NAIROBI, Kenya – As Singapore companies look to enter new markets, they should pay attention to Africa, which holds many business opportunities, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday.
While it is a big and complex continent that is not without risks, there is also a lot of vibrancy, goodwill and the desire to develop relationships with Singapore, PM Lee said at the end of his six-day visit to South Africa and Kenya.
Amid the current difficult global environment, which calls for Singapore firms to adapt, transform and explore new markets, PM Lee urged businesses to look further afield while strengthening their existing ventures.
“We know Asia, China, India; we have the developed economies – these have been our markets ever since we started industrialising,” he said at a media wrap-up.
“But while we develop these established places, we need to go and break new ground. And Africa is one of the continents which we have to pay attention to.”
PM Lee noted that the continent is young and dynamic, and that ventures can succeed if companies do the work to understand which countries have relatively stable societies and political systems and are a good fit for investment.
His remarks come after he recently urged Singaporeans to have a go-getting spirit of self-reliance and enterprise to create prosperity for the country in a troubled world.
At the debate on the President’s Address in April, he said the Republic’s survival depends on being able to do business with and deliver value to others. Singapore therefore needs to double down on staying open and connected, while being willing to take risks and innovate.
He said on Thursday: “There are countries (in Africa) with a lot of problems, there are other countries where there’s promise. And there are countries which are complex, but there are opportunities within them if you know whom to partner, and what areas to go into.
“In South Africa and in Kenya, there are such opportunities, which we should take advantage of.”
On Tuesday, while he was in South Africa, PM Lee noted that there were Singapore firms that had found their niches in these countries and had grown and prospered.
“We would like more Singapore companies to come and explore and get to know the terrain,” he said. “Even if you don’t move straight away, be aware of what is possible here, so that we do not allow good opportunities to pass us by because we haven’t been paying attention,” he added.
With this latest trip, PM Lee has visited three African countries within a year. In June 2022, he was in Rwanda to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, and for an official bilateral visit.
PM Lee said he had wanted to visit South Africa and Kenya during that trip, but could not find an appropriate date. He decided to return, with a business delegation, in the hope that their visit could lead to new tie-ups.
On its part, the Government will continue to nudge relations with various African countries in the right direction to ease conditions for local businesses to enter these markets, he said.
For instance, PM Lee and Kenyan President William Ruto announced after they met on Thursday that a bilateral investment treaty between the two countries has now come into force, while officials from both sides will work to settle an avoidance of double taxation agreement as soon as possible.
Both agreements were signed in 2018 during a visit by then Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
“We have similarly negotiated (agreements) with several other African countries, which also have not yet been brought into effect, and we will push with them also,” said PM Lee.
“The key thing is that there is goodwill on both sides between the governments, so there are positive atmospherics within which the companies can pursue their private-sector projects.”
