Irish companies participating in this week’s Enterprise Ireland trade mission to South Africa have secured new contracts totalling over €6m and agreed significant business alliances across a range of business sectors.
It was led by Minister for Trade and Development, Joe Costello TD, who also launched two industry expert panels that will support Irish companies seeking to win new business in South Africa in the financial services and telecommunications sectors.
These announcements underline the growing opportunities for Irish companies in the very important South Africa market, a priority market under the Government’s Trade Strategy, which is also considered to be the gateway to Sub- Saharan Africa.
The trade mission involving 35 companies, which was primarily focussed on the ICT, international education and financial services sectors, was organised by Enterprise Ireland in close cooperation with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Embassy of Ireland in Pretoria.
The Minister’s three-day schedule included five major networking events with South African and Irish businesses and other key contacts, as well as 16 individual company meetings with Irish companies and their South African partners and customers.
Minister Costello described the trade mission as very important in terms of deepening Ireland’s trade and economic ties in the region, as well as supporting the aims of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Africa Strategy.
“This was a highly successful mission both in terms of business secured and in terms of the introductions and connections made,” he said. “It is tremendously encouraging to see Irish companies winning new business in South Africa. Enterprise Ireland opened a new office in Johannesburg in February of this year that acts as a hub for supporting Irish companies in growing their trade relationships and export sales in South Africa and in the wider Sub-Saharan African market of over 900 million people.”
Following the trade mission, the Minister is today attending the Ireland-South Africa Partnership Forum in Cape Town to lead discussions with the South African Government on increasing trade and tourism between the two countries. Also on the agenda will be political developments in Africa and the future of Ireland’s development cooperation partnership with South Africa.
Among the contracts and alliances agreed were:
Digital Marketing Institute agreed a partnership with Vega School of Brand Leadership that will see over 3,000 students undertake digital marketing training in South Africa. Vega School will deliver the Digital Marketing Institute’s Professional Diploma in Digital Marketing programme. The Institute forecasts that the South Africa market will generate revenues in excess of €3m by 2015.
The Now Factory signed a new contract with Vodacom for its Mobile Moments Vantage solution, enabling the South Africa-based operator to accurately measure the performance of its data network in real time and optimise the customer experience of its 31 million subscribers.
Druid Software, the Irish mobile network software development company, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Jasco, the South African owned ICT converged solutions provider, to supply Fixed Mobile Converged solutions to enterprise customers in sub-Saharan Africa.
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