South African business leaders call for investment in Africa in Washington
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on SABC News
Standard Bank and the US Chamber of Commerce are hosting a business summit in Washington on the cost of financing African projects. According to SABC News, Standard Bank CEO Sim Tshabalala is taking part in a panel on the gap between perceived and actual risk, as Washington plans to end South Africa’s preferential access on 1 January 2027.
South African business leaders are calling for greater investment in Africa at the B20 USA 2026 summit, the G20 business forum held in Washington. Standard Bank and the Africa Business Centre of the US Chamber of Commerce are co-hosting discussions on reducing the cost of borrowing and financing projects across the continent, even as Pretoria remains excluded from official G20 meetings hosted by the United States.
A panel brings together Sim Tshabalala, Chief Executive of the Standard Bank banking group, to examine why perceptions of risk can make financing African projects more expensive, owing to the gap between perceived and actual risk. The US Chamber of Commerce says a new council is intended to attract more investment to African projects, including those from African communities established in the United States.
The initiative comes as Washington plans to end South Africa’s preferential access to the US market on 1 January 2027, a scheme known as AGOA. Our article on the US decision to exclude Pretoria from AGOA details this issue.
