African Jobs at Risk on End to US Trade Pact, FirstRand CEO Says

The expiry of a trade pact that gave African countries preferential access to the US market will hurt companies and result in job losses on the continent, according to FirstRand Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Mary Vilakazi.

Businesses in South Africa aren’t betting on an extension to the African Growth and Opportunity Act and are already making plans to identify other markets for their exports to minimize the fallout, the banker said at Bloomberg’s Women, Money & Power conference in London on Wednesday.

“There’s no doubt that it’s going to have an impact on jobs, it’s going to have an ...