Canada is facing a seemingly intractable dilemma: we\u2019re trying to broaden our international trade and investment portfolio, at a time when our alternatives have narrowed. Nothing illustrates this problem more acutely than the \u201cit\u2019s complicated\u201d status of Canada\u2019s relationships with Brazil, Russia, India and China \u2014 members of the BRICS emerging economies.<\/p>\n
There is, however, a fifth member of that group: South Africa. Canada and South Africa forged strong ties in the struggle against apartheid. Both are leading members of the Commonwealth<\/a> and they share a common language, common values, and legal systems based on the common law. All things being equal, could South Africa be Canada\u2019s best bet in BRICS?<\/p>\n When President Cyril Ramaphosa came to power a year ago, he promised South Africans a \u201cnew dawn<\/a>.\u201d Since then, he has begun to address the country\u2019s biggest challenges through a combination of economic reforms, anticorruption measures, targeted efforts to spur job creation, investments in critical infrastructure and the promotion of education and training.<\/p>\n In his recent 2019 budget speech<\/a>, a candid and eloquent survey of the South African economy, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said, \u201cThe private sector is the key engine for job creation,\u201d and he vowed to end \u201cthe uncertainty that has undermined confidence and constrained private sector investment.\u201d This pledge echoes a pivotal speech from South Africa\u2019s past.<\/p>\n In 1992, Mboweni attended the World Economic Forum with Nelson Mandela. \u00a0Address<\/a>ing the forum, Mandela signalled a change in his personal views about how economic growth is best achieved: \u201c[It] will require a rapid and sustained growth in terms of capital formation or fixed investment, drawing on both domestic and international sources to finance this investment.\u201d<\/p>\n Mandela was just two years out of prison and still two years away from the presidency, but the seed he planted was that any government he led would be committed to sound fiscal policies and free markets. His goal was to reassure global business and political leaders that a post-apartheid South Africa would be a stable, secure market for trade and investment.<\/p>\n Like his mentor Mandela, Ramaphosa has travelled the world to reassure potential foreign investors \u2014 and he hasn\u2019t gone alone. He named a team of senior investment envoys to secure $100 billion by 2023 to stimulate the economy. Using a vivid metaphor, Ramaphosa said<\/a>, \u201cWe are unleashing this pack of lions to go and hunt down those investments.\u201d<\/p>\n Early evidence suggests the hunting will be good. An investment conference in October generated $20 billion<\/a> in pledges from private sector companies. That amount is in addition to a combined $35 billion<\/a> in commitments from the United Kingdom, China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates \u2014 meaning the envoys are more than halfway toward their goal.<\/p>\n Ramaphosa and his pack of lions argue<\/a> that \u201cSouth Africa is an investment destination with significant unrealized potential.\u201d It is certainly an economy that has witnessed a decline in foreign direct investment<\/a> since 2010. As Ramaphosa recently told<\/a> a group at this year\u2019s World Economic Forum, \u201cWe have the loss of nine years to make up.\u201d<\/p>\n Canada\u2019s interest in South Africa has remained consistent \u2014 even during those \u201clost years.\u201d In 2013, Stephen Harper\u2019s government\u2019s Global Markets Action Plan<\/em><\/a> identified South Africa as an emerging market \u201cwith the best potential for broad Canadian commercial interests.\u201d South Africa was, notably, the only African country given this priority designation.<\/p>\n On its website, Export Development Canada<\/a> gives South Africa a \u201clow to medium\u201d risk rating, and lists agriculture, consumer goods, machinery, oil and gas, plastics and chemicals, and telecom as \u201ckey industries.\u201d These are all in Canada\u2019s wheelhouse and are already the basis for our annual direct investments to South Africa, totalling over $2.5 billion<\/a> in 2017.<\/p>\n Much of the risk in South Africa stems from short-term political uncertainty. President Ramaphosa is completing his predecessor Jacob Zuma\u2019s unfinished term and will face voters in early May of this year. Opinion polls show that Ramaphosa is the country\u2019s most popular political leader, but it\u2019s too soon to say how his African National Congress party could fare.<\/p>\n If Ramaphosa is given a mandate to complete his substantial reforms \u2014 which very much remain a work in progress \u2014 Canada will find itself competing with other G20 suitors. In this, Canada should try to secure an early-mover advantage. While South Africa would not solve all of Canada\u2019s international trade problems, it is a market where sensible, strategic bets could yield a strong return on investment.<\/p>\n The views expressed here represent the personal opinions of the author.<\/em><\/p>\n Photo: Shutterstock, by\u00a0Inked Pixels.<\/span><\/p>\n Do you have something to say about the article you just read? Be part of the\u00a0<\/em>Policy Options\u00a0discussion, and send in your own submission.\u00a0Here is a\u00a0<\/em>link<\/em><\/a>\u00a0on how to do it.\u00a0<\/em>|\u00a0Souhaitez-vous r\u00e9agir \u00e0 cet article ?\u00a0<\/em>Joignez-vous aux d\u00e9bats d\u2019<\/em>Options politiques\u00a0et soumettez-nous votre texte en suivant ces\u00a0<\/em>directives<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Canada is facing a seemingly intractable dilemma: we\u2019re trying to broaden our international trade and investment portfolio, at a time when our alternatives have narrowed. Nothing illustrates this problem more acutely than the \u201cit\u2019s complicated\u201d status of Canada\u2019s relationships with Brazil, Russia, India and China \u2014 members of the BRICS emerging economies. There is, however, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":275464,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-10-08T02:28:19Z","apple_news_api_id":"0dd53930-d139-4737-b5cd-e948c445edb6","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-10-08T02:28:19Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/ADdU5MNE5Rze1zelIxEXttg","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[9362,9360,9372],"tags":[8554,8407],"article-status":[],"irpp-category":[4217,4245],"section":[],"irpp-tag":[7076,7183],"class_list":["post-267079","issues","type-issues","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economie","category-international","category-recent-stories-fr","tag-afrique-fr","tag-trade-fr","irpp-category-affaires-internationales","irpp-category-economie","irpp-tag-afrique","irpp-tag-commerce"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\n