African countries offer many investment opportunities and also urgently need global investment finance. Along the value chains of the agro-industrial sector there are many global challenges for African countries to attract foreign direct investment. This article investigates the investment flows in agro-industries and products to and from South Africa. This study evaluates the nature and dimensions of the agro-industrial sector that receive investment inflows in South Africa, as well as investigating South African investment patterns into Africa.

For many years, the European Union has been an important market for agricultural products from Africa. However, African agricultural exporters have often found the European market difficult to access because of a raft of NTMs that add to exporters’ costs. The trouble with NTMs in the agricultural arena is that, while ostensibly used to uphold health and safety standards, they could have an underlying protectionist intent – which is very difficult to prove.