Independent Media's 15th BRICS Summit digital magazine

SA to advocate for ‘open and rules-based global governance, trade, financial and investment system’

South Africa will host more than 40 heads of state for the 15th BRICS Summit, which starts in Johannesburg today (tuesday), the largest gathering of global leaders since the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic.

on the agenda is the possible expansion of the bloc, with 22 countries, including Egypt, turkey, Indonesia and Argentina having applied to join BRICS to be part of the rise in the Global South, under the theme of “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Acceler-

ated Growth, Sustainable Development and Inclusive Multilateralism”.

the summit is aligned with the BRICS business forum, which not only provides an opportunity for the bloc’s countries and the private sector to gather, but is also an opportunity for the African sector and private sector from the Global South.

A large number of countries have converged on South Africa and the business sector will look at deepening economic interac-

tion, trade opportunities and partnerships

BRICS leaders President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping will be in the country while Russia will be led by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will join the summit via video link.

South Africa’s overall trade with its BRICS partners has increased by an average growth of 10% between 2017 and 2021. BRICS now

accounts for 21% of South Africa’s global trade in 2022, with trade with China accounting for about 15% of South Africa’s global trade with a total trade of R556 billion.

India accounts for 6% of the total trade, increasing from R140bn in 2021 to R225bn in 2022.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, addressing the nation on Sunday, said the country’s foreign policy is a matter that is vital to its progress as a nation.

he said the world has become more complex and fractured as it is increasingly polarised into competing camps with multilateralism being replaced by the actions of different power blocs, “all of which we trade with, invest with, and whose technology we use”.

“It is for this reason that South Africa continues to advocate for an open and rules-based global governance, trade, financial and investment system.

“It must be a system that does not depend on the exercise of power or unilateralism, but by the advancement of the interests of the peoples of the world. through stronger relations with other countries, manifested through investment and trade relations, we can grow our economy, create more opportunities for new businesses and create jobs.”

Ramaphosa said South Africa’s foreign policy aims to promote the country’s national interest based on the protection and promotion of national sovereignty and constitutional order.

he said it is also aimed to improve the wellbeing, safety and prosperity of citizens, and the achievement of a better Africa and world.

“the key pillars of our foreign policy include the promotion of human rights, peace

and stability and the strengthening of trade and investment ties with other countries.

“the foreign policy stance we have taken since the advent of democracy has positioned South Africa as a reliable and influential partner on our continent and in the world.”

Ramaphosa said this has enabled the country to have friendly and valuable relations with countries around the world at political, diplomatic, trade, investment, sporting, social and many other levels.

“It is these principles that guide our participation in BRICS.

“together, the members of BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – make up a quarter of the global economy, they account for a fifth of global trade and are home to more than 40% of the world’s population.

“BRICS as a formation plays an important role in the world due to its economic power, market potential, political influence and development co-operation.”

Ramaphosa said the value of BRICS extends beyond its sheer size.

“BRICS countries can collectively shape global dynamics; and acting together, have the potential to drive significant changes in the world economy and international relations.

“together, the BRICS members have used their collective voice to call for a world that is more equitable, balanced and governed by an inclusive system of global governance.”

he said South Africa’s BRICS membership has created positive opportunities for South Africa, enabling the country to have a strategic relationship with China.

“Based on the strategic relationship be-

tween South Africa and the People’s Republic of China, we will be signing several agreements during President Xi’s State visit.

“We have steadily strengthened trade and investment ties with other BRICS countries alongside collaboration in areas like development, skills, technology, security and innovation.”

one of the examples of how South Africa has benefited, said Ramaphosa, is the New Development Bank, which was established by the BRICS countries in 2015.

“our country has been funded by the bank in several infrastructure projects to the value of R100 billion in sectors such as roads, water, transport and energy.

South Africa has always championed the interests of Africa within BRICS. to further advance the African development agenda, more than 30 heads of State and Government from across Africa will be attending the summit.”

BRICS and afRICa

“The key pillars of our foreign policy include the promotion of human rights, peace and stability and the strengthening of trade and investment ties with other countries .”

3Sixty Global Solutions Group: Khandani Msibi, Group CEO

3SIXTY GLOBAL SOLUTIONS GROUP evolved from funeral services, and is now diversifying into biotechnology (pharmaceuticals). We spoke to Khandani Msibi, Executive chairman of 3Sixty Global Solutions Group and Group CEO of NUMSA Investment Company to learn more.

1. What was the rationale for diversification into the fields of biotechnology and pharmaceuticals?

When I joined 3Sixty Global Solutions Group (“The Group”), its major business was provision of burial and cremation services through Doves Group as well as Independent Crematoriums South Africa (“ICSA”). We saw this business model as unscalable and extremely hard to market. Thus, we shifted our focus to the “life-enhancement” side of things instead of the “end of life” side of things. The immediate diversification was to get into life insurance with the acquisition of Union Life in 2009 and we later rebranded it 3Sixty Life.

Our strategic view about our clients was that it is more desirable to help them live longer, healthier lives and pay us a premium for longer, as opposed to relying on a business model which entails a once off transaction, burial or cremation services. We classified death as an unfortunate event for which our clients must be covered to ensure a dignified send off in its eventuality.

We expanded our business strategy to encompass business models which can help prolong life and active economic participation. The medical aid industry became very attractive as a means of fulfilling that strategy. As a result, a 10year strategy was developed from 2010 to enter the healthcare industry. The Group started at the bottom by starting 2 health care advisory companies, NUMSA Financial Services and 3Sixty Client Solutions and progressed to the acquisition of Sechaba Medical Solutions which we since rebranded to 3Sixty Health. 3Sixty Health administers both Sizwe-Hosmed Medical Scheme and the South African Breweries Medical Aid Society.

Further analysis indicated that medical aid costs are driven by hospitalisation, pharmaceutical products, and specialist services. We attempted to enter the hospital industry with little success, our view at

that time was that the pharmaceutical entry is difficult and that South African pharmaceutical companies were primarily distributors of products from foreign companies. As such our group did not want to be in that type of business arrangement. We regarded specialists as the “gods” of the industry that kept power to themselves and could not be disrupted.

It was not until I met Martin Magwaza, that the possibility of playing in the biotech space, through innovation as an equal amongst international innovation-based companies became apparent. We have over the past 5 years invested significantly in biotech to develop, reformat, and reformulate existing compounds which have set us apart from existing South African pharmaceutical companies. We created 4 start-up companies which focus on well specified and well-chosen areas of biotechnology, namely:

3Sixty Biopharmaceuticals:

In this subsidiary we invested in Covid therapeutics, Covid vaccines, and antimalarials. The Group successfully completed animal tests for a Virus-Like Particles vaccine grown off tobacco leaves, with the majority of our work having been internationally published in peer reviewed journals. We are about to conduct animal tests for our Covid therapeutics and malaria drugs. 3Sixty Biopharmaceuticals is currently expanding its anti-infectives portfolio to tackle multi-drug resistant infections through a new strategic partnership. Our company is also pursuing compounds that show potential for the treatment of Alzheimer’s.

Sixty Biomedicine:

Under 3Sixty Biomedicine, we have botanical extract-based women’s health products, the first migraine prophylaxis capsule and proprietary strains of rationally designed probiotics for gastric health and metabolic disorders.

3Sixty Nuclear Medicine:

We are preparing to launch radioisotopes for cancer treatment, rheumatoid arthritis, and haemophilic synovitis.

Cape Sativa:

This is our cannabinoid business focused on

using nanotechnology to produce finished dose formulations. This subsidiary is not in the business of growing cannabis nor doing primary processing. Our focus is to develop cannabinoid-based therapeutics for cancer, communicable diseases, metabolic and mental health disorders. The business is about to start animal trials for our cancer applications. Additionally, we have

developed water-soluble cannabinoids for use in beverage and nutritional products.

2. What opportunities are there for South Africa in terms of pushing R&D, development and production of biotech and pharmaceutical products?

South Africa lost a culture of investment in innovations as the State has been discouraged

Khandani Msibi, 3Sixty Global Solutions Group CEO

from being entrepreneurial with the gap left by the State not filled. You would remember that the Sasol coal to fuel, Pebble Bed Modular Reactor, Rooivalk and many other technologies we led the world with were part of the State’s investment in innovations.

Despite having vast technological innovation, South Africa fails to capitalise on these technologies, which are available from universities and state research agencies. Despite South Africa’s world-class research capability, it lacks entrepreneurship collaboration, so our scientists do research out of scientific curiosity rather than progressing technologies from conception to commercialisation.

Additionally, unlike Nasdaq in the United States of America (USA) the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) does not have a culture of supporting new ventures, the requirements for listing are such that you need to have a track record of at least 3 years of revenue and profitability. Our retirement fund legislation is such that investment in unlisted assets is uncommon and venture capital funding is also limited.

Unless we unleash funding to entrepreneurs, value in the JSE will always be driven by the problem of “too much money” chasing “too few assets” and the JSE appreciation will remain at variance with the performance of the economy for its citizens, red hot stocks in the mist of increasing unemployment.

Investment in innovation is the only reason why the USA dominates the world economy, the rest of us are their clients and at times we copy what they have produced. Investment in innovation for South Africa will make us an industrial giant we should be, it’s the only way we can eliminate

unemployment and poverty and solve some of our most complex problems.

As an African organisation with global aspirations the diseases of the developing world like tuberculosis (TB) and malaria will receive serious attention from us. We need to ask ourselves how can TB remain as the number one killer in South Africa in this day and age, how can malaria be the number one killer in Africa and both without Africans and South Africans making significant investment in research? That being the case, investment in such areas will be our contribution to society amongst other things.

3. Does SA have the capacity and resources to compete in the biotech sphere on a global scale? Please elaborate. Yes, South Africa has enormous research capability and capacity in State agencies and universities. These capabilities exist but they have remained unrecognised because we lost the culture of investing in innovations at the level of the State. Our economy is too skewed towards financial services and mining. Banks employ engineers so that they can assess mining proposals, but they are in the dark about Biotech. A country will only become successful in areas it focuses on and heavily invests in from a research and investment perspective.

Our competitive advantages include being the lowest cost research destination, not being new to manufacturing, having a skilled workforce that is unemployed and having the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA), a globally recognised regulatory agency. Although limited, South Africa has a few companies that specialise in clinical studies and the University of Cape Town’s Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine has a Biosafety level three (High containment) accredited facility handling highly infectious disease agents required for

basic research and diagnosis. Our country has the skills to become a biotechnology powerhouse, a position we occupied before losing it to India. As an organisation we picked this opportunity and have spent the past 5 years gobbling up technologies, registering patents, developing, and testing products. We have a pipeline of block busters which will delight our stakeholders once unveiled and launched.

4. What potential opportunities linked to the energy and telecommunications sectors is The Group investigating?

We regard energy and telecommunications as the next frontier for us after biotech. The organisation has looked at Small modular reactors (SMRs) and the Open Base Transceiver Station (Open BTS). Our work on SMRs has led to contacts with companies from the USA, South Korea, and China. Our telecommunications technology is a local innovation based on Open BTS, a USA open-source platform that enables calls into the Global System for Mobiles (GSM) at minimal cost. We placed the former on abeyance and some work continues on the latter, all due to the disruption of Covid and the 3Sixty Life curatorship.

5. What are some of the Group’s offerings to mitigate challenges?

Our investment is designed to address the challenges of rising health care costs caused by the burden of disease. For instance, our investments in weight loss technologies (3 weight loss products will be available) will have a positive impact on diabetes and hypertension. In conjunction with this investment, we are acquiring a company that specialises in treating diabetes and hypertension. They have a vision to expand services to include renal dialysis, pathology, and a whole lot of areas in which we can bring costs down whilst making a decent profit.

6. Is the vision of being “a listed Pan African Group with significant global market presence by 2025”on track?

This objective remains on track, albeit in different shapes. We have broken the Group into 2 groups now, Doves Group Holdings (DGH) which offers funeral services and insurance, and 3Sixty Global Solutions Group (3Sixty GSG) which offers Healthcare and Biotechnology solutions. The paths taken will be different, but the objective will be met.

7. What are the opportunities for the Group, despite the challenges?

Our investment in biotech remains the single biggest opportunity, we remain one of the few in South Africa who have invested so heavily in biotech research and development, especially considering our size. We remain in an environment where we are exposed to an abundance of technology so much so that we are like kids in the candy shop and have developed the discipline to choose high impact technologies.

8. How is the 3Sixty Global Solutions Group unique in its offerings?

Partnership symbiosis is one of our strengths, as we are able to engage with local and international partners effectively, because we have a unique biotechnological innovative offering to put on the table. Partnerships are transformative in that, through complementing one another we are able to advance each other’s objectives much quicker and cost effectively. Our growth will be driven through entry into global markets through partnerships as well as offering inward and outward innovative products. We will export South African Intellectual Property (IP) and integrate with the best global IP to advance mutual benefits with numerous partners.

It’s all systems go as South Africa hosts for the third time

MARYANNE ISAAC

NAtIoNAL and international interest will be on South Africa as the country hosts the 15th BRICS Summit comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in Johannesburg today.

South Africa will welcome heads of state, government officials, state-owned companies and private sector businesses from BRICS member states and delegates from visiting countries from August 22 to 24.

While it is South Africa’s third time as hosts, this is the first BRICS summit to be held in person since the Covid-19 pandemic and global travel restrictions.

together, BRICS constitutes about 42% of the world’s population, 27% of global GDP and around 20% of international trade – making this summit of key international interest.

BRICS ranks among the more important multilateral groupings and began in 2006 as a collective of four countries – Brazil, Rus-

sia, India and China. Initially named “BRIC”, the multilateral gathering of four emerging economies seemed set to dominate the world economy by 2050, with the first BRIC summit held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in June 2009.

BRIC increased its footprint by inviting South Africa to join; giving the group its present name – BRICS. South Africa participated for the first time in the third summit in April 2011.

the theme for this year’s summit is “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for mutually accelerated growth, sustainable development and inclusive multilateralism”. It reflects South Africa’s vision of global leadership addressing the needs and concerns of the majority of the world, and inclusion of the Global South in multilateral systems. In addition, there is a focus on building and strengthening partnership between Africa and BRICS, with exploration into opportunities in the African continental free trade area.

As BRICS continues to attract global attention with plans to expand and drive a more balanced global order, more than 40 countries have expressed their interest in joining including Saudi Arabia, Iran, united Arab Emirates, Argentina, Indonesia, Egypt and Ethiopia.

the Summit is expected to boost the local economy and tourism, with the Gauteng tourism Authority (GtA) lauding it as a significant opportunity to create jobs, and boost tourism and trade investment revenue for the province.

the formal sessions of this important gathering are expected to be spread across the major economic and business nodes of the city region including Sandton City, Gallagher Convention Centre, Birchwood and Montecasino, among others.

“this bodes well for the visitor economy and business events sector in the province, as these types of high-profile events generate much-needed jobs and tourism revenue

Ma ZHaoxu, deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of China (L); Mauro Viera, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil (2nd L); Naledi Pandor, South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation (C); Sergei Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia (2nd R); and Subrahmanyam Jaishanker, Minister of Foreign Affairs of India, arrive for a family photo at the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Foreign Ministers Meeting on June 01, 2023, in Cape Town. | RODGER BOSCH

into the economy,” said the GtA in a statement.

According to reports from Statistics South Africa, the summit comes at a time when the country has shown an impressive 46.5% rise in foreign tourist arrivals, when comparing June 2023 to the same period last year. Moreover, the stats show that business travellers tend to stay longer and spend more, with African travellers leading the pack.

“It is for this reason that the GtA ... is pulling out all the stops to ensure an excellent showcase of Gauteng’s best attractions to global and local visitors alike.

“For the GtA and many businesses in the province that rely on tourism activities and increased visitors into the province, the summit is not only about the BRICS delegates who will be here but also potentially future visits from repeat visitors once they have tasted the unique attractions that Gauteng has to offer,” the authority said.

According to details released by Government Communication and Information System (GCIS), the first event on the BRICS leaders’ programme is the BRICS Business Forum Leaders Dialogue taking place IN the afternoon of tuesday, August 22.

this will be followed by the BRICS Leaders Retreat - a signature event for South Africa as BRICS chair. Leaders will meet at a private venue for an unscripted discussion of contemporary issues of importance, with no set agenda

Day two of the Summit will start with a closed plenary, followed by an open plenary session. t he BRICS leaders will deliver national statements, followed by reports by the President of the New Development Bank, the South African Chair of the BRICS Business Council, and the South African Chair of the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance.

the eGoli Declaration is expected to be adopted as the main outcome document of the 2023 BRICS Leaders’ Summit.

GCIS added that the Summit would not be the final event for the country as host of BRICS; South Africa will continue its programme of mutually beneficial co-operation until the end of 2023.

the 15th BRICS Summit in South Africa brings African heads of state and government officials together with about 40 countries from across the world – from Argentina to Kazakhstan – eager to join the multilateral grouping.

15th BriCs summit key agendas

BRICS countries represent more than 40% of the global population and an estimated 30% of its GDP. China is expected to overtake the United States as early as 2035 as the world’s largest economy. In addition, many sovereign states are eager to establish themselves for a de-dollarised future with many countries around the world eager to join BRICS. BRICS members will come together to discuss and agree on a suitable framework and criteria for accepting new members. This is one anticipated outcome of the BRICS summit.

Other possible agenda items will include trade and skills development as well as South Africa’s desire to collaborate on vaccine manufacturing and green hydrogen.

What is BriCs and its purpose?

The acronym BRICS refers to a geo-economic group of five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The BRICS formation was largely driven by a desire to increase co-operation and collaboration among these powerhouse countries with a focus on economic, political and global governance issues.

neW development Bank or BriCs Bank

The multilateral grouping is also expected to discuss how to boost local currency fundraising and lending within the New Development Bank (NDB), also known as BRICS bank. While the NDB, which was established in 2015, is still looking at the potential use of alternative currencies, there will be no talk about a common BRICS currency during the summit.

Who is attending the 15th BriCs summit in south afriCa?

Among the attendees will be the BRICS heads of state – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend in person; however, he is represented by Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. Some 50 other leaders who are not BRICS members – among them Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi and Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo –have confirmed they will attend the talks.

Countries eager to join BriCs

Reports suggest that 40 countries have expressed their interest to join BRICS, while 23 countries have formally applied – including Argentina, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Thailand, Cuba, Egypt, Nigeria.

BRICS Business Council aims to better balance SA’s trade patterns

DIEKETSENG MALEKE & KUBEN CHETTY

thE BRICS Business Council would like to even out some of the uneven trade patterns that currently exist, according to Stavros Nicolaou, the head of the council.

South Africa holds the chairmanship in South Africa.

Nicolaou was speaking to Business Report ahead of the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg.

the council’s mandate is to promote and enhance economic growth across the five BRICS countries, and to improve trade and investment between the five countries.

the business council AGM preceded today’s summit, with the “African economic agenda for mutually accelerated growth” one of the key issues discussed.

Elaborating on focus areas for South Africa, Nicolaou said that the country exported more raw materials and imported more finished manufactured goods.

“that is even with the BRICS countries. We would like to see more of our finished products being exported and less of the finished products being imported. We need to even out the trade imbalances that exist,” he said.

“In the period 2017 to 2021, there has been a 44% growth in trade across the five BRICS countries.

“there is no doubt that trade has grown within BRICS, but we have noticed that South Africa’s exports have grown within the bloc.

“the analysis we have done is to look at the type of exports - and we are still top heavy in exporting raw material and importing the finished value-added or manufactured products from the other partner countries,” Nicolaou added.

Nicolaou said the country needed to become more focused on what products, outside of raw materials, could be exported to the four BRICS markets.

“BRICS as a bloc represents 31.5% of globalised GDP. It has eclipsed the G7 in terms of global GDP size, so it is a significant oppor-

tunity, but we need to get the right products there.”

he said exports had grown, but there was an opportunity to look at how to open up routes to market for some of the manufactured goods that were produced in the country and exported.

“Agribusiness is a big opportunity for us. If I have a look at the trade patterns on agriculture, they vary among the four BRICS countries and that in itself presents an opportunity.

South Africa’s overall trade with its BRICS partners has increased by an average growth of 10% between 2017 and 2021. BRICS accounted for 21% of South Africa’s global trade in 2022, with trade with China accounting for about 15% of South Africa’s global trade, with a total trade of R556 billion. India now accounts for 6% of the total trade, increasing from R140bn in 2021 to R225bn in 2022.

Nicolaou said that the theme of the conference was Africa and BRICS promoting multilateralism.

“I think what we would like to see is a more integrated approach; meaning Africa, par-

ticularly through the African Continental Free trade Area, pulling Africa into BRICS.

“South Africa is the conduit to the rest of Africa in this instance, in the BRICS instance, so we do have the mandate to leverage the African Continental Free trade Area to enhance not only South Africa’s trade and investment, but that more broadly of the continent,” he said.

According to Nicolaou, the third objective was to use the summit as an opportunity to showcase South Africa as an investment destination of relevance.

“As a council, we look at where are the best business investment prospects for South Africa, and that could be east or west, north or south. We don’t favour one particular region or one geopolitical sort of set-up. We will look at where are the best opportunities for South Africa,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said the discussion on a BRICS currency was still at its infancy stage.

there has been considerable discussion about a new BRICS currency that could challenge the uS dollar as the world’s reserve currency, or at the very least, provide an alternative. however, Nicolaou said this was one of many discussions that were taking place in the financial services working group.

this comes as the ANC recently confirmed that the upcoming summit would discuss the proposal of a common currency between the global south countries as part of “de-dollarisation” and strengthening trade.

“We haven’t formed an opinion as yet. It’s very early. there’s a lot more work and discussion that needs to take place before we have some palpable sense of what this must look like. Regardless, it is a conversation that needs to be held - and if it does go ahead it is something that would be some way off. We are monitoring the conversations, we will contribute our input,” he said.

the official announcement about the new currency is expected to be made during the 15th BRICS Summit, but its development could be years in the making.

Stavros Nicolaou, head of the SA BRICS Business Council. | African News Agency (ANA) Archives

BRICS Summit to shape new world order

South Africa hosts the 15th BRICS Summit with heads of state of the bloc and more than 50 leaders of global south countries expected to attend.

the summit is one of the largest gatherings of developing countries, and on the agenda will be geopolitical and geo-economic issues. these issues will determine the shape of what is effectively being described as a new world order.

the summit will shape the future of discussions on the expansion of BRICS more than 30 countries, including the uAE, Argentina and Egypt.

With the majority of the global population, BRICS countries and any expanded grouping should have the ability to shape global trade and to resolve global conflict through peaceful resolution.

the countries that are already part of the grouping have already committed to share their knowledge and expertise to help other developing countries emerge from stagnant economic climates and to contribute to the benefits of improved trade.

President Cyril Ramaphosa during a plenary session in the second Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg in the Russian Federation said the summit is an opportunity to promote enhanced global co-operation to achieve common prosperity for all the nations of Africa.

the BRICS partners are significant investors in Africa.

the Summit will therefore give particular attention to infrastructure development, supported by the New Development Bank, and the African Continental Free trade Area.

“the African Continental Free trade Area, once fully operational, will unlock the benefits of the continental market and generate mutually beneficial opportunities for both African and BRICS countries,” Ramaphosa said. he said African countries seek reciprocal trade and investment, and for the goods, products and services from Africa to compete on an equal footing in the global economy.

“Respect and mutual benefit underpin our international relations.

“African countries should, as sovereign states, be able to pursue independent foreign policy approaches that are not beholden to any of the major global powers or blocs.

“the continent’s resources must be used for the continent’s benefit.”

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Russian-Africa Summit in St Petersburg. | Pavel Bednyakov/AFP

“The African Continental Free Trade Area, once fully operational, will unlock the benefits of the continental market and generate mutually beneficial opportunities for both African and BRICS countries.”

Women’s empowerment should top BRICS summit agenda

AuGuSt is Women’s Month, a time to reflect upon and evaluate the progress women in South Africa and BRICS have made over the past 67 years.

on August 9, 1956, 20 000 South African women representing all communities marched to the apartheid government offices in the union Buildings in Pretoria. For the past 67 years, August 9 has been commemorated as Women’s Day in South Africa.

It marks the day the women of South Africa stood up to the apartheid regime to protest the extension of pass laws to African women.

on July 31, 2014, the Women’s Movement in South Africa, in conjunction with government, declared August Women’s Month. this declaration was in response to the on-

and afRICa

going struggles of women in South Africa and in response to the uN’s call on all countries to move towards achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030.

For women in South Africa and the BRICS nations, the SDG 5 speaks to gender equality. the SDG 5 calls upon all nations to:

• End all forms of discrimination against women and girls everywhere;

• Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation;

• Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation;

• Recognise and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection

policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and family;

• Ensure women’s full and effective participation and opportunities for leadership and decision-making;

• Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights;

• Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, ownership, property, financial services and inheritance;

• Enhance the use of enabling technology in ICt to promote women’s empowerment; and

• Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels.

Almost all these sub-goals in SDG 5 were first discussed and encapsulated in the Beijing Platform of Action, which emanated from

JAYA JOSIE

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube addresses the opening and launch of the Women’s Month 2023 BRICS Road Show at Coastlands Hotel in Durban.

The BRICS Women’s Business Alliance (WBA) summit took place in Durban on August 20 and 21. More than 100 women business leaders from Brazil, Russia, China and India joined their South African counterparts to engage on entrepreneurship and network on opportunities to fast-track women in BRICS countries. | Nqobile Mbonambi/African News Agency (ANA).

the fourth uN World Conference on Women in September 1995 in China. Women from South Africa, China, India, and from the Global South played an important role in defining the Beijing Platform of Action.

Women in South Africa have now decided that this year they will place special emphasis on SDG 5 that calls for women and girls’ social and economic empowerment, contributing to their ability to pursue their right to a healthy life. In 2023 the official theme for celebrating Women’s Month in South Africa is: “Women’s Socio-Economic Rights and Empowerment: Building Back Better for Women’s Improved Resilience”.

this theme links South Africa to the international campaign on Generation Equality as part of its efforts to achieve gender equality by 2030 in line with SDG 5. underpinning this theme is a commitment to stand against a system that controls women as being subservient and passive beings at the mercy of men.

As part of SDG 5, this agency is integral to inclusive and sustainable development, as economic empowerment contributes to the pursuance of the right to a healthy life.

Women and girls’ social and economic empowerment contributes to their ability to pursue their right to a healthy life. In South Africa today, there is an awareness that socio-economic empowerment is contingent upon sustainable economic development and empowering women to be an integral part of that process.

International Labour organisation (ILo) data shows that globally women comprise 49.6% of the population, but have fewer opportunities to control their lives and make decisions. In a report on BRICS countries, the ILo reports that with respect to women empowerment, challenges remain despite all the group’s members having ratified the 1951 Equal Remuneration Convention.

the biggest challenge is not implementing the convention in national legislation, and consequently structural discrimination in employment persists.

the BRICS countries need to put in place legal, institutional and government policy frameworks to deal with the roots of the discrimination.

Gender equality in education and employment contributes to economic growth and development. the 2022 SDG uN Gender

Inequality Index across 129 countries shows that BRICS countries are under-performing against the international average on gender.

A recent academic study on the role of women in economic development in BRICS by M K Pandey and I G Sergeeva in 2022 (in the Journal of New Economy, vol 23, no 1) confirms the under-performance of BRICS countries when it comes to gender disparities.

the empirical study by Pandey and Sergeeva used 2000 to 2021 World Bank data to assess women’s empowerment according to the uN Gender Inequality Index with respect to empowerment, health, and labour markets.

the study found the BRICS countries lag far behind when it comes to real justice for women’s empowerment. of the five countries, China and Russia were found to have put the greatest effort into reducing the gender gap between women and men.

Brazil is making some effort but still lags behind, while South Africa and India are confronted by deep-seated cultural problems and dynamics that mitigate against structural change.

In India, women carry the burden of being home makers, producers of goods and services, and caregivers.

the study found that over the past 40 years, China has made progress in almost all areas when it comes to disparities faced by women. the uN recently reported that over the period, China managed to eliminate absolute poverty, especially in rural areas. this investment has led to women’s economic empowerment and equality in general. China embarked upon reforms that promote women and girls in higher education, mainstream employment, better wages and entrepreneurship.

Despite 19 years of a post-apartheid government, the study found that women in South Africa are still held back by traditional beliefs about gender roles. Post-apartheid South Africa has given women more opportunities, but this is accompanied by new obstacles. the women’s movement that grew out of the struggle against apartheid in the 1950s has been consolidated into a powerful new force in the struggle against inequality and economic disparity for women.

however, notwithstanding this development, the ILo reported in 2017 that women constituted 51% of the total South African population, and yet their participation in the workforce was only at 44.3%, and at lower levels of employment.

the Pandey and Sargeeva study suggests that even in 2021, gender-based discrimination and segregation persisted in the labour

market where women work in low paid, poor quality, miserable working conditions, with no access to social protection.

Although the government has introduced policies and legislation that are in favour of women, they face the challenge of dealing with inequality in accessing basic social services in health, education, transport, housing and justice for gender-based violence.

to break through the glass ceiling that prevents women from attaining their potential, women in all the BRICS countries need the support and encouragement from the forthcoming BRICS heads of state summit. the summit needs to address the challenges listed in this article if the heads of state wish to promote economic growth and development in BRICS.

The Pandey and Sargeeva study make several important recommendations that BRICS should consider.

The study recommends:

• Work-life integration to improve productivity where working mothers may benefit from workplace flexibility;

• Increasing and enabling access to public and private finance and resources and investment to open markets for women entrepreneurs;

• Promoting internet technology among women to enable women in the workforce to be connected locally and globally;

• Addressing barriers that prevent women from accessing leadership positions by creating opportunities for women; and

• Providing quality education to advance gender equality in the workforce by motivating private and public sector employers to provide education and training for women.

If the BRICS summit takes decisions to promote these recommendations for the women in BRICS, then South African women will feel justified in the country hosting BRICS related activities in South Africa.

* Jaya Josie is an Adjunct Professor at university of Venda.

Xi Story: A champion of closer people-to-people ties among BRICS countries

BBEIJING, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) – Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, and pay a state visit to South Africa from Aug. 21 to 24.

Ahead of his trip, Xi replied to a letter from the faculty and students of the Confucius Institute at Durban University of Technology in South Africa, encouraging them to learn the Chinese language well and contribute to carrying forward the China-South Africa friendship and promoting friendly cooperation between the two countries.

In his letter, Xi said that he witnessed the establishment of the Confucius Institute 10 years ago and was pleased to see that, through the joint efforts of both sides, the educational and cultural exchanges between the two countries have yielded fruitful results.

The interaction shows the great importance that Xi attaches to promoting cultural and people-to-people exchanges among BRICS countries, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

In his speech at the plenary session of the BRICS Xiamen Summit in 2017, Xi devoted one section to expounding on how he views the cultural and people-to-people ex-

changes.

Citing an ancient Chinese saying, “amity between the people holds the key to sound state-to-state relations,” Xi said enhancing the exchanges among peoples of BRICS countries and seeing the spirit of partnership embraced by all the people in these countries is a worthy cause that deserves enduring commitment.

“A job well done in this regard will keep BRICS cooperation vibrant,” he stressed.

Over the years, Xi has personally supported the efforts to boost cultural and people-to-people exchanges among BRICS countries.

Xi has shared stories in this regard

in speeches delivered during trips to the other four BRICS countries. He lauded Carlos Tavares, a Brazilian expert on China, for enabling more people to understand China through his books, articles and speeches. In a speech delivered during a trip to India, Xi also cited verses by Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore that had inspired him.

Among Xi’s numerous interactions with people from these countries was a congratulatory message he sent in 2017 to celebrate the inaugural semester of Shenzhen MSU-BIT University, the first joint Sino-Russian university. He encouraged education officials and teachers from both countries to contribute to Si-

no-Russian educational cooperation and bilateral friendship.

Thanks to China’s active participation and vigorous promotion, BRICS cooperation has transitioned from a framework driven by the “two wheels” of politics and economy to the “triple pillars” of political and security cooperation, economic and financial cooperation, as well as cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

In recent years, cultural and people-to-people exchanges have notably gained momentum, and the activities of such exchanges are taking place regularly and have been institutionalized.

There has been a wide range of activities, from the BRICS media forums, film festivals, and cultural festivals, to women’s innovation contests, and technical and vocational edu-

cation programs. This rich variety demonstrates that BRICS countries are committed to creating a broad landscape for cross-regional and cross-cultural exchanges. They have not only accelerated the advancement of the BRICS cooperation mechanism but also presented a “BRICS model” for fostering inclusiveness and mutual learning among different civilizations.

Signboards of the 15th BRICS Summit are seen in a street of Johannesburg, South Africa, Aug. 17, 2023. (Xinhua/Chen Cheng)

Picture: SANDTON TIMES CORRESPONDENT