South Africa as a member of BRICS must utilise its role in the organization to have an equal footing with the United States to strike a fair free-trade agreement. This was according to BRICS Business Council member Stavros Nicolaou who said in statement. South Africa stands at the Geographic Cross Roads of the world. According to former politician and Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane there is cohesion in BRICS on matters that share a common concern among members. One of South Africa’s chief foreign policy objectives is to work together with developing countries towards a balanced and equitable world. To achieve this objective Pretoria has worked with and through a variety of strategic channels, key among which are our own regional organizations such as SADC and the African Union.
New multilateral organizations are having their role to play in shaping the world.
One such multilateral organisation is the bloc of emerging economies under the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) banner.
Last week we joined our BRICS partners at the fourth summit in New Delhi, India, as part of our continuous efforts to harness the potential of emerging economies not only towards better trade and political cooperation, but also towards a more equitable world.
The strategic role of these emerging economies cannot be overstated. The five BRICS countries, for example, represent 43% of the world’s population.
Also not to be overstated is the strategic role of African representation in blocs such as BRICS. For a variety of historical reasons, Africa has for many years been on the periphery of key decision-making bodies in the world of multilateralism.
In latter years, however, that is beginning to change — rapidly.
Africa could emerge to play a wider role in recent years on the global stage. South Africa is at the forefront of that emergence. The current tiff with Washington provides a new opportunity for President Cyril Ramaphosa and the Government of National Unity (GNU) adapt to changing circumstances. South Africa is the gateway to the economic opportunities of Africa. The US is dependent on the continent’s mineral wealth to fuel its new economic ambitions under Trump. South Africa is the middle power in Africa’s southern region that can connect both the US and even its BRICS partners as well as Europe with that wealth in mineral resources. South Africa needs to use its position of influence in SADC, BRICS, the AU to strike a bargain to its advantage. This includes creating a new trade deal with the US as proposed by Nicolauo.
“If Agoa is hanging by a thread, the logical thing to do here is to conclude a completely new trade deal,” Nicolaou said. “It could be just a trade deal; it could be a broader economic partnership agreement.” He underscored the interdependence of the $29.4bn two-way trade relationship, explaining, “We do need to try and work our way towards a new trade deal with the United States. The reality is that at a trade level, both countries need each other – we need the US as a market for our products, and they in return need us for critical minerals and certain critical medicines like oncology products – radioisotopes, such as molybdenum that the US imports from South Africa, amongst other goods”, he said.
The Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) was an American legislation that gave African nations particularly South Africa exclusive access to the US market due to Customs duty free exports. Trump his aids and advisors cannot manufacture the goods they want in their new factories without the raw minerals produced in Africa. The US needs access to those raw minerals and the countries that produced them through South Africa. Ramaphosa must take this opportunity seriously if he wants South Africa to assert itself as a leading nation in Africa, the southern African region as well as globally. The US and Trump can’t manage their economy with critical mineral, products and medicines South Africa and associated African nations can provide.
Ramaphosa needs to use this opportunity along side other leaders to propel South Africa and the continent back into the arena of global decision making.
Article written by:
Yacoob Cassim
Journalist at Radio Al Ansaar
