International trade represent a huge part of South Africa’s economy, taking up 59.4% of the countries GDP. While the main exports like platinum (8.4%), coal, fossil fuels (6.6%), motor vehicles (6.6%) gold (5.8%) and iron (4.6%) , South Africa is ranked the chief partners in the United States, India, Germany, the UK and Saudi Aradia. Including the manufactured products, the country has opted to move their commodity-based products to be more diverse and expanding. Their exports have been transferred to the European Union for enlarge their export profile. The world’s largest free trade in the region is South Africa. The African Union introduced the operational phase of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) making a monopoly market for good and services throughout 54 countries. (Society Generale, 2020)
The South African market has a high demand in local textile and clothing industry. It has grown to offer many services. After the liberation of South Africa in 1994, the United States has spent over one million dollars converting the textile market of clothing and footwear to make them completely international. South African has successfully grown and processed natural fibers like flax and hemp to make environmentally friendly automobile body parts. Since 2008, the Southern African Development Community has created a free trade agreement. (Textile Industry of SA, 2020)
