Civil Engineering April 2021 | Vol 29 No 3

CEO’ s Corner This article contributes to our local initia- tives towards growing our economy while accepting and embracing global realities such as digital economic phenomena. Technology currently exists that will reduce trade barriers to entry into mar- kets otherwise proving difficult to enter. While we build and grow new digital corridors, enabling infrastructure has to support this. New network infrastructure such as trade and communication cor- ridors will assist in the creation of new consolidated markets, boosting trade and economic diversity, effective coordination and oversight of initiatives, equalisation, and future eradication of tariffs. These are some of the benefits that could be derived should we acknowl- edge the opportunity now, specifically as it applies to South Africa’s contribu- tion to the AfCFTA. In addition, the AfCFTA is progressive in its prioritisation of women in trade, SMME development, the need to support African industrialists, and incorporating the concept of sustainability in our economic growth paths. As much as these strategies allude to macro-economic issues, they can be easily incorporated into business level opportunities should government and business take the much talked about social compacting seriously. If we take economic development seriously then I urge us, as an infrastructure community, to work towards opening up additional channels for economic development on the continent, with new markets that exploit digital concepts to give a competi- tive advantage. South Africa has already moved to gazette free trade deal regulations that will allow many products to be imported or exported duty-free. This will enable new competitors to enter South Africa and allow local firms to enter other geographies and markets. Infrastructure growth has to support this, together with the need for basic services in multiple geographies. Our role as a capable provider of infrastructure goods and services should not be regarded as opportunistic, as first mover advantage will always prove beneficial to those who adopt a proactive approach. We have ma- ture financial and regulatory structures, manufacturing and processing facilities, and skills not yet common to some other countries that can be leveraged in the short term to establish new markets. Once SA Inc. has a good under- standing of our competitive advantages in relation to other markets, we can develop the project opportunities for business to consider investment. Government support to enable local and regional development will be key to success in growing trade volumes on the back of the AfCFTA. TAPPING THE AFRICAN MARKET The exploitation of the AfCFTA may seem altruistic at this time. I say this as intra-African trade has been spoken about at length for decades. However, Africa remains a largely underdeveloped market. South African firms have certainly found the African market challenging, experiencing limited success coupled with high-risk transactions. This limited success has come to those employed by private developers, development finance institutions and aid-based funders of infra- structure. Working for public sector clients on the continent poses difficulties such as the poor definition of the scope of works, lack of project data, poor client knowledge New market development opportunities – can Africa trade with itself? Possibilities to exploit economic growth, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9 and geo-political relationships in keeping with the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). 6 April 2021 Civil Engineering Government support to enable local and regional development will be key to success in growing trade volumes on the back of the AfCFTA