Irish Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Charles Flanagan told media on Thursday that Ireland was well positioned to play a greater role in Africa, particularly in the aviation, pharmaceuticals and agricultural industries.

Flanagan was this week leading a high-level delegation, comprising representatives of 34 Irish companies, on a three-day mission to Johannesburg and Cape Town, the fourth trade mission to South Africa aimed at strengthening trade with the gateway African country.

Through the trade mission, Ireland, which four years ago announced its Africa Strategy, was reiterating its commitment to the continent. The strategy was a long-term plan encompassing bilateral trade growth, development initiatives and increased collaboration.

“I believe that there is a can-do attitude on the part of South African businesses… notwithstanding a downturn in economic growth, [there is] an enthusiasm from [South African] business to ensure that these figures will be reversed,” he remarked.

According to trade promotion agency Enterprise Ireland, Ireland’s exports to South Africa currently exceeded R15-billion, with yearly growth of around 20%, while over 200 Irish businesses were already active in South Africa.

“Africa and, specifically, key growth hubs, such as South Africa, Nairobi and Kenya, are strategically important markets for Ireland, which has emerged as a world leader in several high-technology industry sectors and enables businesses to deliver to African markets the advanced services and products the continent needs to accelerate its growth into a knowledge economy,” Flanagan commented.

Spearheading Ireland’s trade development initiatives on the continent, Enterprise Ireland established an office in Johannesburg in 2013, followed by an office in Lagos, Nigeria, and was now also looking to expand its presence into Nairobi.

The agency, which organised the current South Africa trade mission, would also head a trade mission to Nigeria later this year.

It outlined that Ireland was one of the fastest growing economies in the world and the fastest in Europe, boasting exports of R2.6-trillion to 150 countries.

It was also the world’s largest exporter of pharmaceuticals and the second largest exporter of software, boasting well-developed food, manufacturing, engineering, cleaning technology, construction, life sciences, healthcare, education and e-learning, financial services, telecommunications, print, paper and packaging sectors.