From apartheid to advocacy: South Africa’s foreign policy journey over the last 30 years

This research explores the pivotal role of BRICS in shaping the new world order, focusing specifically on South Africa’s influence and opportunities within the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). As a key member of BRICS, South Africa leverages its strategic position to enhance regional integration, economic growth, and geopolitical influence in Africa. The study examines how South Africa’s participation in BRICS facilitates its leadership in AfCFTA, promoting trade liberalization, investment, and sustainable development across the continent. By analyzing South Africa’s diplomatic strategies, trade policies, and economic initiatives, this research highlights the potential for AfCFTA to catalyze broader economic transformation and regional stability. Additionally, the study evaluates the implications of BRICS’ collective agenda for global governance, multilateralism, and South-South cooperation, emphasizing the role of emerging economies in redefining international norms and power dynamics. Through a comprehensive case study approach, the research identifies key opportunities and challenges for South Africa within AfCFTA, offering insights into the broader impact of BRICS on the global economic landscape.

Global value chains have shaped world production and trade. This research article examines the connections between the value chains of the BRIC economies and South Africa's role in positioning BRICS-Africa trade as a member of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) using BRIC value chains that has been tailormade to increase BRICS share of the AfCFTA market. It argues that in order for BRICS's to increase its competitiveness in AfCFTA and the global market, intra-BRICS trade should be based on value chains that has been developed specifically to support BRICS and provide it with the competitive leverage necessary to explore new market opportunities. AfCTA presents such a market. Additionally, the article reveals that for BRICS to succeed in AfCFTA through its value chains, it must recognise South Africa's potential (to host some of these) and its geographic location on the African continent. Furthermore, BRIC needs to appreciate that South Africa can successfully host some of BRIC nations' value chains. This indicates that South Africa's membership of BRICS and AFCTFA provides an opportunity that can benefit BRICS through its participation in AfCFTA using value chains approach. This however requires academic interrogation, which will yield information and knowledge that can be used to formulate programmes, policies and strategies of how BRICS value chains can be of significant support to AfCFTA.

This study argues that South Africa plays a remarkable role as a 'gateway' to the African continent. Several cooperation frameworks are represented, but a particular focus is on BRICS, which deals with South-South cooperation and the African Continental Free Trade Area to promote Africa's economic development. This context offers the topic of the present study. The study is largely based on an empirical analysis focused on 1) the role of BRICS in Africa in infrastructural development and 2) the facilitation of trade in Africa via AfCFTA in promoting economic integration as an important element of regional development and structural transformation. The key cooperation activities of the BRICS that support AfCFTA are discussed. The paper wants to find out how BRICS’ investment can accelerate the implementation of AfCFTA and achieve its targets. Finally, the strategy of BRICS-plus is discussed regarding how other African countries would benefit from it.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) entered into force in May 2019 after surpassing the required 22 ratifications. This article combines the decision support model (DSM) and the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to make quantitative assessments of the expected welfare and trade effects of the AfCFTA on Nigerian and South African sectors possessing sustained export potential within the AfCFTA member states. By specifying two scenarios of AfCFTA membership, the simulation results reveal positive welfare gains for Nigeria (USD 146.12 million) and South Africa (USD 1.46 billion), originating from the GTAP sectors identified with sustainable export opportunities in the AfCFTA member states. The trade deal is also expected to be net-trade-creating, with a net trade of USD 2.15 billion at the global level. The assessments in this article are valuable in informing trade policy in light of core export competencies and the size, growth and consistency of the import demand in AfCFTA countries. It is also the first time elements of a product-level export market analytical tool are harmonised with a CGE model in the welfare and trade assessments of regional and/or bilateral trade arrangements. Policymakers and export promotion associations in both Nigeria and South Africa are recommended to utilise the results found in this article as a point of departure in leveraging the welfare-improving sustained export opportunities identified within the AfCFTA.

Realities such as the COVID-19 pandemic have expedited the move to online operations, highlighting the undeniable fact that the world is continuing to go digital. This emphasises the need for policymakers to regulate in a manner that allows them to harness digital trade benefits while also avoiding associated risk. However, given that digital trade remains unco-ordinated globally, with countries adopting different approaches to policy issues, national regulatory divergence on the matter continues, placing limits on the benefits that countries can obtain from digital trade. Given these disparities, ahead of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Phase II Negotiations, African countries have been considering the best way to harmonise regulations on issues related to digital trade. To do this effectively, AfCFTA members need to identify where divergencies exist in their domestic regulatory systems. This will allow AfCFTA members to determine where harmonisation is possible, as well as what is needed to achieve such harmonisation. This report analyses the domestic regulations and policies of four focus countries – South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Senegal – comparing their regulatory approaches to five policy issues: i) regulation of online transactions; ii) cross-border data flows, data localisation, and personal data protection; iii) access to source code and technology transfer; iv) intermediary liability; and v) customs duties on electronic transmissions. The study highlights where divergencies exist in adopted approaches, indicating the need for the four countries – and AfCFTA members in general – to carefully consider the implications of the divergences, and determine where it is possible and beneficial to harmonise approaches. This was intended to encourage AfCFTA member states to take ownership of these issues and reflect on the reforms needed. As seen in Table 1 below, the study shows that the four countries diverge on most of the five policy issues. There are differences in how all four countries regulate online transactions – that is, e-signatures and online consumer protection. Nigeria was the only country out of the four to recognise all types of e-signatures as legally equivalent. Kenya and Senegal only recognise specific e-signatures, which are either issued or validated by a recognised institution, while South Africa adopts a mixed approach, where it recognises all e-signatures as legally valid, but provides higher evidentiary weight to certain types of e-signatures. Only South Africa and Senegal have specific regulations relating to online consumer protection, while Nigeria and Kenya do not have any clear rules. With regards to cross border data flows, data localisation, and personal data protection, the study shows that all four focus countries have regulations that consist of elements borrowed from the European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In particular, this was regarding the need for the data subject's consent, and also the adequacy requirement. Interestingly, the study also shows that South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria also adopt data localisation measures, although at different levels of strictness. South Africa’s data localisation laws are mostly imposed on data that is considered critical – which is then required to be processed within South African borders – while Nigeria requires all data to be processed and stored locally, using local servers. Kenya imposes data localisation measures that are mostly linked to its priority for data privacy. Out of the four focus countries, Senegal is the only country that does not impose any data localisation laws. Although the study shows that all four countries share a position on customs duties on electronic transmissions, it is also interesting to note that none of the four countries currently have domestic regulations or policies on the subject. The report concludes by highlighting that, as the AfCFTA Phase II Negotiations aim to arrive at harmonisation and to improve intra-African trade and international trade, AfCFTA members should reflect on their national policies and domestic regulations to determine where harmonisation is needed, and whether AfCFTA is the right platform for achieving this efficiently.

The research is motivated by the extensive literature on the role of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in boosting intra-African trade. The main contribution of the research to the academic field is that the author comprehensively approaches the impact of the AfCFTA on a separate economy, whereas the majority of the papers on the issue has focused on general effects. We consider that South Africa holds an important position in regional trade and will significantly grow and diversify its exports to the rest of Africa, as tariff and non-tariff barriers are eventually relaxed or removed entirely. This study aims to estimate the trade potential for South Africa with the rest of the continent in the context of the upcoming AfCFTA. The research questions raised are: Are there any trade opportunities for South Africa in Africa? What are the potential markets in Africa which need policymakers’ attention as far as the African Continental Free Trade Area is concerned? The study evaluates trade potentials in two steps. First, existing trade flows between South Africa and its AfCFTA-partners are analyzed, and volume of exports and geographic distribution are surveyed. After that, indexes and trade indicators are computed to assess opportunities for South Africa’s exports in each country partner. The finding reveals that there are unexploited trade opportunities for South Africa on the continent. The four more effective options are Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco. Nevertheless, South Africa is more likely to pay attention to less remote countries with high trade complementarity. Among them, there are Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Togo, Senegal, Cape Verde and Burundi. So, when designing the national African Continental Free Trade Area strategy, as it is done, South Africa could prioritize the issue of those markets.

The recently launched (July 2019) African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), whose setup begun in 2015, is widely seen as the crucial driver for economic growth, industrialization and sustainable development in Africa. The concluded agreement establishing the AfCFTA provides rules that will govern the movement of merchandise and services across the continent. It sets up the institutional framework that will guide and regulate the CFTA implementation processes. There is a recognition that the current path of economic regionalism in Africa is encouraging but has serious fractures on the continent and the global trading system. In the attempt to achieve an overarching continental strategy for continuous development, there are vestiges of regional economic integration schemes, in the areas of multiple economic alliances, overlapping schemes, the non-implementation of protocols and many other fractures. In an attempt to alleviate these vestiges, the latest wave of continental innovation – AfCFTA – raises a long-standing conundrum for continental order: when are regional organizations useful, and even essential complements to the ends of continental governance for benefit, and when do they threaten or undermine the achievement of these goals? This paper’s contention is that regionalism within Africa is anchored on many theories of integration, among them are functionalism, neo-functionalism, and intergovernmentalism, and based on the European integration experience. But drawing lessons from the enormous, political and economic as well as, security challenges confronting the African Union (AU) and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), how viable and ready can the RECs be used as ‘vehicles’ in support of the achievement of continental integration in Africa, when they are so ‘gullible’ themselves?

Nigeria’s comparative advantage for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), has been investigated by this work. The specific objectives of this study are calculating the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) and the Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage (RSCA) of Nigeria, and computing and comparing the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) and the Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage (RSCA) of Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa. Time series data of Nigeria’s, Ghana’s and South Africa’s export products namely raw materials, intermediate goods, consumer goods and capital goods were obtained from the World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS). The RCA and RSCA of raw materials, intermediate goods, consumer goods and capital goods were computed using the Balassa index, and it was found that Nigeria has comparative advantage in the export of raw materials but has comparative disadvantage in the export of intermediate goods, consumer goods and capital goods. Compared to Ghana and South Africa, Nigeria can profitably export raw materials to AfCFTA trade partners because, though Ghana and South Africa also have comparative advantage in the export of raw materials, theirs is lesser than Nigeria’s. Unlike Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa have relative advantage in intermediate goods export trade. In the export of consumer goods, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa all have comparative disadvantage, but the position of South Africa is better than that of Nigeria and Ghana. Similarly, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa have comparative disadvantage in the export of capital goods, however, the position of South Africa is better than those of Nigeria and Ghana. Based on the findings, this study recommends that Nigeria should continue to strengthen its raw materials exports and at the same time, pursue policies and programmes that would improve the comparative advantage positions of its intermediate goods, consumer goods and capital goods export trade. In the area of trade negotiations, the findings of this study has been recommended to the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations (NOTN) for adoption in its preparations of guidelines on the rules of origin for stakeholders’ negotiations under AfCFTA Key words: Revealed Comparative Advantage, Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage, Goods, Free Trade Area, Nigeria. JEL Classification Codes: F10, F11, F12, F14.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is the largest free trade area with 54 member states. Language barrier issues, infrastructure shortfall constraints, and structural challenges have plagued the U.S. trade with Francophone Africa. AfCFTA presents opportunities for the U.S. to strengthen its trade relationship with Francophone Africa. This paper combines peer-reviewed studies and policy reports on governmental reforms, digital services, infrastructure, and logistics to create new opportunities for U.S. businesses and offer insights to guide policy decisions. The findings highlight that uniform regulatory frameworks, efficiency in customs operations, and expanding intra-African trade present opportunities for the U.S. to increase exports, improve supply chain systems, and promote diversity in trade relationships. The findings suggest that U.S. support for the AfCFTA framework will benefit U.S. economic interests. The U.S. will achieve significant gains through technical support, private sector participation, and government engagement with AfCFTA. Additionally, the U.S. will benefit from the opening up of new markets for products, the competitive positioning of U.S. businesses against global trade rivals, and the formation of mutually beneficial economic alliances that strengthen energy security and supply chains. U.S. involvement in enhanced digital trade and infrastructure partnerships will enhance its position in the African trade and economic landscape and secure U.S. geopolitical interests. It is argued that sustained U.S. support for implementing AfCFTA could yield significant benefits.

On Wednesday, 21 March 2018, in Kigali, Rwanda, 44 African countries endorsed the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and 9 other African Union member countries, including Nigeria and South Africa, delayed assent to the treaty. While member states were busy signing the treaty, there were calls from different quarters in Nigeria as to whether the country should sign or not sign the AfCFTA, particularly members of the Organized Private Sector (OPS), which claimed that they were not adequately consulted during the negotiating period. The government, on its part, refrained from signing the Agreement on the excuse that extensive consultations with the relevant stakeholders, including the trade groups, manufacturers and organized labour needed to be carried out. The need for an in-depth study on the impact on the Nigerian economy was re-echoed. In order to address stakeholders’ concerns, the Nigerian President established a “Presidential Committee on the AfCFTA” chaired by the Honourable Minister, Industry, Trade and Investment. The committee was charged with the responsibility of undertaking a stakeholders’ sensitization campaign on the AfCFTA with a view to deepening and widening consultations across the six geopolitical zones. The objective of this chapter is to document the issues and processes that Nigeria has undertaken, as well as recommend policy directions for Nigeria in its attempt to strike a smart deal in the ongoing AfCFTA negotiations.

This article argues that South Africa’s climate change policy and engagement should go beyond advancing its transition to a low carbon economy, and should include adaptation, green industrialisation, and resilience. In this context the article argues that South Africa and other African countries should go beyond the narrow limits of the just energy transition framework and adopt the more holistic concept of climate resilient development. It is proposed that South Africa should support the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the African Union (AU) to strengthen renewable energy infrastructure, green industrial value chains, adaptation and resilience – thus adopting a climate resilient developmental regionalism approach. The EU carbon border adjustment measure is critically discussed. The AfCFTA and the AU are urged to build more coherent approaches between their negotiating positions in the WTO and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Safeguard measures in the form of either a duty or a quota or both, function as safety valves for countries when a certain industry is suffering or there is a threat of serious injury to the industry due to a sudden, sharp and recent flood of imports of a product into their market. In essence, safeguard measures allow a country to suspend its obligations to other World Trade Organisation (WTO) Members for a specified period, normally three years. The imposition of safeguard measures is uncontroversial, but they are an extraordinary measure as they are not imposed as a response to unfair trade. However, there is no discernible process for the extension of safeguard measures both under the WTO and South African international trade law framework. Yet the extension of safeguard measures has serious financial implications for the affected industry and thus requires a clear investigative process. The aborted litigation in Macsteel Services Centre SA (Pty) Ltd v ITAC (Case No 55450/20) laid out the problems arising out of this gap in the law. The Amended Safeguard Regulations, the WTO Agreement on Safeguards and the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Protocol on Trade in Goods are silent on this issue. In light of the recent commencement of trade by South Africa under the AfCFTA, it has become necessary to explore how this issue is regulated both within and outside the framework of the of the AfCFTA. Consequently, this paper explores the regime for the extension of safeguard measures in South Africa within and outside the framework of the AfCFTA

South Africa’s trade was examined for the period 2001-2021 to give insights into current trade with Africa as this has implications for its trade in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The structure of goods traded, trade complementarity, ease of market access, trade intensity with regional groups, and its trade integration dimension with Africa were examined. Results show that (i) Africa is an important market for South Africa’s manufactured products with greater skill and technology content and there is ease of market access for these products into African markets; (ii) its trade with Africa is highly complementary; and (iii) it has strong trade linkages with Africa’s regional groups. This is a foundation which South Africa would utilise to consolidate, broaden and strengthen its trade in the AfCFTA because (i) more complementary trade opportunities would emerge which could be harnessed in addition to current opportunities; (ii) African markets would open up more as trade barriers are reduced further, allowing products more access; (iii) current trade linkages with regional groups would strengthen as trade barriers are reduced, thus broadening the scope of South Africa’s trade in Africa; and (iv) regional value chains and production clusters initiatives would arise as market access improves and new and dynamic areas of comparative advantages emerge. The AfCFTA offers opportunities for countries to tap into under-exploited export markets in other countries and to import cheaper inputs. However, there are challenges in accessing and utilising such opportunities due to (i) non-tariff barriers like transport infrastructure; unharmonised trade facilitation, documentation, and procedures; and limitations in institutional capacities to implement trade facilitation measures.

South Africa’s trade was examined for the period 2001-2021 to give insights into current trade with Africa as this has implications for its trade in the African Continental Free Trade Area. The structure of goods traded, trade complementarity, ease of market access, trade intensity with regional groups, and its trade integration dimension with Africa were examined. Results show that (i) Africa is an important market for South Africa’s manufactured products with greater skill and technology content and there is ease of market access for these products into African markets; (ii) its trade with Africa is highly complementary; and (iii) it has strong trade linkages with Africa’s regional groups. This is a foundation which South Africa would utilise to consolidate, broaden and strengthen its trade in the AfCFTA because (i) more complementary trade opportunities would emerge which could be harnessed in addition to current opportunities; (ii) African markets would open up more as trade barriers are reduced further, allowing products more access; (iii) current trade linkages with regional groups would strengthen as trade barriers are reduced, thus broadening the scope of South Africa’s trade in Africa; and (iv) regional value chains and production clusters initiatives would arise as market access improves as well as when new and dynamic areas of comparative advantages emerge. While the AfCFTA offers opportunities for countries to tap into under-exploited export markets in other countries and to import cheaper inputs, there are challenges in accessing and utilising such opportunities due to various non-tariff barriers like trade infrastructure; unharmonised trade facilitation, documentation and procedures; as well as stiff competition.

This book is the third volume in a forward-looking series on the future of international trade and development, and it addresses one of the most pressing questions confronting Africa today: How to convert continental integration from political ambition into sustained, measurable economic outcomes. Moving beyond a legal or institutional reading of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), this book focuses on the real drivers of trade performance. It explores the structural challenges shaping intra-African trade, the constraints that continue to fragment markets and the strategic choices required to expand viable export activity across the continent. In doing so, it positions the AfCFTA as a catalyst for deeper economic transformation, industrialisation and resilience rather than merely a preferential trade agreement. A defining strength of the book is its rigorous, data-driven approach to identifying export opportunities. By applying a refined TRADE-DSM (Decision Support Model) in combination with the product space approach, the analysis provides a systematic method for translating the AfCFTA’s objectives into concrete, actionable priorities. This integrated methodology is sensitive to the realities of developing and landlocked economies, accommodates both demand- and supply-side considerations, and incorporates intensive and extensive margin strategies. The result is a practical roadmap for export diversification that bridges the gap between academic analysis and policy implementation. The book grounds its conceptual frameworks in carefully selected case studies, including Rwanda, South Africa, Tunisia and the Economic Community of Central African States. These cases illustrate how targeted strategies can unlock trade potential within Africa and beyond, while also exposing persistent barriers such as logistics costs, infrastructure gaps, tariff and non-tariff measures, and limited productive capacity. Rather than treating these constraints as abstract challenges, the book proposes realistic, context-specific responses aligned with the broader goals of sustainable development. Combining analytical depth with strong policy relevance, this volume will resonate with researchers in international trade and development economics, policymakers and trade officials tasked with implementing the AfCFTA, and private-sector decision-makers seeking to navigate Africa’s evolving trade environment. It offers both a substantive contribution to the literature and a practical guide for those committed to advancing intra-African trade in a rapidly changing global economy.