Africa's foreign policy and nation branding : regional leadership and its discontents

Abstract: Whether they know it or not, countries are viewed through the lens of branding. Their brand equity lies in the norms and ideas that they project, as well as the actors (leaders) who champion such ideas and norms. Countries embody signs, beliefs, values, and imageries about what they stand for in the global system, and it is this that has an effect upon the imagery and preferences of others rather than merely marketing techniques. As such, countries carry — or project — a 'persona' that expresses their identity, ideas, values, and norms. This article focuses on the regional dimensions of South Africa's brand value and leadership. This is precisely because regions are crucial platforms through which countries project their ideas, norms, and leadership. It is also here that they build their brand equity. As such, this article examines the kinds of norms that South Africa projects through the region, and understands how these are perceived. Further, it analyses the predominant ideas that South Africa articulates

Species distribution modelling of Aloidendron dichotomum (quiver tree)

A variety of species distribution models (SDMs) were fit to data collected by a 15,000km road-side visual survey of Aloidendron dichotomum populations in the Northern Cape region of South Africa, and Namibia. We fit traditional presence/absence SDMs as well as SDMs on how proportions are distributed across three species stage classes (juvenile, adult, dead). Using five candidate machine learning methods and an ensemble model, we compared a number of approaches, including the role of balanced class (presence/absence) datasets in species distribution modelling. Secondary to this was whether or not the addition of species’ absences, generated where the species is known not to exist have an impact on findings. The goal of the analysis was to map the distribution of Aloidendron dichotomum under different scenarios. Precipitation-based variables were generally more deterministic of species presence or lack thereof. Visual interpretation of the estimated Aloidendron dichotomum population under current climate conditions, suggested a reasonably well fit model, having a large overlap with the sampled area. There however were some conditions estimated to be suitable for species incidence outside of the sampled range, where Aloidendron dichotomum are not known to occur. Habitat suitability for juvenile individuals was largely decreasing in concentration towards Windhoek. The largest proportion of dead individuals was estimated to be on the northern edge of the Riemvasmaak Conservancy, along the South African/Namibian boarder, reaching up to a 60% composition of the population. The adult stage class maintained overall proportional dominance. Under future climate scenarios, despite maintaining a bulk of the currently habitable conditions, a noticeable negative shift in habitat suitability for the species was observed. A temporal analysis of Aloidendron dichotomum’s latitudinal and longitudinal range revealed a potential south-easterly shift in suitable species conditions. Results were however met with some uncertainty as SDMs were uncovered to be extrapolating into a substantial amount of the study area. We found that balancing response class frequencies within the data proved not to be an effective error reduction technique overall, having no considerable impact on species detection accuracy. Balancing the classes however did improve the accuracy on the presence class, at the cost of accuracy of the observed absence class. Furthermore, overall model accuracy increased as more absences from outside the study area were added, only because these generated absences were predicted well. The resulting models had lower estimated suitability outside of the survey area and noticeably different suitability distributions within the survey area. This made the addition of the generated absences undesirable. Results highlighted the potential vulnerability of Aloidendron dichotomum given the pessimistic, yet likely future climate scenarios

On the pitfalls of a developmental state

Economic transformation has always been the cornerstone of the governing party since it assumed power in 1994. The notion of a developmental state has since the early 1990s been used as a catch-all phrase for the African National Congress (ANC) thinking on economic and social policies. There is even a subcommittee within the ANC called the Economic Transformation sub-committee, which is seen as the custodian of the ruling party's vision for socio-economic change, as well as offering broad guidelines for a range of policies that have to do with the economy. Over the years since the ANC came into power in 1994, the idea of building a developmental state has continued to serve as an organising principle to frame the nature of change desired by the government. It is a notion that is conceptually ambiguous and lacking in precision with respect to policy application.http://www.up.ac.za/en/political-sciences/article/19718/strategic-review-for-southern-africa/am201

Is environmentally sustainable and inclusive growth possible? Sub-Saharan Africa and emerging global norms on development

This paper critically reviews the debates on environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive growth with specific focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. It observes that, even considering its inherent limits, the discourse on growth is still imprisoned by the Washington Consensus mode of thinking. There have been attempts by various institutions and commissions appointed by heads of government to take the debate forward, but a lack of commonly agreed global norms undermines prospects for shifts in thinking. Nonetheless, countries need to undertake such efforts if there is to be any meaningful deliberation on environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive growth. In this regard, the paper also examines the strengths and weaknesses of efforts undertaken by South Africa thus far. Policy emphases on the role of the state and structural transformation that predominate in debates in formal institutions in the African continent are insufficient. This paper explores what is possible.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rsaj202015-04-30hb201

Developmental state construction and strategic regionalism : the continental reach of South Africa's development finance institutions

South African development finance institutions (DFIs) have extensive portfolios of projects they finance, with a remit that reaches beyond the domestic scene. Indeed, these DFIs are a product of history and have evolved to correspond to the country’s postapartheid dispensation. In the past, South African DFIs were used to reinforce the political ideology of apartheid and its policy of separate development. Postapartheid DFI mandates have however changed significantly. They are not just instruments of the state’s developmental agenda at the domestic level, but those also active in the region. We characterise this interlinkage of domestic developmentalism and regional orientation as strategic regionalism. The major focus of this article is to survey the role of South African DFIs in the African continent while also critically reviewing their relationship with the state’s developmental paradigm and regional strategy.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1758-58992016-09-30hb201

South Africa's foreign economic strategies in a changing global system

South Africa’s foreign policy has evolved through various presidents, from Nelson Mandela to Jacob Zuma. One characteristic lacuna through the various administrations has been the weak linkage between foreign economic strategies and domestic economic objectives. There is a gap between what is expressed in rhetoric and the actual execution of foreign policy. Further, since the dawn of democracy there has also been a gradual shift from a foreign policy that exhibited strong normative expressions, inclined to the West, to a more pragmatic foreign policy that is aligned with the new rising powers. Yet, beyond the tilt, there seems to be a lack of clarity of ideas that inform the various decisions and activities associated with foreign policy activities. This paper takes a closer look at these changes in South Africa’s foreign policy, with particular focus on foreign economic strategies as played out in the country’s role in multilateral economic processes such as the World Trade Organisation, the G20 and the BRICS, which comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rsaj202017-02-28hb2016Political Science

The rise of emerging powers in the global development finance architecture : the case of the BRICS and the new Development Bank

Abstract: Although the ascent of the BRICS and the NDB represents a challenge to the Western-dominated world order, there is little evidence to suggest that the BRICS grouping has intentions to overhaul the current global order. Nevertheless, the decision by the BRICS countries to establish the NDB has not only underscored the growing institutionalisation of the BRICS grouping, it has also potentially heralded the emergence of a counterweight to the traditional international financial institutions. The BRICS grouping is poised to play a key role in reforming the global financial system and in shaping a new development agenda. However, the new regime order that will evolve will not necessarily supplant the Bretton Woods institutions. The degree to which the BRICS countries will be able to assume a global leadership role will be contingent upon their willingness and ability to address their domestic socio-economic vulnerabilities as well as their sometimes conflicting interests and values

South Africa as a global actor : regional and multilateral trade strategies from 1994 to 2004

This thesis examInes the strategic character of South Africa's regional and multilateral trade strategies. It looks at the interplays between the domestic, regional and multilateral levels during the period from 1994 to 2004. The regional focus is on Southern Africa, looking in particular at the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Trade; and the multilateral/global backdrop is the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations from Seattle to Doha 'Development' Round. The question at the core of this research is how regionalism is appropriated by state actors to respond both to domestic and global imperatives? The central question is framed around analysing the extent to which South Africa uses regional and multilateral trade strategies to address its domestic developmental concerns and to build capacity for effective articulation at the global level. These developmental concerns encompass both social equity objectives and strategic competitive needs of domestic capital. For South Africa, the region's importance is linked to its strategic response to domestic growth challenges and exigencies linked to external forces. Drawing on the New Regionalism Approach (NRA) and Competitive Strategic Regionalism Approach as analytic frameworks, this thesis argues that South Africa uses regionalism as a strategy to address its domestic growth challenges, extend political influence in the sub-region and project power at the global level. However, due to structural disarticulation between South Africa and the region, a crucial paradox in South Africa's overall regional and multilateral trade strategies is apparent. The thesis sets out to examine this paradox, concluding that it undermines the coherence of South Africa's post-apartheid regional and multilateral trade strategies

The role of China in Africa’s industrialization : the challenge of building global value chains

The economies of Africa require urgent structural transformation and the great challenge is how industrial development can aid this transformation process. China’s ability to sustain high productivity growth was underpinned by resource allocation from low-to-high productive sectors and this was the essence of its own modernization processes. Most African countries remain highly reliant on commodity exports in a depressed global environment, exacerbated by declining demand from China as the continent’s major trading partner. This article examines the dilemmas of Africa’s reliance on commodity exports but, equally importantly, it seeks to investigate how China, based on its own experience, could contribute to assisting African countries to move up value chains via the imperative of a concerted industrialization endeavour and the commitments China has made in this regard. This article suggests an incremental approach that emphasizes the importance of institution building as the optimal route for promoting Africa’s development on a sustained basis.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cjcc202019-04-28hj2017Political Science

FOCAC at 21: future trajectories of China-Africa relations

The China-Africa relationship has continued to evolve over the last years. In light of the 8th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) that will take place later in 2021, the latest report from LSE IDEAS China Foresight brings together an international team of experts to shed light on emerging and consolidated areas of engagement between China and Africa that will likely shape the relationship in the years to come