwe. “Through OBOR over 60% of the world population can be reached,” he said. “It is a market opportunity that exporters in South Africa cannot ignore.” He said China had clearly indicated it would buy more goods, especially non-resource products, from Africa – and free trade negotiations with African countries were ongoing. According to Fung, Chinese companies are increasingly being encouraged to expand investments into Africa. Encouraging exporters to investigate the opportunities offered by OBOR, he said an annual summit held in Hong Kong every year offered insight into collaboration opportunities. “The next summit is scheduled for September next year,” he said. “We expect to see more than 6000 participants offering companies more exposure and more investment opportunities. It is an important platform for any company wanting to access and network with China.” Fung said the OBOR vision was that of collaboration, especially with Africa.
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Through OBOR over 60% of the world population can be reached. – Perry Fung
