South African Institute of International Affairs
How to facilitate trade in Africa
10th October 2019 While the World Trade Organisation’s Trade Facilitation Agreement can act as a powerful tool for progress, it cannot work in isolation. It also... →
Rethinking Africa’s role at the Human Rights Council
9th October 2019 In UN human rights forums, African States have a reputation for voting as a bloc, obstructing human rights, and defending the sovereignty of... →
Atoms for Development
7th October 2019 The South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) is pleased to announce the commencement of a new three-year project on the peaceful... →
Climate change: A race we must win
20th September 2019 The timing of the Climate Action Summit later this week, only three months before the annual meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on... →
Robert Mugabe’s journey from freedom fighter to oppressor
11th September 2019 During a trip to Harare a few years ago, I met with local officials and businesspeople, chatting with them in their offices, in hotel lobbies, and... →
SAIIA strongly condemns xenophobic attacks, calls for leaders to ‘step up to the plate’
5th September 2019 South Africans like to repeat a saying that is supposed to encompass the country’s philosophy and behaviour: ‘Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu’, or a... →
Synchronicity for Africa and the G7
23rd August 2019 Engagement with Africa requires facing up to inequalities that erode growth and development. We call for a harmonised approach for deeper, more... →
How Africa measures up on governance
19th August 2019 Data on governance, like any other official statistics, are a public good and should be accessible to all. Otherwise, the true scale of violence,... →
‘African states among most innovative in measuring & reporting on SDG 16’
10th July 2019 African states are among the most innovative and committed countries in measuring and reporting on the UN’s Governance Goal (Sustainable... →
The Osaka G20 Summit and Africa
1st July 2019 G20 leaders meeting in Osaka on June 28 and and June 29 may be wondering whether the planned agenda will be overtaken by rapidly unfolding events... →
Africa and G20: Not just development
1st July 2019 As the world’s premier forum on international economic governance, the G20 plays an important role in global rule-making. Born out of crisis, the... →
Free trade area finally comes to Africa
14th June 2019 May 30 was a particularly significant day for Africa. While global trends move from integration towards heightened protectionism, African countries... →
New Bill offers robust game plan against cybercrime in South Africa
13th June 2019 A significant increase in internet access combined with a growing reliance on e-governance, commercial services, social networks, and the Internet... →
African governments can learn lessons from Asia’s industrialisation
12th June 2019 South Korea’s new ambassador to South Africa, Jong-Dae Park, offers advice on growing economies South Korea’s new ambassador to SA, Jong-Dae Park,... →
Tracking AU themes: Why the APRM should rise to the occasion
6th June 2019 Africa and its diaspora community are wrapping up the commemoration Africa Month – marking the anniversary of the creation of the Organisation of... →
Xenophobia erodes South Africa’s leadership potential
28th May 2019 President Cyril Ramaphosa’s inauguration, scheduled to coincide with Africa Day on 25 May this year, intended to highlight ‘government’s commitment... →
East Africa: Marine-based ‘blue economies’ offer massive potential
24th May 2019 Developing ocean-based resources in areas such as fisheries, aquaculture, coastal tourism, transport and ports, mining and energy, could generate... →
Notes from ’94: Remembering South Africa’s first democratic elections
29th April 2019 On the 27 April 1994 some friends and I decided to vote at a polling station in Soweto. In South Africa’s first democratic election, voters could... →
Views on South Africa’s contribution to global affairs over the last 25 years
29th April 2019 It’s been 25 years since South Africa re-joined the international community. In that period, the country has been prominent in helping craft global... →
BAPA+40: Learning from the Global South
20th March 2019 One word to describe the current state of multilateralism is ‘contested’. Within existing international institutions, like the United Nations,... →
African peer review: progress is being made, but there are problems
18th March 2019 There was great excitement and hype when the African Peer Review Mechanism was launched 16 years ago. This was because it presented an innovative... →
BRICS energy cooperation: Why Russia and South Africa still need each other
28th February 2019 While the controversial $76-billion nuclear energy deal between South Africa and Russia is off the cards, the country — and by extension, the... →
Kagame’s AU reforms will struggle to survive without him
26th February 2019 The year 2018 was a frenetic one for Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who doubled as chair of the African Union. He was the driving force behind the... →
Towards healthy ecosystems in 2019
17th January 2019 I spent the early part of December 2018 in Katowice, Poland, witnessing the complex discussions on climate change unfold at COP24. This was my... →
The road ahead for the DRC
15th January 2019 Félix Tshisekedi’s apparent victory in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s long-postponed presidential election should be a cause for celebration,... →
Global perspectives: G20 leaders summit
7th December 2018 Council of Councils global perspectives roundups gather opinions from experts on major international developments. In this edition, members of five... →
The G20’s Africa problem
4th December 2018 Although the G20 has made a limited effort to broaden its engagement with Africa in recent years, it has yet to include Africans in discussions of... →
The SA-EU Strategic Partnership Summit: correcting the compass needle
15th November 2018 South Africa and the European Union will meet on 15 November in Brussels for the seventh Summit of the SA-EU Strategic Partnership. It is a... →
We need a flexible world order
26th October 2018 A geopolitical transition is underway. The post-1945 liberal world order is fracturing and failing to deliver on critical global public goods such... →
Here’s how SA can tackle homelessness
15th October 2018 A walk through Johannesburg’s metropolitan area highlights the glaring reality of homelessness in South Africa. Reasons for why and how people... →
Mandela and military force: the moment dictated the means
5th October 2018 In the winter of 1998 Lesotho was roiled by protests after a controversial election. Frustrated opposition parties, which won only a single... →
Reviving regional momentum
24th August 2018 Following the 38th Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit which took place on 17-18 August 2018 in Namibia, questions around the... →
South Africa’s role in the lion bone trade: a neglected story
23rd August 2018 Africa’s wild lion population is estimated to be between 20,000 and 30,000. Researchers have good reason to believe that the real number is closer... →
Anticipation builds around Zimbabwe’s elections
2nd July 2018 President Emmerson Mnangagwa literally looms large above the bustling streets of Harare: his smiling face beams down from giant billboards all over... →
Environmental activism is not a whites-only issue
28th June 2018 During a conference last year, I enthusiastically attended all the sessions, from good governance to peace and reconciliation, and human rights.... →
Who leads Africa?
28th May 2018 Pan-Africanism – the liberation of Africans through regional cohesion and solidarity – has played a crucial role in shaping the continent’s... →
Strengthening Africa-Europe ties in the city of dragons
24th May 2018 Slovenia’s capital city Ljubljana – with a population of just 250,000 – is symbolised by dragons and is one of the greenest cities in Europe.... →
How to break the impasse between opposing camps in ivory trade debate
23rd May 2018 Elephants are in an extremely precarious state in both Africa and Asia. Demand for ivory from Africa has caused significant declines in wild... →
The future is African
22nd May 2018 The African continent is unique for many reasons: our diverse landscapes, melting pot of cultures, rich biodiversity, fertile soils and vast... →
How to ensure communities living near mining activities get a better deal
9th May 2018 The South African government and the Chamber of Mines are in the process of formulating a new Mining Charter. The charter serves as a blueprint for... →
When elephants fight: will the US-China trade war hurt South Africa?
19th April 2018 When US President Donald Trump announced that he would ask Congress to impose a 25% tariff on more than 1 300 Chinese imports amounting to an... →
