South Africa and Egypt have launched a Joint Business Council to expand trade and economic ties, with mining, agriculture, renewable energy and mobility named as focus areas. The council brings together the continent’s two largest economies.
Its first initiatives are a mining and minerals partnership, an automotive and new-energy mobility partnership, and an engineering and infrastructure partnership. The council also plans an agriculture and agro-processing corridor, a renewable energy and green industries platform, and an Africa joint venture investment fund that will back companies and projects able to grow beyond the two home markets.
The launch follows more than a year of groundwork. In November 2025, Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau met Egypt’s Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, Hassan El-Khatib, in Cairo. The two agreed to work towards doubling bilateral trade and discussed reciprocal logistics zones, including a South African zone inside the Suez Canal Economic Zone.
| South Africa–Egypt trade | 2024 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total bilateral trade | R3.4bn | R4.3bn | +26% |
| SA exports to Egypt | R1.3bn | R1.6bn | +21% |
| SA imports from Egypt (derived) | R2.1bn | R2.7bn | +29% |
Despite the growth, trade remains modest. South Africa ran a trade deficit with Egypt in every year from 2021 to 2025, and ranked as Egypt’s 46th export destination and 58th import source in 2025, according to the dtic. The department describes Egypt as South Africa’s largest export market in North Africa and a platform into the Middle East and the Horn of Africa.
The gap is notable given the size of both economies. IMF figures for 2026 put South Africa’s GDP at $480bn (R7.98trn) and Egypt’s at $430bn (R7.15trn), ahead of Nigeria and Algeria. Egypt’s real GDP grew 5.1% in the fiscal year that ended in June 2026, with non-oil manufacturing the largest contributor to growth.
Automotive manufacturing is central to the partnership. On 2 October, South Africa took part in the Africa Automotive Investment Forum, held alongside the inaugural Alamein Africa Forum in Egypt. The Alamein forum is co-organised by the Egyptian government, Afreximbank and AUDA-NEPAD and is planned as a biennial event. Tau said the sector was a clear beneficiary, as the council gives South Africa a means to turn AfCFTA market access and automotive rules of origin into investment and regional value chains linked to Egypt. Delegates also explored a Cairo-to-Cape Town automotive corridor connecting production systems in Southern, Eastern and Northern Africa.
The dtic identified rubber products such as pneumatic tyres, motorcycle parts and accessories, and vehicle seats as the leading export prospects, with an import-displacement opportunity of between R22.4m and R44.8m.
Egypt is building its own capacity at the same time. Its Automotive Industry Development Programme targets annual output of 100,000 vehicles and local value-added content of about 60%. The state-owned Arab Organization for Industrialization is preparing to produce a new Stellantis model from the end of 2026, with planned volume of 240,000 units, to be built only in Egypt.
For South African carmakers, Africa remains a small but growing outlet. New vehicle exports to the rest of the continent rose 36.4% in 2025, though from a low base. Total vehicle exports reached a record 414,268 units that year, with the EU and UK taking 80.3%, while shipments to North America fell from 25,554 to 6,530 units after US Section 232 duties took effect.