Singapore ramps up economic relationship with Africa, posts 20% project growth

The number of projects facilitated  by Singapore companies in Africa, majorly in the infocomm media (ICM), urban infrastructure and food sectors, has over the last five years recorded significant growth.

In addition, Enterprise Singapore (ESG), the government agency championing enterprise development in the Southeast Asian country, facilitated 20 percent  more projects by Singapore companies in Africa in 2020 compared to 2019, a report by the agency confirmed.

Commenting on the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on economic relationship between Singapore companies and Africa, Peter Ong, chairman, Enterprise Singapore, said  the pandemic has accelerated the demand for digital solutions, opened up new opportunities for Singapore companies and increased business relationships with Africa.

“In the first six months of 2021, close to half of the projects facilitated by ESG involved technology solutions in fintech, blockchain and artificial intelligence. In addition, almost half of the  Memoranda of Understanding and agreements signed at the Africa Singapore Business Forum (ASBF) 2021 between Singapore companies and their African partners were technology-related,” he added.

Ong further emphasised that the COVID-19 underscored the importance of Singaporean companies building business beyond Asia Singapore and expanding into other markets such as Africa, to offer untapped opportunities.

Speaking further on the relevance of the partnerships between Singaporean companies and Africa, the ESG chairman noted that the company regularly engages African governments and companies to understand their problem statements and matches them with Singapore companies that can address their needs.

He added that in light of travel restrictions, virtual business matching roundtables and meetings were stepped up to enable Singapore companies to engage African partners and discuss projects to collaborate on.

To foster its investment, trade and thought leadership between Asia and Africa,  Enterprise Singapore recently organised the sixth edition of the Africa Singapore Business Forum (ASBF) held from August 23-24, 2021.

The sixth edition of the flagship event featured insights from Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore senior minister and coordinating minister for social policies; Alvin Tan, minister of state for trade,industry,  Akinwumi Adesina, president, African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and  Vera Songwe,executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa. Delegates also heard from expert panels on urban solutions, digital opportunities and manufacturing and participated in virtual business matching sessions.