South Africa eyes trade growth in Middle East as farm exports reach US$1.3B

SOUTH AFRICA – A South African agricultural delegation has toured Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates to expand trade ties, with the region already importing about US$1.3 billion of South African agricultural products in 2025, according to Agbiz.

The delegation, led by Kwena Komape, the Agriculture Department’s deputy director-general for Economic Development, Trade and Marketing, visited the three countries from 27 to 30 September on behalf of Deputy Agriculture Minister Nokuzola Capa.

The Middle East accounted for 8% of South Africa’s record US$15.1 billion in agricultural exports in 2025, with the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan and Qatar as the main regional markets.

South Africa accounts for only about 1% of Saudi Arabia’s agricultural imports and 2% of the UAE’s, according to Agbiz. This suggests the region is both an established destination and one where South African exporters have substantial headroom, a rare combination that explains why the department is pursuing formal agreements rather than leaving growth to individual traders.

Moreover, the citrus industry highlights the region’s strategic value. Middle Eastern countries imported nearly US$311 million of South African citrus in 2024, equivalent to 17.2% of the industry’s export revenue, according to Trade Map data.

That concentration matters for growers in the Western and Northern Cape, where export programmes are built on multi-year supply relationships. Losing or diluting that access would carry costs across the value chain.

Meanwhile, trade has remained resilient despite geopolitical disruption. South Africa’s agricultural exports to Middle Eastern countries totalled about US$332 million in the second quarter of 2026, up 1% year on year, according to Agbiz chief economist Wandile Sihlobo.

However, the practical barriers to deeper trade are regulatory, not commercial. Therefore, discussions continue on memoranda of understanding with Oman and the UAE, with further exchanges planned on disease-control requirements.

Resolving phytosanitary protocols is typically the slowest part of any market-access negotiation, and progress there will determine whether market share figures move meaningfully over the next three to five years.

For operators, the follow-up measures identified by the mission, business-to-business meetings, expressions of commercial interest and further trade missions are how diplomatic engagement translates into contracts.

Finally, a 1% share in Saudi Arabia leaves room for growth without displacing established competitors in Europe or Asia.

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