Our work, achievements and projects

Our greatest achievement is that dozens of built-environment companies are currently successfully exporting from South Africa to overseas markets. How did we do this? Since our inception, the Built Environment Professions Export Council (BEPEC) has been involved in numerous export promoting initiatives across southern Africa. We, for instance, are a key player in the founding of a multi‐stakeholder platform for effective public-private collaboration in terms of accessing project opportunities along the North‐South Development Corridor. BEPEC has also helped to establish various export groupings to fast-track private companies’ access opportunities in Africa. Finally, we have been instrumental in putting together the Business Facilitation Agency in Tete, Mozambique, and more recently, the Trade Invest Africa (TIA) initiative.

North-South Development Corridor involvement

BEPEC and the dti are in the process of establishing a multi‐stakeholder platform for effective public-private collaboration in terms of accessing project opportunities along the North‐South Development Corridor. This initiative will have its own resources and budget, and is especially important for exporters from the region.

The North-South Development Corridor forms part of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA). It encompasses Tanzania, the Republic of Congo, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa.

PIDA, initiated by the African Union, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), and the African Development Bank (AfDB), seeks to close Africa’s infrastructure gap in terms of transport, energy, transboundary water resources, as well as information and communications technology.

Export groupings

BEPEC has helped to create various export groupings to assist private companies access opportunities in Africa through participation. One of them is the SADC Export Grouping, which focuses on opportunities in the North-South Corridor. This corridor encompasses Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Tanzania and Mozambique.

Furthermore, there is the East Africa Export Grouping, which deals with opportunities the Central Development Corridor. This corridor includes Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.

The third notable export grouping is the Post Conflict Reconstruction Export Grouping, which tackles opportunities in the Lobito Corridor and the Bas-Congo Corridor. This grouping mainly involves Angola and the northern DRC.

Finally, we helped found the Arabian Gulf Export Grouping. This agency targets chances in Middle Eastern countries, particularly in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar.

Tete Business Facilitation Agency

Together with the dti and several engineering and technology export councils, BEPEC has helped to establish the Business Facilitation Agency in Tete, Mozambique. The initiative provides low-risk and low-cost access to project opportunities in growth nodes along the North‐South Development Corridor.

One of the reasons for BEPEC to specifically focus on Tete is the area’s high-grade coal reserves. These can generate up to 110 million tons of export coal per annum. This offers great opportunities for our country’s built environment sector. The Tete Business Facilitation Agency provides services and stage events to reduce the cost of and risk associated with accessing the many opportunities linked to these coal deposits.

The following export councils are involved in the Tete Business Facilitation Agency:

Finally, the Tete Business Facilitation Agency model will be replicated in other growth nodes along the North-South Corridor, Zambia’s copper belt and high-potential oil and gas regions in south-east Africa.

Trade Invest Africa (TIA)

The Trade Invest Africa (TIA) initiative is generally tasked with promoting BEPEC’s and the dti’s joint South Africa Inc vision through the facilitation of market and funding access to infrastructure projects in Africa. It does this by co-organising productive government-to-government negotiations on the requirements and standards for these projects.

TIA also seeks to implement projects focussed ad hoc Outward Selling Missions and the creation of a South African Export-Import Bank.

Other initiatives and projects

  • BEPEC has initiated and led missions to the African Development Bank in Tunis, the World Bank, and other funding institutions.
  • We are assisting various multi-disciplinary consulting engineering companies in entering Ghana. This resulted in relevant discussions prior to securing of appointments for professional services.
  • In addition, various BEPEC members participated in prestigious projects across Africa. These include the Tete Industrial Park (Mozambique), the Water & Wastewater Master Plan (Zimbabwe), and Nigeria’s Logistics Activity Precinct. Other were involved in Zambia’s Industrial & Logistics Park, various port and rail linkages (Mozambique), Uganda’s Masindi Airport, the development of 30,000 in Ghana, and finally the Musami Dam and Water Development project in Zimbabwe
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