South African Institute of International Affairs
Europe’s Elections: a Yardstick for Populism
26th April 2017 Sunday saw French citizens vote in the first stage of their presidential elections, with a second run-off stage for the two lead candidates... →
South Africa’s cities: engines for inclusive economic development
19th April 2017 'Our transformation will be built through economic participation, partnerships and mobilisation of all our capacities.' said ex-Minister Pravin... →
Aluta Continua: The Unending Fight for Human Rights
6th April 2017 With the passing of struggle stalwart Ahmed “Uncle Kathy” Kathrada this week, we are freshly reminded of his legacy in the anti-apartheid movement... →
Is anyone listening? Of downgrades, hubris and redemption
5th April 2017 On 3 April the sword that had been dangling over our heads for the last two years finally came down – South Africa was downgraded by S&P Global to... →
Is South Africa Still An Emerging African Power?
3rd April 2017 In a midnight press-release, President Zuma announced the results of his latest cabinet re-shuffle, that predictably included the sacking of the... →
My Brother’s keeper
20th March 2017 A prominent thread in the conversation about Africa’s development since the end of the Cold War has been the need for good governance. The... →
Trump and Africa: Making China great again
23rd February 2017 If the first two months are anything to go by, 2017 will be an unusual year for Africa as two of its largest trading partners – China and America –... →
Africa: Governance Peer Reviews still offer Africa a major opportunity
16th February 2017 This year's African Union (AU) January summit, appropriately themed around the potential of the continent’s youth, sought to position the... →
Africa’s God presidents: Promoting democracy or dictatorship?
13th February 2017 'Grandpa, it’s enough.’ Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters party in South Africa, has called for President Robert Mugabe of... →
Africa cannot afford ‘Business as usual’ under new AUC chair
8th February 2017 So much has been said about Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s term as Chairperson of the African Union Commission already, that regardless where one sits... →
Commodity prices and investment prospects for African countries in a brave new world
6th February 2017 How drastically the world has changed since this time last year. The cumulative odds on a Trump electoral win and a ‘yes’ to the Brexit referendum... →
Trump’s ascension to office: Can he, and will he, do what he says? Implications for Africa
27th January 2017 After his inauguration on Friday, Donald Trump is now the 45th president of the United States. His decidedly short inauguration speech evoked his... →
It’s time South Africa tuned into Africa’s views about its role on the continent
26th January 2017 South Africa has variously styled itself as a ‘bridge’ between the North, the global South and Africa as well as a ‘gateway’ into the continent. It... →
A new champion for conflict prevention: but mindshifts won’t come easy
25th January 2017 Just ten days into his tenure as United Nations’ Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres chose his first formal address to the UN to be about the... →
Africa Needs To Manage Food, Water and Energy in A Way That Connects All Three
24th January 2017 There is an increasing global demand for food, water and energy. All three are inter-linked, a fact that has increasingly become the focus of... →
Regulations for Foreign Investor Act Weighted Towards Dispute Settlement
13th January 2017 On December 15 2015, President Jacob Zuma assented to the controversial Protection of Investment Act when much of the South African public was on a... →
Drought in Southern Africa points to urgent need for climate change plans
13th December 2016 It is expected that temperatures in Southern Africa will rise to between 1.5°C and 3°C due to climate change by the year 2050. This is likely to... →
Time for African voices to grow louder at the African Development Fund
7th December 2016 Lesotho is facing challenges in financing its Queen Mamohato Hospital which costs USD$67 million a year and represents half of the country’s meagre... →
How the New Development Bank can change the way banks do business
6th December 2016 Ratings agencies will again this week consider South Africa’s sovereign credit rating. Ratings agencies have indicated that South Africa’s economic... →
Why Renewable Energy is just as Important as Hydropower in the DRC
5th December 2016 The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is expected to go to the polls to elect a new leader to succeed President Joseph Kabila, whose mandate... →
DRC: The election that never happened
23rd November 2016 The 2016 elections of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were scheduled for mid-September this year, and then postponed to 27 November. But the... →
Will the new constitution protect women’s rights in Tanzania?
16th November 2016 Tanzania’s current legal framework has failed to address women’s rights and gender equality due to the prolonged and continued existence of forced... →
The Gatvol Syndrome, The Apprentice and World Politics
15th November 2016 Eight years ago the American people voted for “Yes, we can”, Barack Obama’s politics of hope. Eight years ago many across the world were... →
Trump Presidency: First reflections on the impact for Africa
10th November 2016 At long last, the most bruising and sometimes farcical election in recent US history has come to a close. What seemed unthinkable to many just a... →
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... →
