NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 1 – A total of seven agreements were signed between African and Singaporean firms at the 7th edition of the Africa-Singapore Business Forum (ASBF) that was organised by Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG).
The agreements span manufacturing, digitalization and technology, sustainable development, transport, and logistics sectors.
To strengthen growing ties between Singapore and Africa, the Kenya-Singapore Bilateral Investment Treaty was also ratified by both countries and formally entered into force last month.
“The Treaty will promote greater investment flows between Singapore and Kenya by protecting the interests of both Singapore and Kenyan investors,” An agreement signed by the two entities read.
“The Treaty provides certainty and signals the commitment of both governments to create favourable conditions for business to thrive.”
This comes at a time when economic relations between Singapore and Africa continue to expand.
Bilateral trade in goods between Africa and Singapore grew by around 15 percent per year between 2019 and 2022, reaching $14.5 billion in 2022.
Singapore companies’ investments in the African continent cumulatively reached $23.7 billion as of 2021.
“Singapore companies are recognising the value of diversifying their businesses to markets further afield and have been responding to our call to explore Africa,” Tan Soon Kim, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Global Markets), EnterpriseSG said.
“This year, we have organised over 10 activities including business missions, webinars and workshops in sectors such as retail, healthcare, fintech, information and communications technology (ICT) and logistics, benefiting close to 400 companies. In 2023, the number of projects facilitated by EnterpriseSG to date exceeds that of 2022,” Kim said.
“These are projects where we provided support, including helping companies clinch new projects and set up offices in Africa.”
These were disclosed at this year’s Africa-Singapore Business Forum (ASBF), which took place between August 29 and 31.
Themed ‘Driving Africa’s Growth through Digitalisation, Manufacturing and Sustainability’, it attracted 500 business and government leaders from 40 countries.
Highlights for Day One included a keynote speech by Guest of Honour Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Trade and Industry of Singapore, as well as a dialogue between Alvin Tan, Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Community, Culture, and Youth of Singapore, and Samaila Zubairu, President & CEO of the Africa Finance Corporation.
Other speakers were James Mwangi (Group Managing Director and CEO of Equity Group Holdings), Frederick Teo (CEO, GenZero), Juliana Rotich (Head of Fintech Solutions, Safaricom), among others.
