Saudi Arabia to start SA meat imports as ban ends

Saudi Arabia will start importing South African beef and lamb products as part of an investment push into the continent’s most developed economy.

The kingdom’s Food and Drug Administration lifted a 20-year prohibition on South African meat imports in August, and final approvals to start shipments of halaal cuts to the Middle Eastern nation are now in place, said Matthew Karan, part-owner of Karan Beef, one of South Africa’s biggest meat producers, at a South Africa-Saudi Arabia Business Council briefing.

Saudi Arabia has a $2 billion (about R38 billion) meat market and lifting the ban – which Riyadh imposed after an outbreak of foot and mouth disease two decades ago – is part of its efforts to forge stronger trade and investment ties as it seeks to diversify its $1.1 trillion economy away from oil.

Brics push

Saudi Arabia is among the countries invited to join Brazil, Russia, India, China and SA in the Brics bloc. Its membership in the body, expected to have been formalised on 1 January 2024, is not yet a done deal, with Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Al Ibrahim saying last week that the oil-rich country is still evaluating the invitation.

Pharmaceuticals and technology are other areas of potential cooperation between the two nations with Durban-based Aspen

Pharmacare set to work with Saudi companies on endocrine and anaesthetic products, said Stavros Nicolaou, Aspen’s senior executive for strategic trade and co-chair of the two nations’ business council.

Saudia Airlines, the Middle Eastern nation’s flag carrier, resumed direct flights to Johannesburg in December after a threeand-a-half-year hiatus. The two nations are also in the process of making it easier for Saudis to obtain visas to SA. –