South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and some of his ministers will this week visit Washington for meetings with his counterpart, President Donald Trump and his team. This will be the first direct meeting between Trump and Ramaphosa since the new US Republican-led administration assumed power in January 2025, cutting aid on the back of hostile rhetoric against Pretoria, while imposing unilateral tariffs on trading partners, including African countries.
The Trump administration expelled South Africa’s ambassador to Washington, Ebrahim Rasool, and expressed its disinterest in participating in the 20th meeting of the Group of Twenty (G20), which will bring together heads of State and government to be held from November 22 to 23 this year.
South Africa remains a major continental player, voice and gateway into the African continent. South Africa has the largest economy in Africa, with a GDP estimated at over US$403 billion in 2024, followed by Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria and Ethiopia. While these countries collectively account for a significant portion of Africa's overall GDP, South Africa has probably the most sophisticated, regionally, and globally integrated economy, hence its stability is very important for the African continent.
Relations between Pretoria and Washington rapidly deteriorated as soon as Trump assumed office. The current US leadership has taken the most adverse bilateral positions against South Africa since the country became a democracy in 1994, at the end of apartheid.
There are concerns that trade between Washington and Pretoria could be plunged into jeopardy, with Pretoria losing its preferential market access to the US under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
But probably the biggest issue for South Africa, as it seeks to reset relations with the US, should be the blanket tariffs unilaterally imposed by the Trump administration on African countries and beyond, including on major powers such as the EU, China, Latin American and Asian countries.
Given the economic and political fragility facing many African countries, dependency on the US dollar as a reserve currency and for imports, the tariffs will have debilitating economic effects that will cut economic growth for decades, while fuelling rising inflation across the continent. Many African countries will find it impossible to service their ballooning external debt. According to the African Development Bank, Africa’s total external debt rose from US$1,12 trillion in 2022 to US$1,152 trillion by the end of 2023.
Historically, African countries have marginal contribution to US trade and economic co-operation as they are largely viewed in terms of American security interests, and as cases for humanitarian interventions. Unsurprisingly, in the past two decades, China has emerged as a major economic player and development partner, forging close diplomatic ties with the African continent ahead of Washington.
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While the Trump administration has been negotiating tariffs with other countries, such as Britain, the EU, Canada and China to name a few, African countries have not yet engaged Washington either bilaterally or as a collective, although individual countries have expressed their positions in response to US tariffs. Individually, these countries pale in insignificance in both their size relative to the global market and their contribution to the global economy.
The meeting between presidents Ramaphosa and Trump offers a unique opportunity for South Africa to articulate continental interests as embraced in South Africa’s G20 agenda, but over the years, overlooked both in major multilateral platforms and within the context of Africa-US relations.
A new South Africa-US economic framework that recognises the place of Pretoria and, indeed, Africa, in a multipolar world, respecting its sovereignty and self-determination to pursue its progressive foreign policy, while addressing complex historical contradictions, would be a good starting point for relations rooted in mutual respect and shared benefits. This can also mean that Pretoria and any other African country for that matter, can pursue its domestic and foreign policy without fear of intimidation or coercion.
As expressed by Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank, in an interview with Christiane Amanpour of CNN discussing the Trump administration's trade war and its impact on the continent, Africa does not need and has no interest in a trade war with the US, but rather needs more trade with Washington as opposed to trade and economic barriers.
More fundamentally, South Africa in particular, and Africa in general, must diversify trade relations and export markets in resonance with the emerging multipolar world and diverse global markets, while leveraging on the US$3,4 trillion intracontinental free trade market and the huge youthful demographic dividend.
As a collective, Africa has some of the most diverse lucrative resources, including critical minerals and rare earth elements, a group of 17 metallic elements that possess unique magnetic, chemical and electrical properties essential for many advanced technologies, such as mobile phones, computers, and electric vehicles which are important for the green transition and security related industries.
Indeed, other countries are showing the way by hedging their economic interests outside Washington, while seeking more equal, mutually beneficial relations within the Global South. For instance, while Beijing and Washington negotiated a trade agreement to lower tariffs on goods to 10% from about 150%, China, like Brazil and other countries is seeking to expand trade and economic co-operation within the Global South, diversifying their markets by strengthening relations with parties committed to shared norms of free trade.
During the China-Brazil Economic and Trade Exchange Conference held last week in São Paulo, the two parties signed a deal worth 300 million yuan (US$40,82 million) geared towards expanded trade in agriculture, as well as infrastructure development. China is Brazil’s number one trading partner. China has, over the past two decades, championed open global trade and economic co-operation through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)stretching into Asia, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Bolivia has since moved closer to joining the BRICS bloc, while Colombia signed a deal bringing it into the BRI, drawing the two Latin American countries economically closer to partners within the global south.
Bolivia was welcomed as a partner nation within the BRICS alliance, marking a significant strategic shift in its economic, diplomatic, and foreign policy towards integration into the BRICS bloc. Its BRICS partner status marks a first step towards full membership in the BRICS, following confirmation of approval from member states.
The BRICS has evolved into a prominent intergovernmental alliance comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia still must formalise its participation in the bloc. More than 30 nations have expressed interest in joining the BRICS, reinforcing the bloc’s appeal among countries in the Global South and East, and its significance as the fastest-growing market.
In the aftermath of the summit of Latin American and Caribbean leaders in Beijing, Colombia signed up to the BRI, adding to nearly two-thirds of Latin American countries which are members of the large infrastructure and investment initiative, as Latin America increasingly looks towards China for development partnerships.
During the meeting, China pledged US$9,2 billion (€8.2 billion) in development credits, while also offering Beijing's cooperation in fighting terrorism and transnational organised crime. Beijing further committed to putting in place scholarships and training programs, urging Latin American countries to „join hands" with China to defend their rights against external bullying and coercion.
South Africa, as a member of the BRICS and the BRI, could significantly champion continental interests within and outside the African continent, seeking more opportunities within the Global South.
