Streamlining South Africa’s export development efforts in sub-Saharan Africa: A Decision Support Model approach

Given its abundant natural resources and accelerating consumer-driven growth, sub-Saharan Africa has much to offer investors and traders. Yet the region remains weakly integrated into global and regional value chains, due to, among other things, geographical disadvantages, infrastructural shortcomings, high transport costs and difficult-to-access market intelligence – all of which add to the cost of trade. While not an insignificant player in international business and trade circles, South Africa is facing shrinking demand in its traditional export markets and has to plot a new economic course after decades of overreliance on commodity exports and value-added imports. This chapter looks at how a market selection tool, the Decision Support Model (DSM), can streamline the process of identifying export opportunities, particularly at an intra-regional level. Covering both products and services, and adaptable to different countries’ circumstances, the DSM simplifies market selection decisions by pinpointing both short- and longer-term business opportunities in high-potential sectors, while also exposing market access barriers that could become the focus of specific efficiency-enhancing interventions. In this way, the DSM can be a valuable aid to trade facilitation.