South Africa's Trade Chief Seeks Investment Across Central Europe

John Steenhuisen, South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, boards a flight to Central and Western Europe on August 31, 2026, carrying a specific mandate: deepen trade ties and bring investment home. The ten-day working visit, running through September 10, takes him across Czechia, Poland and Germany in a sequence designed to move from formal diplomatic groundwork to South Africa’s most consequential European economic relationship.

Czechia comes first. South Africa’s ninth-largest EU trading partner recorded bilateral trade of US$1.1 billion in 2025, and Steenhuisen will chair the sixth session of the South Africa-Czechia Joint Committee on Economic Cooperation, the formal mechanism both countries use to advance shared interests. The meetings with Czech businesses serve the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition’s core mandate: attract investment and diversify South African exports.

Additional reference context is available at https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/dtic-deputy-minister-undertakes-working-visit-czechia-poland-and-germany.

The two-way investment picture is already broad. Czech capital has moved into South African renewable energy, electronic components, boat building, textiles, communication, hospitality and services. South African companies, in turn, have built positions in Czechia across food and beverages, paper, printing and packaging, financial services, plastics, transportation and warehousing, and software and IT services. Steenhuisen’s engagements will push to expand that flow, with particular focus on drawing Czech investment into renewable energy, defence, critical mineral beneficiation, chemicals, advanced manufacturing, rail and electric vehicles. The visit will also advance discussions under the Southern African Development Community-European Union Economic Partnership Agreement and promote Clean Trade and Investment Partnership projects.

Poland is next, and it marks a genuine milestone. Steenhuisen will co-chair the inaugural session of the South Africa-Poland Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation alongside Polish Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Technology Michal Baranowski. A first formal joint commission signals that both governments see real potential in a relationship still finding its footing.

The numbers back that optimism. Trade between the two countries grew 7 percent, from US$1.5 billion in 2024 to US$1.6 billion in 2025, placing Poland as South Africa’s seventh-largest EU trading partner. Polish investment in South Africa remains modest relative to trade volumes, concentrated in electronic components, software and IT services, and consumer products. South African investors have entered Polish real estate, software and IT services, consumer electronics, transportation and warehousing, and business services. A South Africa-Poland Business Roundtable and industry site visits are planned, with the delegation targeting Polish investment in renewable energy, advanced manufacturing and automotive sectors, and exploring cooperation in green manufacturing, mineral processing, robotics, industrial automation, tooling, precision engineering, and research and development.

Germany closes the circuit, and the scale shifts sharply. South Africa’s third-largest trading partner globally (after China and the United States) and its largest within the EU, Germany recorded bilateral trade of US$16.5 billion in 2025, a 14 percent jump from US$14.3 billion in 2024. That figure alone explains why the German leg carries the most weight.

In Munich, Steenhuisen will meet Bavarian Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Tobias Gotthardt and sit down with major investors in South Africa, including BMW and Siemens. A site visit to UnternehmerTUM will offer a close look at how Germany structures its innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. The visit then moves to Frankfurt, where a roundtable with the Frankfurt Chamber of Commerce, industrial site visits and a stop at the South African National Pavilion at the Automechanika exhibition round out the schedule. The department has supported South African companies to display their products at Automechanika, making the pavilion a tangible showcase of what the trade push is meant to produce.

Germany’s role in South Africa’s industrial development runs deeper than trade statistics suggest. Existing partnerships between the department and the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action include the Global Eco Industrial Parks Partnership, which targets resource efficiency for energy and water projects in industrial parks and special economic zones, and the Partnering in Business with Germany programme, which delivers capacity building, mentorship and international exposure to small and medium enterprises.

Whether the inaugural Poland commission and the expanded German engagements translate into signed commitments, or whether they remain frameworks awaiting follow-through, will become clearer once Steenhuisen’s delegation returns in September.