Your business risk has climbed sharply - be prepared

Dysfunctional ports, inoperative railways, collapsing roads and intermittent electricity supply have heightened the risk of doing business in South Africa significantly, says Peter Hughes.

Living at the bottom of Africa, we're a long way from the countries that dominate the global economy. Less than 15% of the world's population lives in the Southern Hemisphere, and close to 90% of global wealth is found in the Northern Hemisphere. South Africa imports most of its farming inputs, such as oil, fertiliser, chemicals and machinery, from the US, Europe or Asia. These same regions provide our major export markets. Huge cost increases in these inputs, added to the challenge of getting perishable products through our ports, has brought these facts into sharp focus. The collapse of South Africa's Indian Ocean ports (like our railways) may be the greatest risk. Let's examine the facts. The war in Ukraine has trapped 20 million tons of grain in that country. With grain being non-perishable…

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Farmer's Weekly (Digital) - 1 Issue, 21 October 2022

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