South Africa: International Trade & Investment

Expanding into a new market is exciting. Businesses spend considerable time planning product launches, negotiating commercial agreements, appointing local partners and pursuing growth opportunities.

South Africa has secured a groundbreaking trade agreement with China, opening new export channels for locally produced cherries and potentially blueberries. With established production infrastructure and a robust plant variety protection system under the 2018 Plant Breeders Rights Act, the country is positioning itself as a strategic global production base for commercial exploitation of new plant varieties, particularly for Northern Hemisphere markets during off-season periods.

Senegal's Madd from Casamance and Cameroon's Penja Pepper have achieved a significant milestone by becoming the first geographical indications from the OAPI region to receive international registration under the Lisbon System. This development opens new pathways for protecting and commercially leveraging Africa's distinctive regional products in international trade.

The US Supreme Court's decision striking down broad "emergency" tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) is a major signal that unilateral, executive-led tariff action...

Across decades of advising multinational mining houses, manufacturers and institutional investors in multiple jurisdictions, our practice has worked on the basis that global minerals markets...

As of 12 November 2025, SARS has updated its Prohibited and Restricted Imports and Exports list to require that all goods under tariff subheading 3102.90 be detained...

Barely a few hours after the seat that Biden occupied became cold, Trump got to work. Hours after his swearing-in, he commenced signing executive orders that will have a major impact on Africa.

Earlier this month, President Ramaphosa attended a state visit to China with President Xi Jinping before the 9th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) represents a landmark development in the continent's economy, aiming to create a single market for goods and services, facilitate free movement of businesspersons and ultimately pave the way for a customs union.