Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies, who is attending Monday’s Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) forum in Washington DC, made the most of an opportunity at a business breakfast on Sunday to encourage an investment by South African-born entrepreneur Elon Musk in the country of his birth.
The DTI said Davies, who was meeting with investors at the breakfast, had urged Musk’s company, Tesla, to work with his department to explore the possibility of setting up the manufacturing of products in South Africa.
The statement added that Tesla, a groundbreaking manufacturer of electric cars and batteries, had expressed an interest in investing in South Africa.
Minister Davies had confirmed that South Africa’s auto programme already had additional incentives in place for electric vehicles.
The 15th Agoa forum, which takes place on Monday, is entitled: Maximising US-Africa Trade and Investment: Agoa and Beyond.
Agoa is a unilateral US trade preference programme that provides duty-free, quota-free treatment for more than 6 400 tariff lines into the US market.
President Barrack Obama signed into law the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015 that contained the Agoa Extension and Enhancement Act extending the programme for 10 years.