The newly-completed African Union building in downtown Addis Ababa. Ethiopia may be one of Africa’s poorest countries but its economy is expected to grow at a rate of seven percent for 2012/13, according to the International Monetary Fund. Credit: Mekonnen Teshome/IPS

By John Fraser
JOHANNESBURG, Mar 11 2013 (IPS)

There is growing resentment in Africa about the way in which South Africa professes to speak for the rest of the continent in its role as a member of key developing nation blocs, researchers and experts have warned.

South Africa is a member of the India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) developing nations grouping, as well as the fledgling Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) club.

But international relations and trade consultant John Maré told IPS that South Africa might be walking “a political tightrope.”

“I think many African leaders, political and business, are resentful of South Africa having too great a role in the leadership of Africa,” he said.

While he added that there may be an increased pragmatism that accepted the strengths which South Africa has in many fields, it could soon become tiresome.

“The pragmatism may wear thin if South Africa overplays its hand, especially in such contexts as BRICS where other African countries do not enjoy parallel forms of special relationships,” he said. He added that other African countries did, however, have special relationships with the European Union, even though South Africa had originally been chosen as a special strategic partner with the bloc.

“The manner in which South Africa acts in the BRICS context becomes especially relevant and, given perceptions (outside Africa) that Africa wants South Africa to be its leader, it will not go down well – although voiced disapproval may be slow to emerge and will do so in a varied pattern,” he said.

He added that the growth of regional economies in Africa also helped undermine South Africa’s right to be the key gateway for the continent.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) predicted that despite the global economic slowdown, sub-Saharan Africa is expected to see economic growth of 6.6 percent in 2013. According to the World Bank’s “Africa’s Pulse” report, released in October 2012, “new discoveries of oil, gas, and other minerals in African countries will generate a wave of significant mineral wealth in the region.” In addition, Ethiopia may be one of Africa’s poorest countries but its economy is expected to grow at a rate of seven percent for 2012/13, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Memory Dube, a researcher at the South African Institute for International Affairs, an NGO that focuses on South Africa’s and Africa’s international affairs, suggested that South Africa needed to consult more to strengthen its credentials to speak on behalf of Africa.

“What South Africa needs to embark upon is a proper consultation process, particularly with the other key states such as Nigeria, Algeria, Kenya, Egypt and Ethiopia,” she told IPS.

“The BRICS leaders are going to engage with African institutions such as the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, the African Union (AU) and the AfDB as well as regional economic communities,” she said, adding that it would be a good move, especially if African priorities, as defined by South Africa, are drawn from a continental dialogue.

“However, bilateral relations still remain key and engagements with institutions should be complementary to these bilateral relations with other key African champions,” she said.

But South African Minister of Foreign Affairs Maite Nkoana-Mashabane dismissed suggestions that the country was not properly consulting its African neighbours.

“I sit in meetings where I know we truly and faithfully engage with all the independent countries on the continent,” she told IPS.

“They all have individual policy perspectives, but we all belong to the AU, and take decisions together. We have friendly and cordial relations with them and take none for granted,” she said adding that South Africa was an integral part of the continent.

“What we wish for South Africa, we wish for all the countries in the continent. We champion Africa’s cause, as Africa took the struggle for South Africa (against apartheid) as their cause.”

Nkoana-Mashabane was unrepentant about South Africa’s links with its BRICS and IBSA partners and gave her firm support to the developing nation economic blocs.

“We also champion South-South cooperation, and this is what our forefathers envisioned,” she explained. “Because of our history, we don’t ignore our historic links with countries of the north either.”

The minister suggested that there would be benefits for all from the BRICS summit, which will be hosted in Durban, South Africa from Mar. 26 to 27. She said that ahead of the summit, for the first time “BRICS leaders will be meeting in a retreat with about 20 heads of state of Africa.”

“The BRICS member states know investing in Africa is not charity – there is no better place to be but in Africa,” she emphasised. “They know they will get good returns for their investments, and on their own they have chosen Africa as a partner.”

Nkoana-Mashabane added that South Africa would call for investment in Africa’s infrastructure at the summit.

Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation has praised the Chinese for their decisive role in gaining South Africa membership to the BRICS club. Credit: John Fraser/IPS

By John Fraser
JOHANNESBURG , Feb 15 2013 (IPS)

African nations and other emerging countries are expected to soon outperform the developed world, and South Africa wants to take advantage.

South Africa is planning to improve business dynamics within the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) club of emerging national economies, and also with other African nations, at the BRICS’ first African summit in Durban next month.

“Emerging and developing economies are already playing an important role in the global economy,” the chief executive officer of South Africa’s First National Bank (FNB), Michael Jordaan, told IPS.

“The Chinese economy is already the second largest in the world, with a nominal GDP above seven trillion dollars, (and) growing at between seven and eight percent,” he said. “There are also several emerging market economies that have GDP levels above one trillion dollars, including Brazil, Russia, India and Mexico.”

He added, “The outlook for advanced economies, in contrast, is mediocre, given that they are largely encumbered by high debt burdens.”

Jordaan said that there are opportunities at the summit for promoting some of the innovative banking products that South Africa has developed.

“For example, mobile cash and banking facilities, such as cell phone banking, have great potential in Africa and other developing countries – as this technology is most applicable in emerging markets,” he explained.

Preliminary meetings

Preparations for the summit are accelerating: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov travelled to Pretoria earlier this week and met with Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation.

The two agreed that there are a number of important global issues in which the BRICS should co-operate, such as pushing for reforms in the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and other global institutions.

Their Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, is slated to make a pre-summit trip to South Africa next week.

Nkoana-Mashabane has praised the Chinese for their decisive role in gaining South Africa membership to the BRICS club.

“I do believe that China’s key role in securing South Africa’s membership of the BRICS was the correct initiative to create a nexus between Africa and the BRICS,” she said.

“South Africa is deeply grateful for the role that China has played in this regard,” she added.

Taking Care of Business

When they attend the Durban summit, each of the BRICS leaders will be accompanied by a sizeable business delegation – and a lot of work is taking place behind the scenes to ensure that there will be productive business dialogues.

A big challenge for South African President Jacob Zuma and the other leaders will be to make it easier for business leaders, like Jordaan, to further shift their focus toward working with emerging nations.

Trade ministers from the five-nation club will hold a special joint session with business delegations from the member nations on the eve of the summit, and a permanent BRICS Business Council is due to launch after the summit.

“This business council will be a more permanent mechanism for business interaction,” Xavier Carim, deputy director general at the South African Department of Trade and Industry, told IPS.

But there has been concern in South Africa that many members of business delegations, who have in the past accompanied Zuma to BRICS gatherings, have been chosen because they are his close supporters, and not necessarily because their presence would help forge new business links.

Beijing-based South African business consultant and CEO of the Beijing Axis, Kobus van der Wath, has been part of the business delegations at two BRICS summits. However, he is not convinced that there has been enough value for the business delegates.

Business events staged on the fringes of past BRICS summits have not always been well prepared.

“I hope we can organise it well, to allow proper networking with a digital database of who is there, and then it could be very worthwhile,” he told IPS.

Jordaan said his bank and its parent Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) are already involved in India and China, but South Africa’s membership to the BRICS may help to strengthen these links. He welcomed efforts to give the BRICS a business backbone.

“We do believe that South Africa’s membership is important and will benefit our growing operations in these countries,” he said. “We support our government’s initiatives to create new avenues for growth via BRICS-related partnerships.”

However, Jordaan emphasised that while the BRICS relationship is important, Africa will remain his main external growth priority.

“We are strongly focused on growth opportunities across Africa as a primary strategy for the expansion of our banking services,” he stated.

Van der Wath suggested that China’s activities in Africa would be happening anyway – with or without the BRICS.

“China has certain objectives in global markets in terms of investment, trade and alliances – and the investments I have seen so far in Africa are not BRICS-related,” Van der Wath said.

“However, BRICS is helpful in networking, in government-to-government linkages,” he added.

According to experts, the Durban summit will be judged on its success in strengthening ties between the BRICS club and Africa.

However, the politicians will not be able to fully capitalise on these closer political ties unless they can also add a practical dimension to the relationship, by bringing BRICS business on board – something the South African hosts are working hard to achieve.