At Davos, South Africa presented a confident trade and reform story, highlighting economic recovery, growing export markets and strong agricultural performance. While geopolitics dominated headlines, the country’s focus on economic diplomacy, improved logistics, and expanding trade – especially into Asia, the Middle East and Africa – positioned it as a credible and open trading partner in a fragmented global economy. I attended this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, and the central theme in many conversations I had and in the various panel discussions centred on geopolitics and trade.
The presence of US President Donald Trump and his focus on Greenland, among other aspects, made this a central theme, alongside the launch of the Board of Peace. But aside from these central themes, there were also fundamental conversations that are critical to us in South Africa. Countries are talking of strengthening partnerships and exploring various avenues for investment and trade.
The SA government and business delegation seized on these themes and sentiments. These come at a time when the country has a good story to tell. Asia and the Middle East are among the promising regions, while the South African leadership also continue to focus on retaining existing markets in Europe, the United Kingdom, the US, broader Africa, and other areas.
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Another theme that came up sharply in some discussions was a call to strengthen multilateralism and protect key global organisations, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO). A stable and fair global trading environment is essential for South Africa, particularly for the industry I spend most of my time studying: agriculture. South Africa’s agriculture has grown significantly, more than doubling since 1994.
If one looks at the key catalysts for growth, trade has been central. Indeed, better seed cultivars, improvements in animal genetics, and the use of advanced machinery have increased farm efficiency and boosted yields. But yield growth without key market uptake wouldn’t be sufficient.
What has always remained key is the opening of new export markets, and that is exactly what happened over the past three decades. We now have a sector that exports roughly half of its produce. When the final trade figures for 2025 are released, I suspect SA’s agricultural exports will have crossed the $14-billion mark for the first time.
This will be an increase from $13.7-billion in agricultural exports in 2024. The top exported products by value in 2024 included citrus, grapes, maize, apples and pears, wine, nuts, fruit juices, sugar, berries, dates, pineapples, avocados, wool, apricots and peaches, ciders, and beef. These markets are diverse.
Still, we need to diversify further, especially in today’s trade fiction landscape. In 2024, the African continent maintained its share of South Africa’s agricultural exports, accounting for 44% of the total value. As a collective, Asia and the Middle East were the second-largest agricultural markets, accounting for 21% of the share of overall farm exports in 2024.
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