SA not the fifth BRIC in the wall

South Africa continues to strive to add an S to the so-called BRIC group of countries. But local experts are not convinced it's a good idea.

The possibility of SA joining the group of developing countries consisting of Brazil, Russia, India and China continues to make news. It again came under the spotlight at the G20 summit in Seoul last week when Russian President Dmitry Medvedev reportedly said SA had "applied" to join the BRIC grouping.

But local experts are not convinced it would make sense.


"Our view is that SA's ambitions to join the BRIC group are somewhat misguided," says Standard Bank economist Simon Freemantle.

"Firstly the BRIC grouping itself is not a coherent political institution which has developed over decades of strategic and bilateral co-operation. It was an acronym coined in 2001 which has powerfully encapsulated a new global economic architecture and emerging market thrust, but, as a coherent platform, the BRIC dialogue forum lacks longevity and institutional capacity.

"Also, SA is not able to meet the BRIC standards in terms of the size of its population and its relative economic clout."

Mzukisi Qobo, head of the emerging powers and global challenges programme at the SA Institute of International Affairs says that, apart from a bit of marketing and prestige, there is not much mileage for SA to gain.

"It will be a diplomatic exercise that would not have much substance," he says. "SA has a very important arrangement in the form of IBSA (the India, Brazil, SA dialogue forum) that it is participating in, and it is making very constructive contributions in areas like the United NationsSecurity Council. Joining the BRIC (grouping) would be an unnecessary duplication of diplomatic arrangements."

But Anthony Leymans, a professor in political economics and head of the department of political science at Stellenbosch University, says SA does stand to benefit politically and economically from being included in BRIC.

He says China and India, which have a major stake in the SA resources sector in terms of investments and imports, might support SA's request to join.

At a press conference this week, reflecting on the G20 summit, Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan said BRIC could provide SA with the incentive and fraternal environment in which to learn lessons from faster-growing countries, share knowledge and technology and increase trade.

Freemantle says while it is positive that the government is pursuing wider and deeper engagements with the emerging world, and the country is clearly a prominent member of the global south, desires to join the BRIC forum are not a feasible and viable way of increasing this relevance.

"But while we don't see joining the BRIC forum as a must, we are abundantly positive on the potential for SA-BRIC commercial ties and our ability to contribute to global conversations through a variety of other multilateral platforms," he says.

Still, the topic of SA joining the BRIC grouping keeps surfacing.

"It is because SA has actively lobbied to become part of the group," says Qobo. "SA is the first to have lobbied (to join BRIC). You are invited into these groups; you can't lobby. It diminishes your prestige and you profile to lobby, because this is about economic weighting. It is not just any club where, for example, Zimbabwe can lobby to become a member. So it does not make sense."

Source: Times LIVE