South Africa Pushes BRICS Investment Towards African Industry and Value Addition

South Africa is using the expanded BRICS grouping to argue for a shift in the economic relationship between emerging markets, with President Cyril Ramaphosa calling for investment that builds manufacturing, processing and productive capacity rather than reproducing Africa’s traditional role as a supplier of raw commodities.

Speaking at the BRICS Business Forum in New Delhi, Ramaphosa said developing economies had too often participated in global value chains mainly as commodity suppliers while technology, manufacturing and higher-value production remained concentrated elsewhere.

“We cannot accept a future where Africa supplies the minerals on which the next generation of industries depends, while value addition and manufacturing take place elsewhere,” the South African president said in remarks published by The Presidency.

From trade volumes to productive investment

The intervention places industrialisation at the centre of South Africa’s agenda at the 18th BRICS Summit, held in New Delhi from 12 to 13 September. According to The Presidency, Pretoria is seeking to expand intra-BRICS trade and investment, promote value addition and mobilise capital for African infrastructure aligned with the African Continental Free Trade Area.

Ramaphosa argued that greater trade within BRICS would not by itself transform developing economies if production structures remain unchanged. He called for capital to flow into manufacturing and beneficiation, industrial technologies, energy systems, infrastructure and logistics, with companies establishing production facilities and building local capabilities.

India relationship in focus

The summit also provided a platform for South Africa to deepen its economic relationship with India. The Presidency said an India-South Africa Business Leadership Roundtable would focus on bilateral trade and investment and encourage additional Indian foreign direct investment in pharmaceuticals, infrastructure, critical minerals and the electric vehicle battery value chain.

Those sectors are significant to South Africa’s broader industrial strategy because they connect mineral resources and infrastructure with downstream production. The policy challenge is to ensure that investment creates productive capacity and local value rather than simply expanding extraction and exports.

A wider African question

South Africa’s position also reflects a wider debate across Africa over how the continent participates in changing global supply chains. Demand for minerals used in batteries, renewable energy systems and other technologies has increased the strategic importance of African resources, while governments and development institutions have increasingly emphasised domestic processing and regional value chains.

For BRICS, the test will be whether expanding South-South economic cooperation produces a different investment model. Ramaphosa’s argument is that the grouping should become a platform not only for commerce, but for changing where production, technology and value creation take place.

Sources: The Presidency of South Africa: BRICS Business Forum remarks; The Presidency: South Africa’s BRICS Summit priorities.