Agbiz Congress facilitates important discussions on a range of topics

At this year’s congress, talking points ranged from the agriculture sector's significant contribution to South Africa’s economy, to the rise of protectionism.

- Magda du Toit

Opening the 2024 Agbiz Congress held recently at Sun City, Dr Langa Simela, business development manager at Absa AgriBusiness and outgoing Agbiz vice-chairperson, said the agriculture sector was privileged to have an institution such as Agbiz with such a long history and culture of effective lobbying and advocacy and fostering an environment conducive to our agricultural businesses’ prosperity.

“Equally, we are fortunate to operate in a political environment that allows us to perform our functions unhindered,” she pointed out.

She added that Agbiz had successfully influenced policies related to widening export markets, land reform, strengthening property rights, labour, development funding and other economic areas. “These successes were achieved in collaboration with bodies such as Business Unity South Africa, Nedlac, the Presidential Economic Advisory Council, the BRICS Business Council, Business and Arts South Africa, and the CEO Forum at the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, among others. Without the collective voice of the private sector, we would not be where we are today.”

Francois Strydom, group CEO of Senwes and outgoing Agbiz chairperson, reminded everyone that South Africa was at an important juncture in its history.

“We are moving through a period of change at a rapid pace. We are fortunate that we have a history of dealing with change. We have experience. We know what works and what needs to be done to make things work. Similarly, we also know what does not work,” he said.

With a diversity of industries and focus areas represented at the congress, Strydom pointed out that the purpose of the congress discussions was to examine the important economic indicators driving the agriculture and broader economic sectors in the country while operating on a global scale.