Winde bolsters US trade ties with special talks for safeguarding Cape trade

Alan Winde, premier of South Africa’s Western Cape, has returned from a 10-day visit to the United States, aiming to strengthen economic ties with a vital trade partner amid strained national-level relations.

Leading a delegation that included Western Cape Government officials and Wesgro representatives, Winde held high-level talks in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and New York to safeguard investment and promote growth in the province. In Washington, discussions with the US State Department, Foreign Affairs Committee, American Chamber of Commerce, and World Bank underscored the province’s robust ties with the US, its second-largest export market.

Western Cape exports to the US reached R18.32 billion in 2024, up 2.66% from the prior year, with the province accounting for over half of South Africa’s agricultural and agri-processing exports to the US. Investment from the US has also been significant, with R29 billion in capital expenditure across 62 projects from 2015 to 2024, spanning tech, food, and pharmaceuticals.

In Atlanta, Winde met Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and local business leaders, reinforcing a 2014 bilateral agreement focused on agriculture, tourism, and renewable energy. Georgia will send a delegation to the Western Cape’s Regional Leaders Summit in November. Tourism, a key growth sector, saw 163,303 US visitors to the province in 2024, up 16.45% year-on-year. Delta Air Lines’ decision to increase direct flights to Cape Town from three to five per week by late October was hailed by Winde as a boost for jobs and trade.

In New York, Winde engaged in Climate Week NYC, sharing lessons from Cape Town’s “Day Zero” drought crisis and joining the Subnational Methane Action Coalition to curb landfill emissions. As co-chair of the Under2 Coalition, he highlighted the province’s renewable energy push, targeting 5,700MW by 2032—potentially enabling energy exports to other provinces.

With South Africa-US trade talks faltering, Winde’s visit underscores the Western Cape’s pragmatic approach to securing its economic future. “Growing trade, tourism, and investment is how we create jobs,” he said. The province’s proactive diplomacy may prove a model for subnational resilience in turbulent times.