The perfect time for Brics to rethink collaboration

Twice in its life, our Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and SA) partnership of emerging economies has been tested, and now is the time for us to reimagine ways of collaborating — especially in light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Soon after it was established in 2006, the partnership was faced with its first test, when the financial crisis engulfed major parts of the world. Back then we were largely left to our own devices and had to look inwards and towards other traditional global institutions for a response. We didn’t have the Brics New Development Bank.

In late 2019, our second test came in the form of a public health emergency — the Covid-19 pandemic — which soon morphed into an economic emergency. It first hit China before going global, presenting a new economic contagion.

With limited knowledge about the origins of the virus, and how it was spread, the most immediate response was twofold: first, we all imposed lockdowns; and second, the lockdowns were used to protect our health workers and prepare our public health infrastructure to cope with increased hospitalisation and severe disease. These were mainly national responses.

During the first wave of the pandemic, our countries were presented with the opportunity to collaborate; as they were preparing national infrastructures they simultaneously joined hands in the supply of PPE to protect health workers from infection and slow down the spread of the virus.

Soon the demand for PPE grew exponentially, necessitating imports. Commendably, there was close collaboration between Brics countries — notably SA and China — including in some instances on quality standards. However, the localisation agenda — across medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and vaccines — should never be lost in the conversation.

The lockdowns also severely disrupted global supply chains and endangered food security, especially in

Two weeks ago, 2,000 South African children joined an important global trial of the Sinovac vaccine

Africa. It wasn’t helpful that some countries, including within the Brics partnership, imposed bans on the export of food. Luckily, the bans were lifted a few weeks into the pandemic. Also, on the health front, some countries in the beginning imposed export restrictions on some critical medicines.

But on the positive front, SA has since the outbreak of the pandemic received $2bn (R29bn) in funding from the New Development Bank under the Covid-19 Emergency Loan Programme to fight the pandemic and support our economic recovery.

At their recent annual summit, the Brics heads of state agreed to deepen co-operation to fight Covid-19 and mobilise the political support and financial resources needed to respond to future pandemic preparedness.

This includes the establishment of a virtual Brics Vaccine Research and Development Centre and a Brics Integrated Early Warning System to forecast future outbreaks of infectious diseases. Again, the localisation imperative and building local capacity deserve to be repeated.

Two weeks ago, 2,000 South African children joined an important global trial of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine. This is to be applauded.

Regrettably, the race to vaccinate the world has been driven by significant individualism, with Africa finding itself at the back of the queue.

However, the past should not hold us back from increasing our co-operation as a bloc which accounts for about 41% of the world’s population and about 24% of global GDP and 16% of all global trade. In fact, the underinvestment in our public health systems and infrastructure — save for China — offers a massive opportunity to maximise our co-operation. Aggressively investing in building and strengthening our public health facilities will foster closer co-operation.

Also, the challenges of underinvestment in public health infrastructure are an opportunity for us to spur growth and industrialisation through localisation, and this opportunity should not be squandered.

Similarly, we can — and should — increase cooperation based on the principles of complementarity to make a difference in the lives of citizens from our partner countries. For example, SA enjoys comparative strength and unrivalled leadership in such fields as anaesthetics and cosmetic surgery, and there is room to expand the scope of co-operation and learning from each other.

Outside the immediate priority of the current pandemic conditions we should also join hands in the production of medical devices and pharmaceuticals, as well as conducting clinical trials.

The pandemic is an opportunity for us to rethink our co-operation as Brics partner countries and health and pharmaceutical professionals to achieve better health outcomes for all our people. Investing in each other’s public health systems to make them stronger is a key towards a more progressive form of collaboration, and that way our bloc will take its rightful place in an increasingly protectionist and inward-looking world.