On 9 November 2026, Stratburg welcomed an executive delegation from Wits Business School, the business school of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Thirteen MBA participants and faculty joined our Managing Partner Marco Förster for a guest lecture on Vietnam’s economy and its growing ties with Africa. The delegation was led by Dr Jenika Gobind, MBA Programme Director at Wits Business School.
One of Africa’s leading business schools
Founded in 1968, Wits Business School is accredited by the Association of MBAs (AMBA) and the Association of African Business Schools (AABS). It is consistently ranked among the strongest business schools on the continent, placing 77th worldwide in the QS Master’s in Management ranking and in the 141–150 band of the QS Global MBA ranking for 2025.
Vietnam and Africa: small numbers, fast movement
Africa still accounts for only around 1% of Vietnam’s trade, with two-way trade of about USD 9.5 billion in 2025, against USD 920 billion for Vietnam overall. Yet Vietnamese firms are already on the ground. Viettel runs mobile networks in Mozambique, Tanzania, Burundi and Cameroon, Petrovietnam operates in Algeria, and around 80% of Côte d’Ivoire’s raw cashews are processed in Vietnam.
South Africa: Vietnam’s largest African export market
South Africa is Vietnam’s largest export market in Africa. Two-way trade reached USD 1.3 billion in 2025 and rose 45% in the first seven months of 2026 to USD 1.7 billion, already above the full-year 2025 total. After President Cyril Ramaphosa’s state visit to Vietnam in October 2025, the two countries elevated relations to a Strategic Partnership in November 2025 and set a trade target of USD 4 to 5 billion.
The discussion focused on where the next growth will come from: telecoms and South Africa’s 5G rollout, chemicals, aviation and logistics, with a direct flight under discussion, and trade finance. The missing piece is investment. As President Ramaphosa noted during his visit, there is as yet no Vietnamese investment in South Africa.
A corridor worth building
Hosting a South African executive delegation is a welcome sign of how quickly ties between Vietnam and South Africa are growing. Visits like this build the understanding and relationships that trade and investment depend on. We thank Dr Jenika Gobind and Wits Business School for the visit.
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