Israeli exports to Africa rise as exports to China fall
Due to Africa's rapid economic growth and China's economic stagnation and decline, a quarter of Israeli exporters believe that Africa is the market where they can expand the most effectively; top countries Israel is exporting to: Zambia, Kenya, and Ethiopia.
Israel has been exporting more to Africa as the continent experiences significant economic growth and as the Chinese economy begins to weaken.
The Israel Foreign Trade Risks Insurance Corporation (ASHRA) has approved 28 deals to be covered by the insurance corporation. The deals amount to approximately $1.05 billion dollars. Fiscal year 2015 only saw 17 deals approved, amounting to $623 million.
The number of Israeli trade deals with African nations which were followed through on in 2015 was four, and amounted to $312 million.
PM Netanyahu meets with the leaders of seven African nations (Photo: Kobi Gideon)
However, a recent Ashra survey showed that approximately a quarter of all Israeli exporters believe that the African market is the most attractive market to expand operations in.
The head of Ashra, Tzahi Malach, said that “we are expecting to see a significant increase in Israeli exports to Africa. The main countries we expect to see exporters shipping to are Zambia, Kenya, and Ethiopia.”
Meanwhile, there has been a notable decrease in the amount of exports to China. Only 15 new contracts were approved over the past year, compared to 33 the year before. The financial scope of the deals were also lower – approximately $190 million in 2015 compared to $438.5 million the year before.
Malachi noted that the majority of exports to China were agricultural or infrastructure related. However, “over the past year, there was a significant rise in security exports, with 22 requests receiving approval for insurance coverage. This constitutes an 83 percent rise compared to the previous year.”
Amongst the security companies who received insurance approvals for export to China were Elbit, Rafael, Israel Aerospace Industries, Elta, and Aeronautics Ltd.
