SouthAfrica, India must boost BRICS ties: SA Foreign Minister
January 10, 2015, 6:36 am

South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane (second from left) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (second from right) in Ahemdabad, in the Indian state of Gujarat on 8 January 2015 [Image: MEA, India]

“Our two countries have worked together to build formations and platforms such as IBSA and BRICS, which can use effectively to agitate for urgent reform of global institutions and power relations, with the ultimate goal being a more equitable and just world in which countries of the south take their rightful place in world affairs,” said Maite Nkoana-Mashabane at an official event in the western Indian state of Gujarat that was attended by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The South African Foreign Minister said the newly formed $100 billion BRICS Development Bank can provide “another concrete tool to pursue our development objectives”.

“We are looking forward to the contribution that India can make in shaping a new international financial architecture, as India will be appointing the first President of the BRICS New Development Bank,” she said.

“Reforms of global institutions of governance, the World Trade Organisation regime and how we approach the resolutions of conflicts are all inter-related and integral to realising the change that we want to bring about,” she added.

The BRICS bloc have long complained that reforms at the World Bank and the IMF have been too slow, and not far-reaching enough.

The five BRICS leaders who met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Australia in November, instructed their finance ministers to name the bank’s president by the time they next meet during the 7^th BRICS Summit in Russia.

The BRICS development bank will have its headquarters in China, with a regional African unit in South Africa and with India holding its first rotating presidency. BRICS have also announced the creation of a $100 billion currency exchange reserve.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who just won a second term in office, has said that the global economic situation hasn’t improved since the group last met in July.

“The advanced countries haven’t managed a consistent recovery and international trade isn’t growing enough to stimulate emerging markets,” Rousseff said.

Meanwhile, in her address at the event to mark 100 years since the return of Indian icon Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa to India, the South African Foreign Minister said her country would like to partner India in the fields of information technology, healthcare and renewable energy. Mashabane met the Indian Prime Minister Modi and the India Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj during her visit.

Bilateral trade between South Africa and India stands at $15 billion. The two countries have set a trade target of $18 billion by 2018.

“Amongst other priorities, South Africa’s National Development Plan aims to guide our efforts in improving our healthcare, beneficiating our mineral output, investing in renewable energy, training and skilling our population and creating decent work for our people. We are certain that the Indian Government and business sector will partner with us as we implement our National Development Plan,” said Nkoana-Mashabane.

China and India have both rapidly increased their presence in the African continent. In 2010, China overtook the United States as Africa’s largest trading partner, while Brazil and India currently rank as Africa’s sixth and 10th largest trading partners, respectively.

The establishment of a regional chapter of the $100 billion BRICS Bank in Johannesburg, South Africa aims to be an ideal instrument to show African leaders and citizens that the BRICS seek to engage with Africa on a long-term basis.

 TBP