Godongwana wants South Africa to ‘delink’ from the West

South Africa’s Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana has called on emerging economies to reshape their trade patterns, urging for a ‘delink’ from economic dependence on the West.

This comes as BRICS+ nations eye a stronger foothold in the global economy.

“Our economies, particularly South Africa, have been heavily dependent on the West, so a delinking for us is quite critical, in other words, changing trading patterns,” said Godongwana speaking on a panel about the expansion of BRICS at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos on Thursday.

The theme of this year’s WEF is “Rebuilding Trust”. The forum says that this is because geopolitical conflicts have led to an increasingly fractured and polarised world, which has sent ripples through global supply chains and caused inflation to skyrocket. The summit hopes to rebuild and strengthen trust amongst global stakeholders.

Looking to boost trade for the global South, Godongwana said, “our trade patterns have changed dramatically with Africa. Africa [as a whole] has now become our second biggest trading partner, which is so important for us because it reduces that dependence.”

BRICS, a group of emerging economies that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, garnered widespread attention in late August 2023 by bringing various emerging economies on board.

In January, the group expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The alliance now accounts for 25% of global exports.

“In one swoop, the BRICS rose in relevance again, adding new financial firepower as well as geopolitical heft to a group that has come to be viewed by some as the new voice of the global South,” said Afshin Molavi, a senior fellow at Johns Hopkins University.

Abdulla Bin Touq, the UAE’s minister of economy, however, sought to emphasise that BRICS is not a political alliance in his address at the WEF.

“This is something we need to clear about on this stage here right now … It is opportunities. It is trade. It is economic drivers. It is those that actually allow us to really look at BRICS with the Global South agenda of trade and economy.”

Speaking about BRICS+, Godongwana said, “there’s also a common agenda that we share.”

He said that this is because “most of these countries are not necessarily the same on a number of areas, but there are common areas that we would agree in, a common view that there needs to be a reform of the multinational institutions.” 

Read: Godongwana spins South Africa’s troubles to investors in Davos