Singapore firms inked deals for projects in Africa

The Lion City entered its 13th Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement with an African country, Gabon.

Five Singapore firms forged ties with African counterparts during the Africa Singapore Business Forum (ASBF) 2018 to boost the region’s digital economy and manufacturing, an announcement revealed.

During the event, Singapore and Africa also strengthened their growing bilateral economic ties through the signing of an Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) between Singapore and Gabon which is Singapore’s 13th DTA with an African country.

The Singapore Cooperation Enterprise and the Mozambique Investment and Export Promotion Agency signed a memorandum of understanding to head the exchange of consultancy, advisory and training services for master urban planning and Special Economic Zones and Industrial Zones.

In the area of construction, Singapore-based engineering firm Well & Able Holdings and Africa’s Compagnie Sénégalaise de Transport Transatlantique Afrique de l’Ouest (CSTT-AO) agreed to jointly design and build a 9,795 sq m multimodal logistics hub in Senegal.

Meanwhile, trader platform GeTS Asia and Kenya Trade Network Agency to launch the Open Trade Blockchain platform to step up efficiency, security, and transparency of trade-related processes.

To boost security, Analytics firm Graymatics Singapore and African ICT firm Crescentech Limited will jointly provide security and surveillance solutions in industries including banking, telecommunications and retail across Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria.

Moreover, the Singapore Manufacturing Federation and Egyptian Businessmen Association inked deal to bolster business matching between Singapore and Egyptian firms.

Enterprise Singapore noted that it has facilitated close to 50 projects for Singapore companies in Africa in the last two years wherein 80% of participants are small and medium enterprises (SMEs).