The department of international relations & cooperation and its trade, industry & competition counterpart are developing a governmentwide document aimed at merging SA’s foreign and economic policies.
The aligning of the country’s economic interests and foreign policy stance will provide a structured approach to support SA companies as they trade on the global arena, international relations & co-operation minister Ronald Lamola said on Tuesday.
“We’re also engaged with SA companies and playing a role in the continent, and we are also looking forward to their inputs on how we can continue to strengthen trade relations in the entirety of the continent.”
The development of the policy comes as the department of trade, industry & competition plans to prioritise export-led growth as a pathway to spur growth, particularly within the continent and through the intra-Africa trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The AfCFTA aims to remove barriers to intra-Africa trade. It seeks to turn the continent into the largest regional free-trade area, with most tariffs on goods traded eventually at zero, complete with a consumer base of 1.3-billion people and about $31.1bn (R565bn) in export potential.
It aims to lift up to 50-million Africans out of poverty. SA ratified the AfCFTA in 2019 and began trading with 12 African countries under the preferential regime in January, beginning with Kenya and Ghana.
The development of the economic diplomacy policy document comes as the 10-member government of national unity (GNU) grapples with the inherent foreign policy contradictions among the coalition partners, particularly between the ANC and DA.
The difference between the two largest parties in the GNU played out in public recently over the affirmation by President Cyril Ramaphosa that SA’s relationship with Russia remains intact, raising the ire of DA leader John Steenhuisen.
The economic diplomacy policy document is expected to outline how SA plans to diversify its export markets to reduce reliance on the US and EU, which are two of its largest trade partners.
The election of US president Donald Trump, who previously pushed for restrictive trade policies and a clampdown on immigration, also places pressure on Pretoria to diversify its export markets in case SA is expelled from the well-established African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) arrangement.
“We left with a distinct impression that we have satisfied ourselves with the members of Congress in a bipartisan manner, both Republicans and Democrats on our positions, and an understanding on both sides that the relationship is mutually beneficial,” Lamola remarked, reflecting his visit to the US earlier this year.
“So we will continue to engage with the White House on them, with regards to the foreign policy, including Agoa going forward with an aim to continue to stand at these bilateral relations.”
Lamola also confirmed that chair of the Development Bank of Southern Africa and former Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool had been reappointed as SA’s ambassador to the US. Rasool previously held the position in 2010-15 when Barack Obama was in the Oval Office.
He will be responsible for articulating SA’s foreign policy as the new Trump administration prepares to take the reins in 2025.
“The president had to appoint someone who is able to also engage with the various think-tanks in the US and the other important platforms that influence US foreign policy,” Lamola said. “There’s never been a straightforward relationship [with the US]. But we think we will be able to confront the challenges, engage and find a mutually beneficial solution.”
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