Day Two- January 14th
Pretoria
We took the time before our first meeting to see some of the sights in Pretoria (South Africa's capital, and one hour's drive from Johannesburg).
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| Students gathered at Nelson Mandela statue in Pretoria, near Union Buildings |
During our second day of our study trip to South Africa we had the honour of meeting with representatives of the political and the economic division at the US Embassy in Pretoria. The two gentlemen gave us an introduction on the opportunities and challenges present in South Africa in particular and on the continent in general.
As our focus on this
trip is the interaction of India and China with (South) Africa, we were given
an account of their presence in South Africa up to this point. The first
Indians arrived in the 17th and 18th century, but it was
not until the 1860s when Indians were brought to Africa in large numbers to
work on sugar plantations. Today about 2.27% (or 1.3 million) of South Africa's
population is of Indian descent. China's presence in South Africa started on a
larger scale only in the 2000s and is on a significantly larger scale with
approximately 350,000 Chinese settles here.
Naturally, one
particular interest of our group was the economic relationship between China,
India and South Africa. Here China is certainly the more powerful and important
player when compared to India. From Angola to Ghana, China has engaged in
“cheque-book diplomacy” taking advantage of its deep pockets to finance African
projects, especially in the areas of infrastructure. For instance, in Angola
China has provided the government with immense sums of money in exchange for
oil exports. The current fall in prices of most commodities and in particular
oil has dramatically changed the economic situation for many countries,
including South Africa. Even though, China has displayed an increased focused
on political relations compared to other countries, South Africa's economy has
been badly affected by the plummet of commodity prices and is even more fearful
of the negative effects of a possible slowdown of the Chinese economy (a.k.a.
of Chinese demand for commodities). This fear is exacerbated by the fact that
South Africa's economy suffers from serious structural issues, a lack of
infrastructure and economic integration with the African continent. Moreover,
the spirit of autarky as inherited from the time of sanctions during Apartheid
does not necessarily facilitate or push for more regional integration. In
addition, the recent student protests, political turbulence and political
uncertainty regarding upcoming municipal elections later this year heighten the
fear of further economic troubles.
The economic
discussion soon centred on the role of the US in South Africa and the
challenges as well as chances available. This was particularly interesting with
regards of China's role in Africa and China's potential to compete against US
companies. Against common belief, the two representatives of the US embassy
were positive in their analysis of opportunities for US firms in South Africa
and Africa in general. The fact that the US is a developed country means that
it produces a different set of goods and services in comparison to Chinese
companies. In fact, the two representatives believed that China needs the
African markets more than the US does and at this point in time it is wise for
US companies to wait until the African markets matures enough. The US has
tremendous potential in not only its high quality of products, but also in
corporate social responsibility (CSR), environmental technology, community
relationship building and much more. In their opinion, it is exactly this
“American brand”, which gives US firms an advantage over Chinese and other
competitors.
Despite their
positive interpretation of the future of the US presence in Africa, one main
question remained: is China currently simply undergoing a maturation process or
is China big enough to shift the rules of the game? This question goes beyond
the scope of just Africa, but also has global implications. The answer to this
question has yet to be seen, but it is of upmost importance that the US remains
vigilant and observes the future development attentively.
- Diana Mayrhofer, MA Student, General International Relations Concentrator, SAIS
Afternoon Meeting: Department of International Relations and Cooperation
After paying a visit to the US Embassy in Pretoria in the
morning, our group visited the Department of International Relations and
Cooperation (DIRCO) – the foreign ministry of South Africa – for
a roundtable discussion in the afternoon with Chief Director of MSPRA, Fadl
Nacerodien; Chief Director for Regional Organizations, David Malcolmson; and
Chief Director for South and Central Asia, Andrea Kühn. Formerly known as the Department
of Foreign Affairs, the department was renamed DIRCO in 2009, in order to reflect
the philosophy of “Ubuntu” (which roughly translates to “I am because we are”) and
show that South Africa’s foreign policy is linked to the domestic imperatives
of not only South Africa, but also the African continent and the whole world.
South
Africa’s Foreign Policy
Chief Director Nacerodien began the discussion by explaining
that South Africa’s foreign policy reflects domestic priorities and national
interests. South African foreign policy’s main goal is moving domestic objectives
outward in a set of “concentric circles” of which Southern Africa is the core,
the next ring is represented by the African continent, the next by the “Global
South,” and finally to the universal international organizations such as the
UN. To achieve this goal, DIRCO has systematically built partnerships over the
years. While bilateral relations are the main building blocks, South Africa is
engaged in many multilateral partnerships, such as the North-South Partnership
(South Africa and EU member states), the South-South cooperation (the exchange
of resources, technology, and knowledge between countries of the global South),
and other “mini-lateral” forums such as BRICS. With regard to BRICS, Chief
Director Malcolmson stressed that it is important to understand that not
only has the forum expanded to encompass political and security
issues, but also that South Africa seeks to bring an African perspective to the
table.
China
and South Africa
Chief Director Malcolmson briefed the group on
Chinese and South African engagement. The two countries established bilateral
relations in 1998, and their relationship is premised on two important
documents—the 2010 Beijing Declaration on the Establishment of a
Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and the 2014 5-10 Year Strategic Program
on Cooperation between PRC and the Republic of South Africa. The latter
agreement focuses on more concrete implementation of cooperation with mutual
benefits, including political mutual trust and strategic coordination, mutual
beneficial economic cooperation and trade, people-to-people exchanges and
cooperation, African affairs and China-Africa Relations as well as cooperation
in international affairs and BRICS related issues. Also, the Forum on
China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) commenced as early as 2000.
Some of the basic elements of the
China-South Africa cooperation include industrialization, infrastructure
development and regional integration, opening Chinese markets to South African
agricultural products, and transferring human resources and technology.
However, three bottlenecks that continue to plague South Africa—inadequate
infrastructure, lack of professional personnel, and shortage of funding—need to
be addressed in the bilateral relations.
India and South Africa
The economic relation between India and South Africa is
somewhat unbalanced, with exports from South Africa to India consisting largely
of raw materials, while imports from India to South Africa are mostly
manufactured goods. South Africa hopes for more mutual benefits and
diversification, and has an optimistic view of the Modi administration, which
is seeking to open up the Indian economy through economic reforms.
During the Q&A, a student asked about the difficulties
and challenges for trade under South African trade barriers. Chief Director
Malcolmson stated that since 8-10% of South African trade is intra-Africa
trade, one focus of South African foreign policy is to advance regional
integration so that such trade barriers can be unblocked. The various
multilateral partnerships and cooperation, such as the North-South corridor,
represent such integration efforts. However, some challenges remain—the lack of
commonality in the region’s legal framework and regulatory systems and
different standards adopted by different countries in the region—to name a few.
In response to another question about whether there would be
potential challenges and competition between China and India as both begin to
grow in presence in South Africa, Chief Director Kühn stressed that bilateral
engagement and cooperation need not be and is not zero-sum. In fact, these bilateral relations focus on different areas that do not
contradict one another, with Chinese engagement focused on infrastructure
development, whereas Indian engagement concentrates on technology and human
resources.
- Jane Qiu, MA Student, Japan and China Studies dual- concentrator, SAIS
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