(Ecofin Agency) - During his departmental budget presentation to parliament, South Africa’s Minister of trade and industry Ebrahim Patel revealed that the localization strategy for the country would result in up to R200 billion (about $14.2 billion) of additional production over the next five years. The plan is gaining momentum as it has received support from 30 local chief executives from companies including Clicks, Anglo American, and Sasol.

“An initial list of 42 products have been identified for localization, and R240 million has been raised from the private sector to appoint technical experts to drive localization, bringing together industrial engineers, supply-chain managers, experts in dealing with illegal imports, and project managers,” said the Minister.

In this light, early this month, South Africa’s small business development minister held talks with the department of trade, industry and competition to design a category of more products under 100% local content.

This move is to ensure that small, medium, and micro enterprises in the country operating in the manufacturing space can produce products of good quality and be competitive enough to make imported products less attractive to consumers.

Small and medium-sized enterprises form the backbone of the African economy

According to International Trade Centre’s publication, small and medium-sized enterprises’ role in Africa can be powerful with its growing young population. Typically, children aged zero to fourteen years make up more than 40 % of the population, and more than 900 million new workers are expected to enter the labour market by 2050.

Solange Che