South African Trade and Outreach Mission

October 25 - November 3, 1999

Mission Returns with New Business Commitments

From October 25 to November 3, 1999, the Corporate Council, in cooperation with the U.S. Small Business Administration, conducted its first trade and outreach mission to South Africa. The group included 19 participants representing 15 small to medium-sized US companies. It explored business opportunities in Guateng, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Western Cape provinces, focusing on sectors that the South African Government has taken steps to privatize or increase private sector participation. These included infrastructure development, telecommunications, transportation, energy, and financial services. The Mission witnessed no fewer than 20 letters of intent or memoranda of understanding between the US and South African companies.

Before leaving on the Mission, participants were given a reception by South Africa's Ambassador to the United States, H. E. Sheila Sisulu, and the morning after their arrival in Johannesburg, they were welcomed by Deputy President Jacob Zuma.

More than 200 one-on-one meetings were arranged for mission participants with prospective South African partners, and a dozen more group meetings and briefings took place with South African private-sector representatives.

The mission received strong support and a warm welcome from the US Foreign and Commercial Service in Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town, from USAID, and from Ebony Consulting International, CCA's partner on the South Africa International Business Linkages Program. The Mission was sponsored by: HSBC Equator Bank, Navistar International, and New Africa Finance Corporation.