SOUTH AFRICA ZAR RUSSIA RUB INDIA INR CHINA CNY BRAZIL BRL LOCAL INSIGHT. GLOBAL REACH

Transcription

1 SOUTH AFRICA ZAR RUSSIA RUB INDIA INR CHINA CNY BRAZIL BRL LOCAL INSIGHT. GLOBAL REACH THE INSIDER S GUIDE TO MOSCOW WHY INFORMAL ECONOMIES MATTER SO MUCH

2 IT S A JUNGLE OUT HERE. A CONCRETE ONE TO BE PRECISE. From our world-class infrastructure, dynamic and diversified economy, vibrant tourism sector and prudent monetary policies, South Africa is a globally competitive destination and offers the potential investor an abundance of opportunities. By facilitating inclusive growth, we have effectively committed ourselves to creating the continent s most investorfriendly environment, setting the scene for tangible investor satisfaction and ensuring sustainable growth. Simply put, when looking to invest, look to South Africa. Visit for more. Brand South Africa JB/E

3 P12 Cover feature P28 P10 Contents Issue 4 2 Editor s picks 3 Guest editor s letter 4 Contributors 6 Round up 10 What making America great again means for Africa 12 WEF Africa special 16 Expat abroad 18 Insider s guide to Moscow P62 P16 28 Africa s most inspiring leaders 38 The power of BRICS informal economies 42 Analysing the energy needs of BRICS 48 BRICS military and security 54 Ngũgĩ wa Thiong o on decolonisation 60 The Russia/SA Seasons cultural exchange 62 Brazil s moment in time 64 What it means to be born free in South Africa Every African University should become an advocate of African languages. Press governments to change their anti- Africa slavish suicidal linguistic policies. P54 GALLO IMAGES/ GETTY IMAGES/ ISTOCKPHOTO

4 EDITOR S LETTER Highlights from the New Development Bank s (NDB) 2nd annual meeting I had the pleasure of attending the meeting, held in New Delhi, India from 31 March to 2 April 2017 and these are my take-aways... Vuyo Dlamini The theme of the meeting was Building a sustainable future. The NDB believes that environmental and social sustainability is crucial to addressing infrastructure gaps and sustainable development needs consistent with national laws, regulations and its mandate. In 2016 the NDB Board of Directors approved seven infrastructure projects in all founding member countries, for a total of USD1.5billion, in the areas of renewable and green energy as well as transportation. On the eve of the second annual meeting, the NDB and the government of the Republic of India signed a loan agreement approving the provision of sovereign project finance facility of USD350million for the Madhya Pradesh Major District roads upgrades in India, spanning over 1 500km. The Bank being only 18 months old is now getting out of the start-up phase and ramping up its operations. The most important challenge for the Bank right now is for it to grow beyond the BRICS countries, said Vice President of NDB Leslie Maansdorp. One of the outcomes from the second annual meeting is an approval in principle, of the Bank s General Strategy document for The governors also approved the document on terms, conditions and procedures for the admission of new members to allow other emerging economies to be part of the Bank. The NDB s African regional centre is set to be opened in South Africa in May this year and a lot of ground work has been done already. The office is likely to be in Sandton, Johannesburg. Looking ahead, the NDB plans to present to the Board of Directors about 15 projects for a total of about USD2.5 to $3billion across all our member countries in 2017 alone. NDB president K V Kamath concluded his opening remarks at the meeting by emphasising the urgency with which delivery is required, in order to successfully carry out the NDB as well as BRICS overall mandate of economic empowerment. Speed, agility and innovative thinking will be needed to succeed and meet aspirations in a world where rapid change is a given. These will be our mantras. Leveraging human capital and leveraging technology in everything we do will be critical, he said. For more information please visit: IN THIS ISSUE Main feature: As part of our Africa Special Issue, we bring you an excerpt of a thought-provoking essay by renowned author Professor Ngũgĩ wa Thiong o, aptly themed Secure the base: Decolonise the mind. Page 54 Also in this issue, we detail the partnership series by Dr Simanga Alex Tsela that is a policy brief on the importance of energy co-operation and diplomacy. Page 42 Insider s guide: Get to know what makes Moscow tick, from housing challenges to everyday experiences of business owners. Page 18 Economics: We tackle the informal economy in the context of BRICS. Page 38 WEF special: On 3rd 5th May, Davos comes to Durban as the port city hosts the World Economic Forum on Africa. What does WEF on Africa mean for the average person? What is corporate South Africa s involvement? Find out on Page 12 GALLO IMAGES/ GETTY IMAGES/ ISTOCKPHOTO 2 BRICS JOURNAL

5 GUEST EDITOR S LETTER PUBLISHED BY EDITOR Vuyo Dlamini GUEST EDITOR Vasily Pushkov CONSULTING FEATURES EDITOR Zama Nkosi-Mabuye EDITORIAL CO-ORDINATOR Batandwa Malingo MEDIA CONSULTANT Richard Goller Getting to know you PHOTOGRAPHER: NDUVHO MUTHIVHI / GALLO IMAGES/AFP/MEHDI FEDOUACH / ISTOCK IMAGES DESIGN Charl Malherbe DIGITAL EDITOR Roxanne Francis SUB EDITOR Colette Braude PROOF READER Nadia Goetham SUBSCRIPTION & CIRCULATION CO-ORDINATOR Sduduzile Mbuyazi WHERE TO FIND US: Address: 33 Fricker Road, 1st Floor, Illovo, Johannesburg, editorial@bricsjournal.com Copyright 2017 by BRICS Media Company. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the editors, publisher, or advertisers. Printed by, division of Novus Holdings During a lunch break at the first BRICS Media Summit, which took place in Moscow in October 2015, a fellow journalist from India told me that BRICS is probably the least boring international association of countries currently in existence. I would go even further and argue that it is an especially fun one. I would also argue that if you take a person on the street in any country, show them a map of the world and ask them to select any five countries completely at random, it is highly unlikely that they would pick a group as diverse as BRICS. And that is one of the reasons why BRICS has been facing so much scepticism since its widely covered inaugural summit in On the surface, the BRICS countries seem to have as much in common as elephants and penguins. The five countries represent completely different cultures, histories and even civilisations. There are some vague similarities, of course. For example, one could say that China and India both represent Eastern cultures. But you can be sure that anyone who says that has never stepped foot in either of these countries; otherwise they would know that they are talking about two completely different worlds. Besides South Africa and India, who both count English as an official language, the language barrier inside BRICS is enormous. Anyone who has experience setting up five-way real-time communication between the BRICS countries knows what a nightmare the simple matter of time On the surface the BRICS countries seem to have as much in common as elephants and penguins. difference can be. By the time Brazil s Rio de Janeiro is waking up in the morning, Russia s eastern city of Vladivostok is already turning in for the night. Also, I bet that in any BRICS capital you can find a reasonably well-educated person who still can t point out all the other BRICS members on a map. And yet somehow it works. Underneath its multi-coloured and multi-cultural exterior, BRICS is a group of nations with clear mutual interests. We see the multitude of joint economic projects being implemented inside the association. We see the clear demonstration of political support between different BRICS members. BRICS tourism is also booming. Experts from around the world are finding new and different explanations for this wonderful phenomenon. But in my opinion this growing geopolitical, economic and cultural interchange is far from reaching its full potential. The problem is that this flurry of activity inside BRICS is still happening largely due to the support and enormous efforts undertaken by the governments of its members. The public has yet to really take initiative. The reason is simple. For all of the kaleidoscopic beauty of the BRICS countries, the sad truth is that we still don t know much about each other. And this is where the media comes in. It s up to the media to break down the information barrier and start to help us get to know each other. Vasily Pushkov, Head of International Projects at Sputnik News Agency BRICS JOURNAL 3