South Africa – Market Situation

If we take a closer look at the South African market, we will find a flourishing economy. Based on figures from GTAI (economic facts South Africa). Inflation is down and the GPD (327 Bis. US$ in 2018) is still on a rising path. The structure of GDP is changing towards services (68%) and industry (29%). Only 2% is driven by agriculture. According to the German Foreign Ministry, South Africa is the third largest economy in Africa after Nigeria and Egypt.

To reach the market as a foreign company, you can focus on three goals. Cape Town, Johannesburg and eThekwini, 3 locations where 52% of South Africa’s inhabitants live (Stats SA).

There is still a great need for ICT infrastructure. Almost half of ICT imports (47.5%) are communication equipment and 30.7% consist of office and computer equipment. The industrial sector is still growing and requires software solutions, but these are more web- and mobile-based.

South Africa imports more ICT technology than it exports. But they also export. Mainly telecommunications and television technology and services to other African markets.