(Starting with Africa's most subtly-unpatriotic globo-journalist, here's
the latest big biz and diplomat hype for**the*Durban 2013* economic
carve-up of Africa - i.e. what will no doubt one day be seen as the
BRICS equivalent of**the *Berlin 1885 *colonial political carving -
starting predictably enough with a financial knife: "a Brics Development
Bank with starting capital of up to $50bn". What with anti-imperialist
Hugo Chavez in the sick bay, it's a ripe time for the subimperial bloc
to finally sabotage the Bank of the South once and for all, something
the Brazilians have become expert at. The contribution from Pretoria, as
ever, is teaching the others a blunt /talk left to walk right /dance,
e.g. BRICS as "counterpoint to the domination of global affairs by the
G8" - when actually the main thrust here in Durban on March 26-27 will
be acknowledging some slightly more efficient deputy-sheriff functions
for the neoliberal G8 sheriffs, especially in looting Africa's resources.)
www.iol.co.za
/The Mercury/
We need Brics -- and the G8 too
January 18 2013 at 12:21pm
By Peter Fabricius
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The BRics summit which South Africa will host in Durban at the end of
March is going to be quite an event, with eight African heads of state
invited to confer with the heads of the five Brics countries -- Brazil,
Russia, India, China and South Africa -- and a host of other ancillary
events.
Jerry Matjila, director-general of International Relations and
Co-operation, and Anil Sooklal, deputy director-general for the Middle
East and Asia in the same department -- respectively the "sherpa" and
"sous-sherpa"(deputy sherpa) for the summit -- briefed media about the
summit this week.
The "outreach" to the African leaders is part of South Africa's aim to
push Brics towards Africa. It is also hoping a Brics Development Bank --
with initial capital of $50 billion (R438.5bn) -- might be launched at
the summit, which would greatly help Africa.
South Africa had three main aims when it joined Brics in 2010 -- to
advance the national interest, to advance its African agenda and to
re-balance the imbalance of global political and economic power, now
tilted towards the West (aka the North).
When it comes to advancing the national interest, many observers are
rather sceptical, pointing out that the Brics countries remain
protectionist and so South Africa's trade with them is still largely --
and ironically -- more "colonial" than its trade with the former
colonial powers of Europe or with the US.
South Africa's trade with the US and European Union is now fairly
balanced, with a large proportion of our exports being finished goods,
whereas we are still exporting mainly raw materials to the Brics
countries and importing mainly manufactures.
That hardly contributes to the government's economic strategy of adding
greater value to our minerals and other commodities, to boost export
revenue and create new jobs.
But government officials countered at the briefing that South Africa is
effectively using its improved relations with the Brics countries --
China especially -- to change those "unsustainable" trade relationships.
One official said that our trade deficit with China, for example, had
narrowed from R48bn in 2008 to less than R18bn in 2011 and had
essentially been wiped out in 2012, though precise figures were not yet in.
He attributed this to lobbying from Pretoria to Beijing.
In response China had invited South Africa last year to give it a list
of 40 export products which it agreed to import duty-free.
The two governments agreed this should include R10bn worth of wine and
R15bn worth of beef, for instance.
The problem was that South Africa was unable to produce that much wine
and beef.
The further response of China to such supply constraints was to offer to
invest more in agro-processing and other production in South Africa to
add value before export, such as a steel smelter to process our iron ore.
Peter Draper, head of trade research at the SA Institute of
International Affairs, was rather sceptical about this account, noting,
for example, that most of the recent narrowing of the trade gap with
China had been because of increased exports of iron ore, not finished
goods, from South Africa.
Nonetheless, if Brics provides South Africa with another political
platform to try to address such economic issues, that can only be a good
thing.
The trick is to use Brics to such advantage without jeopardising other
at least equally important relationships. South Africa seems to be
slightly ambivalent on that score.
At one point in the briefing a senior official stressed the competitive
character of relations between Brics and the West, describing Brics as
"a counterpoint to the domination of global affairs by the G8..."
Yet at another point he stressed complementariness instead, calling
Brics "a new global template and caucus, overriding previous East-West
and North-South constructs and divisions".
Brics is not a magic cure for all our political and economic ills, as
some very senior government officials seem to believe.
We need all the help we can get. Perhaps we should add an "outreach" to
the G8 to the summit agenda?
***
/Business Day/
Durban may see founding of Brics bank
by Nick Kotch
<http://www.bdlive.co.za/world/africa/2012/08/06/nick-kotch-profile>, 16
January 2013
HANDS ON: Department of International Relations and Co-operation
director general Jerry Matjila has worked hard preparing for the summit.
Picture: GCIS
Related articles
* Development bank, business council on agenda for Brics summit in SA
<http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/2013/01/15/development-bank-business-council-on-agenda-for-brics-summit-in-sa>
SOUTH African officials say plans for a Brics Development Bank with
starting capital of up to $50bn are gathering pace ahead of the group's
summit in Durban in two months.
"There is the political will from all the Brics countries to have this
bank," South African ambassador to Brics Anil Sooklal said in Pretoria
on Tuesday.
SA is lobbying to host the bank, if it gets off the ground, emphasising
the sophistication and integrity of the financial services industry
here. The country co-chaired the preparatory work with India.
Supporters of the idea of the bank have worked on the basis that each of
the five Brics countries --- the others are Brazil, China and Russia ---
will commit $10bn at the outset. Its objectives will include financing
projects in poor and developing nations, particularly in Africa and India.
"We all found comfort with that ($50bn) figure but there is nothing
official about it," said Dr Sooklal, a deputy director-general at the
Department of International Relations and Co-operation. "The leaders
will decide."
South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) senior research
fellow Peter Draper said it was still uncertain what decision, if any,
about a Brics bank would be taken in Durban on March 26-27.
"This is quite a closely guarded secret and you have to decide what it
is that the various states want.
"My take is that SA, China and India all see potential in the idea ---
but from different perspectives."
Russia and Brazil were much less enthusiastic, the former because its
trade and investment focus was on the East, and the latter because it
already had access to vast development funds.
Dr Sooklal and department director-general Jerry Matjila have done most
of the heavy lifting to prepare the Durban summit. About 3,000 delegates
and officials are expected to attend, as well as the presidents or prime
ministers of all five countries.
Dr Sooklal said the event budget had been about R20m, but had increased
after a decision to involve African regional economic communities and
the African Union in the summit. SA is often accused of acting in its
own interests while purporting to promote those of Africa as a whole.
Apart from the development bank and African economic issues, the other
summit goals are to set up a Brics Business Council and a think-tank,
harnessing the intellectual and research capacity of the members.
The theme of the summit is: Brics and Africa: Partnership for
Development, Integration and Industrialisation.
SA will chair the Brics group for 12 months after Durban, and then hand
over to Brazil.
Brics controls 25% of the global gross domestic product, 30% of the
world's land and 43% of its population.
The implicit notion that SA's historic economies ties with Europe are on
the wane were challenged more than once last year. The European
Commission said its 25 member states were jointly by far SA's largest
investors and trade partners.
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