The South African government is waking up to the possibilities of the regional market. This is expressed in Trade Minister Rob Davies promoting the trilateral Free Trade Agreement encompassing the Southern African Development Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, and the East African Community as representing a historic opportunity to integrate markets “from Cape to Cairo”.
Invoking Cecil John Rhodes’s colonial enterprise underpins the notion of South Africa being a “gateway” to African markets and was given renewed impetus by President Jacob Zuma during the recent summit of Brics countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — in China. Yet it is seldom substantiated.