South africa Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in south africa, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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An Overview of Leading Industry Sectors
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Prosper Africa

The U.S. Government in December 2018 launched Prosper Africa to unlock opportunities to do business in Africa. Prosper Africa is now fully operational to exploit the resources of over 15 U.S. Government agencies to connect U.S. and African businesses with new buyers, suppliers, and investment opportunities.

The participating agencies are:

  • U.S. Department of State
  • U.S. Department of the Treasury
  • U.S. Department of Defense
  • U.S. Department of Agriculture
  • U.S. Department of Commerce
  • U.S. Department of Energy
  • U.S. Department of Homeland Security
  • Office of the United States Trade Representative
  • U.S. Agency for International Development
  • Export-Import Bank of the United States
  • Millennium Challenge Corporation
  • U.S. International Development Finance Corporation
  • U.S. Small Business Administration
  • United States African Development Foundation
  • U.S. Trade and Development Agency

In South Africa, the best prospects for exports are in capital goods, though opportunities exist in a wide range of consumer products, services, and franchising.

State Owned Entities

Since 2014, South African SOEs such as Eskom (electric power) and Transnet (transportation) formalized capital expenditure plans amounting to more than R685.5 billion. However, some major projects are under review due to questions surrounding good governance, financial viability, and the radical change in direction by the administration, since President Cyril Ramaphosa took charge in February 2018, to reduce high national debt levels, compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Promising projects remain, however, in the following:

  • Renewable Energy
  • Oil and Gas Supplies and Equipment
  • Transportation Infrastructure
  • Pollution Control Equipment
  • Medical Equipment and Healthcare Services
  • Telecommunications and Information Technology

                                                        

 

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Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

Limitations

As a beta product, the Chatbot is currently being tested and its responses may occasionally produce inaccurate or incomplete information. The Chatbot is trained to decline out of scope or inappropriate requests. The Chatbot’s knowledge is limited to the public information on the Export Solutions web pages of Trade.gov, which covers a wide range of topics on exporting. While it cannot provide responses specific to a company’s product or a specific foreign market, its reference pages will guide you to other relevant government resources and market research. Always double-check the Chatbot’s responses using the provided references or by visiting the Export Solutions web pages on Trade.gov. Do not use its responses as legal or professional advice. Inaccurate advice from the Chatbot would not be a defense to violating any export rules or regulations.

Privacy

The Chatbot does not collect information about users and does not use the contents of users’ chat history to learn new information. All feedback is anonymous. Please do not enter personally identifiable information (PII), sensitive, or proprietary information into the Chatbot. Your conversations will not be connected to other interactions or accounts with ITA. Conversations with the Chatbot may be reviewed to help ITA improve the tool and address harmful, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate questions.

Translation

The Chatbot supports a wide range of languages. Because the Chatbot is trained in English and responses are translated, you should verify the translation. For example, the Chatbot may have difficulty with acronyms, abbreviations, and nuances in a language other than English.

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