South African Institute of International Affairs
A New Era of Ambitious Global Climate Action
8th November 2016 Nearly 200 countries will convene in Marrakesh, Morocco today to advance progress made on the Paris Agreement on climate change. Signed by 197... →
How the New Development Bank can change the way banks do business
1st November 2016 In his mid-term budget speech last week, Minister Pravin Gordhan made some bold claims about infrastructure spending – R300-billion for transport... →
A Blow to South Africa’s Soft Power: Leaving the ICC
25th October 2016 South Africans woke up on the morning of 21 October 2016 to the shocking announcement that the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation,... →
BRICS – the dream deferred, for now
20th October 2016 The commanding position that the BRICS economies once held in the post-global financial crises era legitimised their claims for more equitable... →
New realities require new policy solutions
13th October 2016 With 27,000 African savannah elephants a year illegally killed for their ivory, the species is in peril. Now international action at CITES and the... →
US Elections 2016: the view from Africa
11th October 2016 This year, an elevated level of press has surrounded the upcoming US general elections on 8 November, primarily because of the erratic and often... →
There is good as well as bad news about the state of governance in Africa
7th October 2016 Declining safety and deterioration in the rule of law are holding back progress in governance in Africa. This is according to the latest Ibrahim... →
The unaccounted billions in international aid
4th October 2016 South Africa has contributed billions of Rands in developmental assistance to the DRC. Yet according to traditional definitions of aid, these... →
Can biofortified foods help Africa achieve food security?
29th September 2016 The upcoming 2016 World Food Prize will honour contributions in the field of biofortification. With almost one person in four being undernourished... →
South Africa’s Commitment to Governance Reform: An Inconvenient Truth
26th September 2016 Partnerships between government and civil society organisations (CSOs) can be volatile if not adequately nurtured, leading to mutual suspicion and... →
Can Multilateral Efforts Save Threatened Wildlife?
23rd September 2016 Dozens of wildlife species are endangered, pushed ever closer to extinction by habitat loss and illegal trade. This is an important and disquieting... →
What is CITES and why should we care?
20th September 2016 The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is an international regulatory treaty between 182... →
A Tale of Two Summits
16th September 2016 The 11th G-20 Summit in Hangzhou, China closed earlier this week, focusing on the 'New' Industrial Revolution and technological changes, such as... →
The Rise of Sustainable FDI: Emerging Trends in the SADC Region
13th September 2016 The international investment landscape has been shifting over the past two decades. Governments are increasingly realising the potential for... →
African Peer Review: Removing Itself from a Rut?
8th September 2016 The African Peer Review Mechanism – the continent’s home-grown governance assessment and promotion tool – seems to be slowly turning its fortunes... →
Speaking to development and growth: The G20 summit in Hangzhou
5th September 2016 As the full extent of the potential for the world to enter into a Great Depression became clearer in 2008, the G20 Finance meeting was elevated to... →
Corruption: A Barrier to Africa Rising
31st August 2016 The slowdown of the African economy – due to declining Chinese demand for raw materials, unsustainable, uneven growth and the potential Brexit... →
From first-mover advantage to coming from behind: A new phase of the Japan-Africa partnership
29th August 2016 When the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) was launched in 1993 by Japan in co-operation with the World Bank, the UN,... →
How can Tanzania’s engagement with the world be optimised by Magufuli?
16th August 2016 On 25 October 2015, Tanzanians elected John Pombe Magufuli as their president – nicknamed "The Bulldozer" for his self-assertive, brash leadership... →
The ‘frontline states’ in the Baltic Sea region are feeling increasingly threatened by Russia
12th August 2016 The already-anxious, West-aligned states bordering Russia are receiving alarmingly mixed messages from their NATO allies. At its summit in Warsaw... →
Dismantling Zimbabwe’s 'Deep State’
27th July 2016 The Zimbabwean state has provided some of the biggest lessons in humility for political analysts in this century. Its government, headed by the... →
A cry for recognition and protection: Zimbabwe’s forgotten Informal Cross Border Traders
22nd July 2016 The Beitbridge border between Zimbabwe and South Africa, the busiest border post in Southern Africa, has been rocked by unprecedented violent... →
Africa’s $100 billion infrastructure gap: why Africa must seize the moment on the New Development Bank
21st July 2016 Africa’s infrastructure financing deficit, estimated to be $100 billion a year, remains persistently large. The resulting lack of investment in... →
Reconfiguring South Africa’s BEE Models in Mining: Linking profits to employee share schemes
12th July 2016 The mineral resources minister recently gazetted an amended Mining Charter, which generated a good deal of controversy. Although the revised... →
Modi’s African safari
5th July 2016 Nearly nine months ago the third India-Africa Forum Summit, and the first that included all African states, was held with much fanfare in Delhi.... →
A New Narrative for African Agriculture
29th June 2016 The drought that has hammered Southern Africa over the past years is a potent reminder (if ever it was needed) of the foundational importance of... →
Uncharted territory as the UK opts to exit the European Union
27th June 2016 What many political and financial analysts viewed until a day before the British referendum on a European exit as scaremongering has come to be.... →
Does a Brexit matter for South Africa?
22nd June 2016 Who would have thought that the Brexit debate’s rising emotions would have reached their apogee in a horrific killing in the streets of a West... →
African election trends 2016: A good year for democracy?
15th June 2016 With eight countries already going to the polls and seven more planning to do so before December, 2016 has been a busy year for elections in... →
Evaluating African countries: hard-won lessons from within the continent
10th June 2016 African countries seem to be forever undergoing assessments and evaluations. Many stem from the governments of international development partners... →
World Humanitarian Summit: Effective discussions or talk shop?
9th June 2016 According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Turkey is the state with the most refugees worldwide, hosting three... →
The 2016 US presidential elections and the implications for US-South Africa trade
8th June 2016 The 2016 US presidential elections are just around the corner, and the world has been watching closely as this year’s particularly colourful and... →
Ivory sales by Zimbabwe and Namibia could ‘create demand spike’
7th June 2016 In early May, the governments of Zimbabwe and Namibia took the unusual step of petitioning the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered... →
Land in Africa: Property Rights Needed
6th June 2016 The ‘Land Question’. From legislation under consideration – such as the new Expropriation Bill – to a reopened land claims process, to violent... →
The Hissène Habré Trial: Triumph over Opposition, Oblivion and Distance for the Victims and Civil Society
31st May 2016 Nearly 26 years after he was forced out of power, former Chadian president Hissène Habré has been found guilty of crimes against humanity, torture... →
Wage strikes loom in a sector that cannot afford it
27th May 2016 If Dickens were observing South Africa’s mining sector, in the context of an economy that is growing at less than one percent a year, and a... →
The Demise of African Unity?
25th May 2016 ‘I dream of the realisation of the unity of Africa, whereby its leaders combine in their effort to solve the problems of this continent.’ - Nelson... →
International Day for Biological Diversity: Enhancing Biotrade in an Era of Biodiversity Mainstreaming
19th May 2016 The 2016 International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) will be commemorated on the 22nd of May with the theme of ‘Mainstreaming Biodiversity:... →
The EU-Turkey migrant deal: Will it work, and at what cost?
9th May 2016 Looking back at the events of Europe’s migrant and refugee crisis in 2015, it is tempting to quote Dickens: ‘It was the best of times, it was the... →
South Africa and Nuclear Security Summits
14th April 2016 The Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) process – to prevent non-state actors, particularly terrorists, from acquiring nuclear material – was launched... →
South Africa's responsibility to the 'poor, the voiceless and the least remembered'
6th April 2016 Speaking in February at the annual council meeting of the South African Institute of International Affairs, I expressed my fear that the... →
