International Business : Summit Seeks to Boost Africa’s Government, Business Ties : Trade: South Africa’s growing regional dominance is likely to be a topic of discussion.

Firmly positioned as the regional big brother, South Africa is hosting an international economic summit today aimed at strengthening contacts between governments and business.

The 1995 Southern Africa Economic Summit will include eight presidents or heads of government and 450 business figures representing 54 countries, most of them from Africa and Europe.

An issue likely to be discussed is South Africa’s growing regional dominance a year after it ended apartheid with all-race elections that brought Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress to power.

Mandela will deliver the opening address, and the first day includes the signing of an investment agreement between South Africa and the European Union.

In the 12 months since Mandela became president, South Africa has bolstered its economy by increasing exports to poor neighbors and using its well-maintained ports, rail lines and roads as conduits for regional trade.

Cheaper and better South African goods have flooded neighboring markets, putting local producers out of business. Trade and investment delegations regularly visit South Africa without seeing other countries.

“Many of our members coming here are mainly interested in South Africa,” said Klaus Schwab, chairman and founder of the Switzerland-based World Economic Forum, which is helping stage the summit.

Kaire Mbuende, executive secretary of the 11-nation Southern African Development Community, which includes South Africa, said South Africa had attracted great interest from potential partners and investors but little hard cash.

The visits from foreign delegations mean greater exposure for the region, and the goal of the summit is to promote regional ties with international investors, Mbuende said.

If South Africa got most of the foreign investment, he said, its economy would come under “tremendous pressure” from neighboring countries. Hundreds of thousands of people from Mozambique, Zimbabwe and other countries already are sneaking into South Africa each year to compete for jobs, he said.

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International Business

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