SA Brics official upbeat on Africa
AFRICA is set for a decade of “unbelievable growth and prosperity”, according to Dr Iqbal Survé, chairman of the SA chapter of the Brics Business Council.
Dr Survé will take up the annual rotating chairmanship of the overall Brics Business Council at a mid-term meeting in Shanghai, China, next week.
The Brics membership is made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Dr Survé said the mid-term meeting was very important, coming a few months before the 10th Brics summit in Gauteng from July 25-27, with the Brics Business Council set to meet in KwaZulu-Natal on July 22-23.
A Brics Business Forum meeting takes place on July 25 in Gauteng.
Established in March 2013 during the fifth Brics summit in Durban, this year will see South Africa become the first Brics nation to hold the rotating chairmanship of the Brics Business Council for a second time.
The Brics Business Council aims to facilitate co-operation between the five countries in various sectors and promote trade and industry.
The growing momentum within the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement saw 44 countries sign the AfCFTA in Kigali, Rwanda, this week, while a number of others, including South Africa, signed the Kigali Declaration, which committed to the establishment of the African economic community, which aspires to the free movement of persons and goods to facilitate trade.
Commenting on the above, Survé said: “This is absolutely the best thing to happen to Africa in a very long time.” The AfCFTA agreement is figured to have the potential to bring together 1.2 billion people with a combined GDP of over $2.5 trillion if successfully implemented.
Survé said the AfCFTA would allow the Brics grouping to attract further investment into Africa to create skilled jobs while, more importantly,
enabling an increase in intraAfrica trade from a lowly 12% at present.
“The global norm for intra trade is 30%, but Africa has not been trading with itself,” Survé said. “But Africa is now set for a decade of unbelievable growth and prosperity.”
The Brics nations make up more than 40% of the global population and according to Survé the formation of Brics has proven to be hugely beneficial to Africa as a whole. “Brics countries are now Africa’s biggest trade partners,” he said.
“A number of our initiatives as the Brics Business Council have been very successful to date, including the launch of the New Development Bank (NDB), also known as the Brics Bank, and the pending formation of the alternative ratings agency.
“The African Regional Centre of the NDB was launched in Sandton in August 2017, the first of the NDB regional centres to be launched.” Survé also pointed to the deepening of interBrics relations in areas such as financial services, skills development, manufacturing and the easing of travel restrictions.
“For Africa, of course, it is important that there is continued infrastructure investment and deepening investment.” Survé will be leading around 50 senior business executives from various sectors to the midterm meeting.
Continued deregulation and the digitalisation of economies are key focus areas, as are the green economy and energy sector.