IBSA - South Africa

Emerging Markets Hit Economic Stage Like a Tonne of BRICS

Headlines this week have been saturated with protests against unaffordable food, unfair taxes and unsustainable austerity measures, with one distinct difference setting these stories apart from countless others in recent history.

IBSA: ‘Cash Grants Must Back Food Access’

Studies by the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Academic Forum on food security issues in the three countries suggest that providing food access works best when backed by cash transfers.

POLITICS: IBSA Opposes Measures Against Syria

Members of the emerging economy grouping known as IBSA - India, Brazil and South Africa - have joined China and Russia in opposing measures against Syria.

SOUTH AFRICA: Mutually Beneficial Trade With India a Key Objective

South African companies are being urged to use the leverage of its government’s strong political relationship with India to develop new business and investment opportunities.

Africa Becoming More Attractive to Indian and Other Investors

A reduction in red tape and an improvement in political conditions means that sub-Saharan Africa is becoming a more attractive destination for foreign direct investment, especially from India.

Outgoing IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is accused of sexually assaulting a maid in a New York hotel. Credit: UN Photo/Rick Bajornas

Europe Holds Tight to IMF Monopoly

Since the election of Camille Gutt of Belgium as the first managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) back in 1946, the Europeans have continued to claim that job as their political and intellectual birthright.

Demba Moussa Dembele, chairperson of LDC Watch, speaks to IPS. Credit: Sanjay Suri/IPS

DEVELOPMENT: South-South Axis Strengthens

The glass isn’t exactly half-full, but it certainly is not entirely empty either. Within the broad failure of the weeklong Fourth U.N. Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-IV) in Istanbul that concluded Friday, many delegates are taking heart in a strengthening South-South front that has emerged.

Ambassador Josephine Ojiambo of Kenya, President of the U.N. General Assembly High-Level Committee on South-South Cooperation. Credit: Courtesy of GSSD Expo

Q&A: Translating Southern Successes Into LDC Solutions

"In South-South cooperation we are all partners," Josephine Ojiambo, ambassador of Kenya to the U.N. and president of the U.N. General Assembly High-Level Committee on South-South Cooperation, told IPS. "SSC specifically shies away from the donor-client relationship."

Emerging Markets Clash with Anachronistic Institutions

The first weeks of April have witnessed a maelstrom of multilateralism – from the chambers of the annual Spring Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) here to the round tables of the BRICS summit in the resort island of the Hainan province in China – leaving in its wake a tome of unanswered questions regarding the contours and configurations of the new world order.

G24 Says Rich Nations’ Policies Hurting Developing World

Finance ministers of the G24 group of developing and emerging countries met on the sidelines the World Bank and International Monetary Fund spring meetings here on Thursday, warning against continued risks to their economies, despite largely "strong" growth as the world climbs out of the global financial crisis.

DEVELOPMENT: BRICS to Promote More Inclusive Global Partnership

At the upcoming Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) summit, to be held on the tropical Chinese island of Hainan Apr. 14, discussion will focus not only on deepening economic ties among members, but will also likely touch on global political events, including the crisis in the Middle East and North Africa. But China insists the club has no political agenda.

El Hadji Diouf: South Africa will try to trump its IBSA partners when it comes to market access in Africa. Credit: Isolda Agazzi/IPS

IBSA States Do Not Always Have Common Positions on Trade Issues

"IBSA what?" is the question you most often get in Geneva when enquiring about the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) dialogue forum, established in 2003 between these three multicultural democracies and emerging markets "to contribute to the construction of a new international architecture".

Swaziland's health minister Benedict Xaba receiving donated medical supplies from UNICEF. Swaziland gets limited help of this nature. Credit: Mantoe Phakathi/IPS

Swaziland’s Middle-Income Status Reflects Only King’s Lifestyle

While Swaziland struggles to alleviate its fiscal crisis with foreign aid because of its World Bank classification as a lower middle-income country, the government has increased the budget for King Mswati III, Africa’s last remaining absolute monarch and one of the richest royals in the world.

Swaziland's autocratic King Mswati III, photographed at SACU's centenary in Windhoek in 2010, has come under attack for being a spendthrift. Credit: Servaas van den Bosch/IPS

TRADE: Southern African Rulers Eyeing the Money, Not Development

A new revenue sharing formula in the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) could boost development but has met with resistance from the governments of poorer states in the sub-region that are interested in "just getting the money".

SOUTH AFRICA: Who Says Research Can’t Be Dramatic?

In the early 1990s, a group of researchers set off for a small rural village in the eastern part of South Africa. Their intention was simple: teach the community how to rehydrate sick babies.

Developmental challenges keep Southern African markets small, which impinges on the region's ability to benefit from IBSA. Credit: Servaas van den Bosch/IPS

Questions Abound Over Whether IBSA and BRICS Can be Complementary

The IBSA Dialogue Forum, a South-South alliance of India, Brazil and South Africa, could be better suited to the needs of Southern Africa for South-South cooperation than the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) loose alliance of emerging economies. But Southern Africa will have to beef up its markets to truly benefit.

SOUTH AFRICA: Convention To Secure Decent Work for Domestic Workers

Despite formal recognition of domestic workers' rights in South Africa, they still face a struggle for fair treatment.

Designer Carla Botosso (l) looks on as Angela Machuza weaves carpets in Xai-Xai, Mozambique. Credit: Johannes Myburgh/IPS

TRADE: Chic Carpets Link Mozambique, Denmark and, Soon, Brazil

In two rooms in a small Mozambican coastal town, 70 women are cutting, weaving and packaging fabric carpets destined for eclectic design and homeware stores in Denmark and, soon, Brazil and South Africa.

SADC trade ministers lining up for a photo opportunity after the Mar 4, 2011 meeting. Namibian trade minister Hage Geingob is pointing to the ground. Credit: Servaas van den Bosch/IPS

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Non-Tariff Trade Barriers Springing Up

Despite regional initiatives that even include the eventual possibility of a ‘‘Cape- to-Cairo’’ free trade area, protectionist impulses have caused non-tariff barriers to spring up across Southern Africa.

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