Africa Insight - latest Issue

The Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) platform has passed the ten-year mark. In the process, it has also managed to expand its presence beyond the five founding countries by reaching out to African, Euro-Asian, South-east Asian, South Asian and Latin American countries. This expansion began when South Africa hosted the BRICS summit in 2013, the first summit to take place on African soil. South Africa wisely invited a number of key African countries – representing various regions and types and sizes of economies – to an outreach meeting with BRICS leaders on the sidelines to discuss BRICS’ cooperation with Africa. This was used to firm up the process of making Africa’s interests a key part of the BRICS strategic agenda, which now includes Africa’s economic renewal, peace and security, social and human development. At both the 2013 and 2018 BRICS outreach to African countries, the leaders of African countries unanimously indicated that Africa was ready to become a key factor in the global economy, especially in relation to investment and trade that is meaningful for their peoples and the world.

This paper argues that the evolution of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) was marred by the fundamental question of the regional development. Since its inception, the SADC sought development by pursuing different models of industrialisation. The bold move by the SADC to launch an industrialisation strategy begged many questions. Among these lie the lessons the SADC could learn from China as a long-term strategic partner in the liberation struggle against colonialism and apartheid. However, the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), and particularly China, presents the region with a Janus-faced scenario; while it plays a positive role in constructing a win-win solution in matters of trade, peace and security in its interaction with the region, it also erodes the region’s infant sectors such as textiles. China’s attempts to consult new trading routes, through its famous One Belt One Road, represents a great opportunity for the SADC’s quest for regional integration, development, peace and security.

Access to water and food remains critical to the survival and stability of any nation. Insecurity of food and unequal distribution of water rights are active drivers of instability and violent conflicts. These crises are no less evident in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS). Studies addressing the crises in BRICS are localised, making the articulation of water and food policy for BRICS as a body a necessity. This paper therefore undertakes a review of the political economy of the water and food security nexus in BRICS. In doing so, the paper identifies areas of cooperation and collaboration, such as virtual water importation and reduction of the water footprint, among BRICS. The paper also offers policy options in the context of the BRICS long-term strategy.

The following article outlines the various changes taking place at the global level, involving the role of both state and non-state actors. It argues that multipolarity will lead not only to a diffusion of material power, but also to a diffusion of ideas as Southern powers are increasingly called upon to contribute as norm entrepreneurs and problem solvers in the international development landscape. In order to position themselves to contribute not only in the realm of material power, but also in the realm of ideas, Southern powers will be tested to reconfigure themselves internally towards more inclusive decision making at home, which extends beyond state actors. In South Africa, the full operationalisation of structures such as the South African Council on International Relations (SACOIR) and the Association of Former Ambassadors could allow the country to contribute to inclusive foreign policy making at home, and towards inclusive decision making in various global governance institutions. It is argued that the operationalisation of these, or similar types of institutions has the potential to boost institutional memory within the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) and to promote South Africa’s role as a norm entrepreneur and source of ideas for the various challenges confronting the global political and economic landscape. Institutions that reflect the ethos of SACOIR and the Association of Former Ambassadors are thus more likely to ensure greater coordination between the various diplomatic tracks and foster more buy in for the country’s engagements at the global level.

It is important to use South Africa’s image through public diplomacy and nation branding as a litmus test in order to determine how its actions may impact on the message that it desires to communicate. South African leaders have said repeatedly that Africa is pivotal to its foreign policy and engagement in international relations; moreover, it is anticipated that South Africa’s positioning in Africa and Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) may provide the continent with a different angle to exercise agency. Therefore, this paper asks how South Africa may learn to use its desired image and credibility to remain a strategic role player in the BRICS-Africa geopolitical landscape. This is particularly important, as Brazil, Russia, India and China have illustrated through their interactions in Africa that they do not need South Africa to sustain successful partnerships in Africa.

What is the agenda of the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) platform? And what is its potential for transforming global governance towards one that works for all, especially in the developing world? In response to these questions, this paper suggests that we place BRICS within the context of debates in the global South about global alternatives, including critical perspectives on globalisation, which is the context that shapes our perspective on global governance. The paper uses a decolonial analytic lens, which privileges historical continuity and structural-agency analysis, to identify key nodes of the South ideal for alternative globalisation to guide our analysis in response to the question: Does BRICS have the potential to contribute to transforming the system of global governance? After suggesting ways of understanding the problems of global governance and globalisation, the paper presents four critical steps towards a new global governance system that BRICS might consider in catalysing the global reforms expected.

This article seeks to discuss China’s engagement with Sudan from an Afrocentric perspective. It is noted that much of the literature on this research theme is underpinned by state-centric theories which are rooted within the Westernised standpoint. This situation has resulted in a partial understanding of China’s engagement with Sudan. The other weakness of the extant literature on the theme of this article is that China’s foreign policy towards Sudan is often [mis]interpreted and [mis]analysed due to the studies focusing on China-Africa relations instead of China’s relations with Sudan as a sovereign African state specifically. It is argued in this article that the Bandung Conference of 1955 served as a watershed moment for Asia- Africa relations and China has since then benefitted in its relations with Asia-African states. This was also the case with the establishment of the BRICS grouping in 2009. To this end, the two central questions grappled with in this article are: (1) To what extent have Sino- Sudanese agreements and protocols strengthened and tested the relations between the two states since 1959? (2) What are the implications of this for BRICS’ intent to build a new paradigm of relations with African countries? Relatedly, it is observed that the failure to understand the relations under review in their historical and continental context is one of the weaknesses of the Westernised accounts. As such, an alternative and nuanced account of the above is crucial because the current nature of Sino-Sudan relations can best be understood when located within a historical and continental context. Methodologically, this article largely depends on the cauldron of document and discourse analysis in its broadest form.

This paper interrogates the role of China in the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) cooperation on development with a focus on shaping a new and balanced world order within the theoretical framework of political realism and world system theory. The early twenty-first century has witnessed the growth in economic prowess and the political influence of emerging market nations in the global arena, building on the achievements in south-south solidarity and cooperation of the NAM and G77 and resulting in the emergence of the BRICS platform. In this, China’s role has been principal, giving practical meaning to the rise of the global South in a world system dominated by the global North. It is argued in this paper that China has intensified the coordination of economic, political and social agendas among developing countries broadly, and, in the process, it has stimulated increased trade, investment, foreign policy alignment and people-to-people solidarity. As BRICS call for the democratisation of the inter-state system and oppose Western and US dominance of global governance, China has put measures in place to give effect to this. The decline of Western and United States (US) economic power relative to Asian and other emerging countries lends substantial credibility and international legitimacy to the BRICS’ demands, and China is the epitome of this. Simultaneously, BRICS have retained varying measures of direct or indirect state control over markets, most notably in China. This paper asserts that against the backdrop of waning integration impulses in the developed world, the largest developing economies are forging ahead with new initiatives directed at revitalising regional integration. China, in particular, is building new development institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and mega-regional projects, for example the ‘One Belt One Road (OBOR)’, as well as new economic alliances across the globe. It could be concluded that the South-South interaction epitomised by China-South African relations on both an economic and political level and by the BRICS grouping, demonstrates that there is a changing distribution of power at the international level.

Insurance and investment companies usually write out policies that cover potential losses for customers. In essence, reinsurance is the management of the risk of insurance companies and investment brokers. The notion of reinsurance has been lacking in both philosophy and methodologies. This article assesses the challenges of reinsurance in Africa in relation to South Africa, opportunities presented by the BRICS, an institutional model, and an impact assessment framework for creating both harmony and effectiveness in the reinsurance industry in South Africa. The risk management theory is utilised to give understanding to reinsurance globally. Data is collected by interview, a systematic literature review, and key word-in-search model for data collection. Data collected is analysed using a combination of theme analysis, triangulation and content analysis. Findings include poor performance in the reinsurance industry due to fragile market and ranking, challenges relating to the reimbursement of premium, financial vivacity of the reinsurance companies, limited underwriting capacity of reinsurers, and the lack of a framework. It recommends two frameworks for rejuvenating the reinsurance industry: South Africa’s institutional structure for reinsurance, and the impact and outcomes forum for an effective reinsurance industry for rapid development of the industry.

This article examines the major food security policies and strategies pursued by the member countries of the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) economic bloc against the backdrop of their food trade, with a specific focus on South Africa. The article builds on existing literature and draws from extensive document analysis covering food policy documents, food trade data, and a wide range of related development issues for the affected countries. The article concludes that BRICS food trade is being conducted in an environment that is characterised by significant policy differentials. It is revealed that South Africa exports more food than Russia, India and China despite severe constraints on the country’s food sector that makes it the most food-insecure country within the bloc, despite having the lowest population. It is clear that South Africa’s policies and strategies for addressing food insecurity are inadequate when compared to those of other BRICS member countries. On the other hand, other BRICS countries have implemented a range of successful policies such as crop diversification, contract farming, urban farming and agriculture mechanisation, the adoption of which would be highly beneficial to South Africa in its quest to improve its overall food security positioning within the BRICS family.

Rumours is the title of Dr Mongane Serote’s intense and engaging book published in 2013. The book is divided into three parts and thirty-six chapters. In each part of the book, the author introduces new characters, the setting and a theme. The overriding theme of the book is centered on Keke, his life in the doldrums and the pursuit of reconciliation with his wife and the two children. In his astute poetic writing style, Dr Serote delves into the life of a veteran of the liberation struggle, the concerns about the sins of incumbency plaguing the ruling African National Congress (ANC), foreign and suspicious intelligence agents in some parts of the continent, and African customs, spirituality and tradition. All these issues unfold through and are episodes of Keke’s life.

The BRICS bloc of nations is effectively 10 years old and beginning its eleventh year. Unlike the European Union and other regional blocs, BRICS is composed of five states from varying regions of the globe, but mostly in the southern hemisphere – South America, Asia, Africa and Eurasia. Naturally, in view of its young age, not much research and publication on its reality has been done compared to similar but older blocs. This work under review attempts to contribute to accumulating efforts to remedy this by providing a ‘bird’s eye view’ of the legal and governance frameworks of the individual BRICS states: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. This allows the consumer to identify spaces for participation with a good level of understanding of the country systems.