In addition, global value chains established under COVID-19 have been disrupted. Air freight prices have increased by 60% on main lines, delivery times have doubled and more than 50 countries have either closed ports or increased audit requirements. Since the UK is 37% dependent on global value chains – with 21 per cent of foreign value added in Chinese products in the UK and only 2 per cent in Africa – these developments have hit the country`s economy hard. However, the reprehensible distortions caused by COVID-19 create windows of opportunity for increasingly competitive African economies, with relatively low wage costs, new and diversified value chain networks with British producers, and vice versa. THE SACUM countries expressed serious concerns about the final outcome of the EU-UK trade negotiations and the impact on trade relations between SACUM countries and the UNITED Kingdom. An agreement between the EU and the UK will help strengthen the security and continuity of the SACUM-UK agreement with the uk`s withdrawal from EU customs territory. If the EU and the UK fail to agree on an agreement, their trade relations will be governed by World Trade Organisation rules. This means that the UK is treated like any trading nation that does not benefit from preferential trade with the EU. The total value was just over R68 billion. British exports to South Africa have a total value of almost R 42.5 billion in 2019, bringing South Africa a bilateral trade surplus of just over R25.5 billion.

This new agreement, once signed and entered into force, will ensure the continuity of our $9.7 billion trade relationship and allow our businesses to continue to support our mutual prosperity and economic development. In addition to increasing trade between Britain and Africa, AfCFTA also offers the opportunity to diversify trade with Africa, which currently focuses on the region`s five largest economies (72% leave or come from South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt and Morocco) to the 54 countries, especially the hard-to-reach landlocked countries. Patel`s speech to the National Assembly came amid fears that a no-deal Brexit would mean South Africa would lose the benefits it would enjoy under the current trade deal that protected several South African exports. International trade is essential for Diageo because it allows us to reach more consumers and markets around the world. Africa is an important growth region for Diageo, including export markets such as South Africa for Scotch whisky. On the other hand, this unused Britain.