SACE participates in the mission of the Ministry of Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa touching Mozambique and Ethiopia. The government mission, the second in sub-Saharan Africa in the last month, confirms the attractiveness of the region for Italian companies, particularly in the agro-industry, infrastructure and energy sectors.
The portfolio of Italian export operations and investments insured by SACE in the region exceeds 600 million euros, up 77% from a year ago. And, although better positioned in these markets than other European countries, such as Germany, Italy suffers in this area from the high competitiveness of China, USA, Brazil, but also of France and Portugal. Mozambique and Ethiopia offer important opportunities for companies of all sizes in a wide range of sectors. While the sectors of instrumental mechanics (with exports up by 17% compared to 2012), means of transport (+27%) and metals (+12%) are well controlled, the Italian presence is still small in those sectors with a high demand intensity from the two African countries. In Ethiopia, imports of foodstuffs grow at an average annual rate of more than 20% and those relating to the rubber and plastic sector even more (+34%); in Mozambique, imports of electronic products and medical equipment doubles every two years.
It is in this direction that theSACE's commitment to increase the penetration capacity of Italian companies, especially SMEs, helping them to intercept new growth directions yet to be explored. In this regard, see the Frontier Markets program.
