The new scramble for Africa — to court African countries for increased trade and investment — will intensify this week when major powers send top ministers to the continent’s capitals.
Senior ministers from the US, Russia and China are visiting various countries this week in a fresh bid to entice African countries to take their hand in growing trade, investment and military co-operation.
On Monday, Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, will begin a tour to SA, followed by eSwatini, Botswana and Angola.
Lavrov, one of President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, will meet Naledi Pandor, the minister for international relations & co-operation.
Pretoria has said very little about Lavrov’s surprise visit except to invite the media to a scheduled briefing by the two top diplomats. However, it is believed the trip was initiated by SA after Lavrov’s working visit to North Africa last year.
Douw Vermaak, a senior political counsellor at the SA embassy in Moscow, says "it’s not a surprise to us; it is part of normal diplomacy".
There is much to cover in the one-day meeting. At a paltry $1bn a year, bilateral trade makes a mockery of SA and Russia’s close historical ties, which have been strengthened through their partnership as members of Brics (along with Brazil, India and China).
Vermaak says SA diplomats are working hard to grow agricultural and food exports and to strengthen co-operation in the energy sector.
The first tranche of Western Cape citrus arrived in Russia a few weeks ago, underscoring the new thrust to increase trade, which is slightly in SA’s favour. "We cannot ignore Russia’s hydrocarbon, technological and skills capabilities in the energy sector," says Vermaak.
Military co-operation is another area of focus.
Within weeks, China and Russia will undertake joint naval exercises with the SA navy — a move that has been criticised by the DA, which sees them as an unnecessary cost.
Russia’s latest overtures towards Africa are informed by the need to close the widening gap in the West’s relationship with Africa. After spending years strengthening relations with Europe and briefly the US under Donald Trump’s tenure, Moscow is now looking eastwards and to Africa. The war with Ukraine has also caused Moscow to look inward.
SA has stayed on the fence about the conflict, appealing for a settlement. Its possible role as a mediator has not gone far.
Lavrov, who has the unenviable task of explaining the war to the world, will be back in SA mid-year to attend a Brics ministerial meeting ahead of the August heads of state summit.
Though Putin, who will host a summit with African countries later this year, has travelled to his friendly neighbours during Covid-19 and amid the war in Ukraine, he has not travelled much outside his country.
The Brics summit will be a major trip abroad since he and his allies were slapped with sanctions by the West.
Summit
The August summit will be the first major foreign trip by Xi Jinping, China’s president, after his re-election last year as the Communist Party leader and after China’s scrapping of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.
It will also mark the first time Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s new president, visits SA since his re-election.
Brics, a trade, development and investment collaboration platform which has been a counterforce to the US-led liberal world order, is dealing with approaches by other countries to join, including Saudi Arabia, Argentina, and Morocco.
Lavrov’s visit and the military exercises are likely to irritate Washington, which has sent Janet Yellen, the US treasury secretary, to Pretoria this week to advocate for private sector-led investment and trade, and to encourage SA’s shift away from coal-based energy.
Tensions
Washington, which has pledged $55bn in investments in Africa, has sought to isolate Russia around the world.
Yellen’s visit follows one by secretary of state Anthony Blinken and the US-Africa summit last year, and is a precursor to visits later this year by President Joe Biden and his deputy, Kamala Harris.
This month Qin Gang, China’s foreign minister, has been on the annual Africa tour.
David Monyae, an academic heading the Centre for Africa-China Studies at the University of Johannesburg, says the scramble for Africa should be expected to cause tensions in relations, but Africa must be smart and take advantage of this foreign interest and co-operate on an issue-by-issue basis instead of ideology.
Vermaak says SA’s mission in Moscow is steaming ahead to advance SA’s priorities of job-creating trade and investment as well as ensuring diplomatic relations contribute to the success of SA’s economic recovery programme and the AU’s Agenda 2063.
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