SA Exporters look to markets outside Europe

Whether you believe the Eurozone is in meltdown or not, it has posed other problems for South African exporters.

Once a lucrative and almost sure export destination for South African goods, it is now a somewhat stagnant market especially for perishable goods.

“Fish, fruit and wine exporters are starting to look at new potential markets and already a discernible move is evident,” says Theo Reddi, General Manager Exports, at Credit Guarantee. “And perhaps a little surprisingly, African markets are starting to reflect a far greater importance as new doors open for trade. We have maintained an intensive and very credible association with information sources throughout the continent and our approach of literally getting feet on the ground in those markets is now paying dividends.”

Not completely happy to rely solely on other opinions, Reddi states that the company regularly visits individual companies in various African countries, trading with SA exporters as well as the banks, attorneys, collection agencies and other institutions in those countries in order to get first hand insight and experience from those in the know.

“The fact that we can pick up a phone or drop an email to a person that we already have an established relationship with in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania or others in West Africa, for example, allows us to generate much more influence when underwriting trade credit into many of these expanding markets. Delivering the best possible opinion linked with well reasoned assessments of the potential risks in these countries, empowers our exporters to explore new contracts that would otherwise have gone begging,” concludes Reddi.