The African continent is increasingly slipping from the hands of Western masters

During a recent visit to China, Jacob Zuma, the President of the Republic of South Africa, formalized his request for his country to become the fifth member of BRICS. China is the largest export and import market for the Republic of South Africa, which could serve as the gateway to Africa for further Chinese interests and those of other BRICS members on the continent.

writes Vanja Figenwald
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The global appeal of the currently informal BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) seems to be growing. During his visit to China at the end of August, President Jacob Zuma expressed his desire for his country to join this group, suggesting that this informal character will soon begin to gain seriousness, as well as membership. Interestingly, the largest business media, the so-called mainstream, have not paid much attention to this potential expansion of the club of countries that will, sooner rather than later, take over the dominance of the world economy. And the news is by no means negligible, as every move towards strengthening this group actually means a loss of influence for the old masters whose friendship is no longer as desirable as it once was.

The importance of South Africa’s desire to join BRICS does not stem from any particular strength or potential of that state, which is significant regardless, but from the fact that this organization, if it accepts the request, covers all continents that once served as a source of cheap raw materials and labor for Europe and North America, thus increasingly surrounding the block with, ultimately, a completely opposite interest. Happy and wealthy cannot all be, history has shown that, just as not everyone can rule the world. However, it should not be exaggerated. BRICS is still a premature baby, an organization that does not yet know exactly what it wants and how to achieve it. The fact that cooperation between the rising powers of the world, with a combined potential greater than that which Europe and America have ever had, both in manpower and resources, is not adequately institutionalized and that there is a lack of consensus among them on the operationalization of cooperation means that some form of BRICS governance is still a medium-term perspective.

Acceptance of South Africa would mean that a continent with over a billion people is represented in the organization, further strengthening trade and economic cooperation between Africa and BRICS, which is an extremely important fact. This continent has been a playground for the West and the driving fuel for their expansion for centuries, but in recent decades it has begun to slip into the hands of new masters. The Chinese and Indians have already deeply ‘entered’ Africa, and the entry of one of the more significant representatives into the common club will only accelerate the African transition to other hands, with the possibility that this time they might even get the chance to develop on a somewhat more equitable basis. China is the largest export and import market for the Republic of South Africa. On the other hand, South Africa could serve as the gateway to Africa for China, which already has significant interests on that continent.

The request of one country to be accepted in itself points to the growing importance of this club, to a change in the way it is perceived, and to the need for its stronger institutionalization. Zuma spoke with representatives of all four members and formalized the request in Beijing during his visit to China. Together with his colleague Hu Jintao, he signed an agreement on strategic cooperation, which would shift the ‘basic’ economic cooperation from the export of raw materials to China to a partnership in which both countries would begin investing in the infrastructure that Africa is crying out for, and in green technologies. The trade between the two countries reached 16 billion dollars last year, but South Africa definitely fared significantly worse in that exchange, with a deficit of as much as 2.7 billion dollars. The interest is, quite evidently, large and mutual, just as are the benefits of raising cooperation to the BRICS level.

Rich brother Besides being a completely logical step, considering future interests and the scope of existing cooperation, this move by South Africa also has a very clear political logic. The group of four, soon likely to be five, is slowly but surely expanding its influence in global affairs, especially in international economic organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, where ‘old powers’ still dominate, but the question is for how long. China, undoubtedly the most prominent member of this group, has been trying for some time to expand its influence in the first organization, for which it has the strongest arguments. With the largest foreign exchange reserves in the world and enormous untapped financial potential, this country will likely strengthen its position precisely in the IMF. As America and Europe have less and less money, it is quite certain that China will have a significantly more prominent role in global finance in the coming years, and thus in the IMF. However, further rapprochement among current members is not that simple. The BRICS countries are very different in many respects. India, Brazil, and Russia are democracies, but each has a specific system, both politically and socially and economically. Secondly, they are geographically very distant, which is becoming less of a problem, but it is still a problem.

Possible obstacles Thirdly, there are also personal animosities among them, which are put in the background by common interests, primarily regarding the relationship between India and China, which were at war over the border in 1962. Furthermore, individual relations with other global players also vary. Brazil strives for good relations with everyone, Russia for creating a sphere of influence within what was once controlled by the Soviet Union, China for a leading role in Asia where it has other relevant economic competitors, and India has very good relations with the Anglo-American alliance and Europe. Fifthly, the levels of economic development among the members are still quite different despite the high pace of development. Any further expansion of the club, whether it be South Africa or someone else, complicates all these factors further, so BRICS, despite having enormous potential and economic evolution on its side, will wait for a truly united role in the world. On the other hand, economic cooperation has often been a strong enough reason to overcome all other disagreements. One thing is clear – the acronym BRICS will not remain untouched for long, the only question is how it will look. It is speculated that in line, right after South Africa, are Mexico and South Korea, likely the next two members of the growing club. And as things stand, who knows, one day perhaps the USA and Europe will submit an application.