By Wandile Sihlobo, Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz)
Last week, South Africa’s Deputy President, Paul Mashatile, was in France, amongst other things, to promote economic cooperation between the countries.
Mashatile’s visit did not receive much attention as the developments of the Oval Office continued to be the primary focus. But at its core, the work he was doing in France, and by extension, the greater European Union (EU), is aligned with the visit by the South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, to the US to strengthen relations, attract investment and deepen trade.
While we don’t often discuss it as much, the EU is one of South Africa’s important trading partners. If we focus on agriculture and assess the EU’s participation, it is very encouraging. In the US$13,7 billion of South Africa’s agricultural exports in 2024, the EU accounted for 19% and was the third-largest agricultural trading partner after the African continent and the collective Asia and the Middle East regions.
Citrus, grapes, wines, dates, avocados, pineapples, fruit juices, apples and pears, berries, apricots and cherries, nuts and wool were amongst the top agricultural products South Africa exported to the EU in 2024.
And yes, the South African agricultural sector has faced various challenges in the EU market, particularly in citrus. For example, the EU recently used non-tariff barriers by alleging false codling moth, a citrus pest, in South Africa and requiring citrus products to be kept at certain temperatures before accessing the EU market.
This issue happened while South Africa had already treated the products to eliminate the chances of such a pest occurrence. In a way, one could argue that this was a subtle form of protecting Spanish farmers, who are also major citrus producers within the EU market.
Still, this does not change the fact that many agricultural value chains in South Africa have prospered over the years, leaning on the EU market. Importantly, as in the past, we all want to resolve citrus friction and for the countries to affirm a long-term better trading environment for all products.
In essence, while South Africa works to resolve and deepen trade with regions such as the US, where there are higher tariffs, and China, a vital market, but with higher tariffs and phytosanitary barriers, we should not forget the existing markets that have helped us prosper.
We should continually engage with the EU, UK, Middle East and the greater African continent to deepen relations, trade and investment.
The continuous conversation about agricultural export diversification within BRICS nations, such as China, India and Saudi Arabia, is not a replacement for the long-existing relations with the EU and other trading partners.
Thus, Deputy President Mashatile’s visit to France was vital in strengthening relations broadly, not just for the farming sector but also for other sectors of the economy.
