South African Institute of International Affairs
Building Freedom to Build Democracy
1st April 2016 Human Rights Day celebrates a precious proposition: each individual is a full member of society, with entitlements to opinion and behaviour that... →
The Abuja-Pretoria axis should reboot and pivot toward solving Africa’s multitude of challenges
31st March 2016 President Jacob Zuma, accompanied by seven members of his executive and a dozen business leaders, undertook a high profile and widely commented... →
Unhappy South Africans
23rd March 2016 The World Happiness Index 2016 was released in Rome this week, ahead of World Happiness Day, which took place on 20 March - a day before South... →
AGOA and the future of US – Africa trade relations
22nd March 2016 The US Congress passed the African Growth and Opportunity (AGOA) Act into law in 2000 in order to promote US and African trade relations and... →
Turning its Fortunes Around – Lucky 13 for the APRM?
9th March 2016 On 9 March, the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) turns 13. ‘APRM Day’ commemorates the formal launch of Africa’s innovative governance... →
Moving South Africa Away from Junk Status?
26th February 2016 Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has just presented his first Budget Speech since being reappointed following the unceremonious firing of Minister... →
Keeping the wolf from the door – Did President Zuma succeed?
17th February 2016 The single most significant thing that President Zuma acknowledged in his ‘State of the Nation Address’ last week was the risk of a credit rating... →
Future of the African Peer Review Mechanism hangs in the balance
2nd February 2016 On 29 January 2016, a group of Africa’s Heads of State and Government met in Addis Ababa to determine the fate of one of the AU’s most daring... →
Higher Education Failing to Give Africa’s Youth a Pass
29th January 2016 Events globally, across Africa, and in South Africa – urban riots in France in 2005 and Britain in 2011, the ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings, student... →
The Inter-Ministerial Committee on Investment: A Panacea for the Promotion of Investment Act?
22nd January 2016 On 19 January President Jacob Zuma announced the establishment of an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Investment. This took some in the... →
Policy reform is key for future of mining
4th January 2016 As a mining jurisdiction, South Africa’s score (relative global rank indexed out of a maximum of 100) on the Fraser Institute Investment... →
Save water, produce energy, innovate to tackle climate change
11th December 2015 Sustainable development summits and climate change negotiations have slowly but steadily paved the way to the recognition of the inextricable... →
Adept negotiations needed by Africa at FOCAC
4th December 2015 The upcoming Forum on China Africa Co-operation (FOCAC) summit in South Africa, the sixth gathering since 2000 and only the second to be held at... →
Leveraging China-Africa relations starts with communication
1st December 2015 In the context of a ‘normalising’ Chinese economy, that seeks to move from a manufacturing-centred economy to one driven by consumption and... →
South Africa and AGOA – What is at Stake?
30th November 2015 US President Barack Obama’s announcement earlier this month to Congress to partly suspend South Africa’s benefits under the Africa Growth and... →
Combating gender-based violence in Africa – Was the APRM a responsive framework?
25th November 2015 It’s that time of the year again: the month that marks 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. Familiar terms again dominate the... →
Value Chains in Southern Africa: Entry Points for Donor Impact
9th November 2015 Recent interviews of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMME) that SAIIA conducted in Botswana can provide pointers on the focus that donor support... →
Moving beyond Africa’s crisis of institutions
6th November 2015 Since independence, most African states have struggled to develop effective institutions that are responsive to the governance and development... →
Will competitive elections lead to change in Tanzania?
2nd November 2015 'Change’ was the word de jour as citizens headed to the polls for the fifth multi-party elections in Tanzania on 25 October 2015. At first glance,... →
Will the APRM make for better Ugandan elections?
30th October 2015 In February 2016, Uganda will go to the polls. It is only the country’s third election held since the constitutional restoration of multi-party... →
What South Africa should get out of its engagements in the DRC
27th October 2015 President Jacob Zuma’s visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo on 16 October 2015 came at a critical time in the bilateral relations of the two... →
Economic realities and the #FeesMustFall movement – Colliding worlds or space for engagement?
26th October 2015 21 October 2015 started out as the day that business and economic analysts were expected to reflect closely on the state of the South African... →
Universal health care is a tall order given southern Africa’s poor finances
22nd October 2015 Creating universal health care – one of the targets under the newly ratified Sustainable Development Goals – will have different challenges for... →
African unity will remain illusionary without values
21st October 2015 ‘African unity’ has been one of the most consistent themes in African political thought. Since independence, the vision of a continental order... →
The need for specialised investment courts
6th October 2015 Sorting out a trade dispute can be a tricky thing. Nations may want to advance their economic interests but are reluctant to upset relations with... →
South Africa's foreign policy walks a fine line
5th October 2015 Today, 5 October 2015, South African authorities are expected to submit their reasons for failing to arrest Sudanese President Al-Bashir when he... →
Untangling the regulatory yoke for businesses in South Africa
25th September 2015 South Africa is a country of contradictions. Depending on one's circles and political or moral convictions one always gets something fascinating.... →
Should Heritage Day be renamed Heritages Day?
23rd September 2015 South Africa has seldom approached Heritage Day with a more fractured sense of what constitutes our heritage and what should be celebrated. Angry... →
China–Africa Co-operation: Capacity Building and Social Responsibility of Investments (September 2015)
21st September 2015 The increasingly visible Chinese economic presence in Africa has led to analyses that run the gamut from highly laudatory, ie, considering Chinese... →
WTO 2.0: Will the WTO be able to reinstate its centrality in the global trading landscape in the 21st century?
17th September 2015 That the World Trade Organization (WTO) has been in the grip of a systemic crisis since 2008 is well known. Notwithstanding relatively minor... →
The United Nations at 70: South Africa’s role in global peace and security
16th September 2015 Today, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) will convene for the 70th time since its inception in 1945, at the UN headquarters in New York. UNGA takes... →
Cancelled APRM Summit Sends Distressing Signals
14th September 2015 The sudden cancellation of an Extraordinary Summit on the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) raises serious concerns about the future of this... →
Next time better? Conducting the APRM’s ‘second-generation’ reviews (September 2015)
9th September 2015 Reviews conducted under the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) are intended to occur at regular intervals, helping countries conduct an ongoing... →
Mining licence controversies continue to jeopardise industry
8th September 2015 In the midst of a global commodity price bust and a rapid Chinese economic slowdown, South African mining companies are struggling to keep shafts... →
Glimpses of the ‘magnificent land’: Exploring parts of China with delegates from Africa
2nd September 2015 For the outside visitor, whether first-timer or a more regular one, urban China repeatedly produces the same effect: surprise, then fascination,... →
Fossil fuels are dead, long live fossil fuels: Botswana’s options for economic diversification (August 2015)
1st September 2015 Botswana is at a critical historical juncture. It has enjoyed a stable democracy since 1965 and strong, quality economic growth for the last few... →
Calais migrants: A microcosm of a misunderstood crisis
25th August 2015 If tabloid headlines are anything to go by, the United Kingdom is fighting off the greatest invasion force threatening the island since the Blitz.... →
What does the TFTA really mean for regional integration in Africa?
18th August 2015 The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) between the member states of three African regional economic communities – SADC, EAC, and COMESA – has been... →
SADC Summit 17-18 August 2015
17th August 2015 Heads of State and Governments of the member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) will be meeting this week in Gaborone,... →
Co-operation in the South Atlantic Zone: Amplifying the African Agenda (August 2015)
14th August 2015 South Africa’s foreign policy prioritises peaceful and sustainable growth in Africa by maximising its external engagements in increasingly... →
Power ships as a 'short-term solution' to mitigating South Africa’s energy crisis?
11th August 2015 Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states have been called to produce strategic plans to transition their electricity supply... →
