Washington, DC — Inland Seafood, the fourth largest U.S. seafood distributor, next week bites into South Africas world-famous snowy lobster tails. The Atlanta-based company is receiving its first shipment of the delicacy from Umoya Seafood, located near Cape Town.
South African lobster is known for its sweet and smooth meat, which tends to be whiter and more tender than other varieties. The lobsters thrive in the cold water and rocky shores of the countrys scenic and sparsely populated west coast.
Umoya Seafood, a black-owned small business, operates under the slogan, "Fishing for Change". The company belongs to a new generation of South African enterprises that have thrived since the end of apartheid 10 years ago.
Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) President Stephen Hayes pointed to the deal as another sign of how business is growing in South Africa following the countrys transformation of the 1990s. In April, South Africa will celebrate its 10th anniversary as a democracy.
"Umoya sees this as an opportunity to grow its export abilities and diversify its markets with different product offerings," said Chris Nissen, Umoyas CEO. Although the company never loses sight of the bottom line, it also invests in communities that derive their livelihood from fishing. Umoya sponsors childrens day care centers and a health clinic.
"The exceptional quality of South African lobster tails has been in high demand in the U.S. for 25 years. Now that opportunity can extended to black-owned enterprises", said Sas Mwine, president of Maryland-based Commerce Africa. Commerce Africa is Umoyas U.S. agent and importer and secured the deal with Inland Seafood.
CCAs Southern Africa International Business Linkages (SAIBL) program arranged for Umoyas first and subsequent meetings with Commerce Africa. ECIAfrica (www.eciafrica.com) is CCAs South Africa-based partner in the project. Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, SAIBL helps black-owned companies in South Africa find American business partners. Many of these companies are still finding their way in the business world as a result of apartheid-era discrimination.
CCA, established in 1993, is a nonpartisan 501 (c) (3) membership organization of over 190 U.S. companies dedicated to strengthening the commercial relationship between the U.S. and Africa. CCA members represent nearly 85 percent of total U.S. private sector investments in Africa. CCA's website is www.africacncl.org.
