Of BRICs and mortar : the growing relations between Africa and the global South

Abstract

The ambitions of the global South for a larger share of global wealth and political power are at least partly being played out on the African continent. A snapshot of the scope and nature of the involvement of the BRICs and other emerging markets in Africa is provided, focusing on the economic (trade, investment and development assistance) and political spheres of these growing relations. The article concludes, first, that increasing Africa-South relations indicate a relative decline in Africa-North ties, that the shift in Africa’s trade relations from North to South results in trade creation rather than trade diversion and that South partners provide much needed infrastructure development assistance to the continent. Politically these relations are formalised in a host of frameworks and associations and operate in fundamentally different ways from those between Africa and its erstwhile colonial masters. It is doubtful, though, to what extent Africa’s capacity to influence the global agenda is strengthened, especially given that not a single African country is (yet) a member of the ‘South Big Four’, the BRIC.