The African continent is overflowing with potential, and the USA is looking at avenues to enable trade and stimulate the flow of investment between itself and Africa. During a recent exploration visit to, amongst others, Nigeria, Namibia, Kenya and South Africa, the State Department identified key focus areas of interest – the creative industry, digital economy, agriculture, and manufacturing.
The findings of their visit were recently shared with stakeholders, including the South African Chamber of Commerce in the USA (SACCUSA). The Deputy Assistant Secretary of State tasked with African Affairs, Ms Akunna Cook, held a virtual conference, and stressed that two-way communication has to improve. US companies remain positive about investment in South Africa and a recent example thereof is the acquisition of Pioneer Foods by PepsiCo.
US companies contribute to job creation, driving growth, and fostering prosperity in Africa. The development of women entrepreneurs is an important future focus.
The Prosper Africa Initiative brings together services and resources from the US government to empower businesses with market insights, and thereby offers solutions with which to stimulate the business climate.
The needs identified by African entrepreneurs were to have tools to attract US capital and assess digital markets in the USA from Africa. SACCUSA committed themselves to partnering with the State Department and its Prosper African initiative.
