EDITORIAL: Good save, Mr Patel

It is not fashionable in business circles to praise trade, industry & competition minister Ebrahim Patel, but his role in securing trade benefits for SA’s exporters under the US African Growth & Opportunity Act (Agoa) has to be commended.

A few months ago SA’s continued participation in the scheme, which grants duty-free access to thousands of African products, was threatened by various diplomatic own-goals. First, Pretoria failed to condemn Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine; second, the government was slow in addressing allegations that arms had been loaded onto the Lady R, and its communication of its “nonaligned” position was generally shambolic.

These factors prompted trigger-happy US legislators to lobby Washington to abruptly remove SA from the trade pact even before the expiry of the current iteration in 2025. This would have been disastrous for SA’s carmakers and mineral exporters, since they in particular have benefited from this unilateral trade agreement over the years.

Patel stepped in to fill the void left by SA’s absentee ambassador to the US. He led a serious but mostly low-key campaign in Washington — both with the administration and in Congress — to make the case for SA’s continued participation in Agoa.

Thanks to his hard work, SA’s participation is guaranteed. 

Correction: October 8 2023
An earlier version of this article incorrectly suggested that US president Joe Biden will be in Johannesburg for the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act Forum next month. Business Day regrets the error.