Almost 30 Irish companies are joining Enterprise Ireland today for a five-day trade mission to South Africa.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin flies to Johannesburg this evening to add his weight to the delegation.

IT and software firms are strongly represented in the group, including at least six companies specialising in mobile phone applications. They hope to exploit South Africa's status as a communications hub for the continent, as well as its burgeoning domestic mobile phone market.

Mr Martin, who will be visiting Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town, said Ireland saw the country "as a gateway to the rest of Africa".

"This is an opportunity to look more closely at the scope for developing greatly expanded commercial and trade links between our two countries and focus, in particular, on what can be identified as areas of significant future potential."

On Thursday, Mr Martin will meet South Africa's deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka to discuss trade and investment strategies, as well as plans by the deputy president to make an official visit to Ireland in November.

More than 100 Enterprise Ireland client companies are currently doing business in South Africa, with Irish sales in the market standing at over four billion South African rand (€428 million) last year.

Almost half the companies participating in the mission already have significant business interests in the country. According to Enterprise Ireland, some partnerships will be launched this week but "the main focus will be seeking local partners to expand operations in South Africa".

"The emphasis is on the IT and software sector - given that Ireland is one of the top three global exporters of software," the agency said, in a statement.