South African businesses are entering a more ambitious phase of engagement with the Brics nations, focusing on deal-making, trade facilitation, investment mobilisation, and measurable commercial outcomes. This shift comes over a decade after the establishment of the Brics Business Council, which has helped build relationships between South African businesses and some of the world's largest and fastest-growing economies. These relationships are now beginning to bear fruit, with opportunities emerging for South African companies to participate further up global value chains.
South Africa's participation in Brics has created important relationships that should form part of a broader strategy to diversify the country's economic partnerships. The nation should not have to choose between markets or regions, but rather explore how major economies can expand the range of opportunities available to South African businesses and strengthen the country's position within global value chains. By leveraging its mineral and agricultural resources, South Africa can use these strengths as a foundation for greater beneficiation, manufacturing, advanced services, innovation, and technology-intensive production.
South Africa already has capabilities across various sectors, including automotive manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, agriculture, and agro-processing, machinery, financial services, renewable energy, digital services, and critical minerals. The task now is to connect these capabilities to international markets and investment partnerships, while creating the conditions for South African companies to participate further up global value chains. This can be achieved through Brics engagement, which can create opportunities for co-investment, joint ventures, technology partnerships, manufacturing, research, and greater integration into value chains.
To fully exploit the Brics opportunity, South Africa needs to create an enabling environment that allows its companies, particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to participate in these markets. This includes addressing issues such as certification requirements, sanitary and phytosanitary standards, customs processes, regulatory uncertainty, access to trade finance, procurement opportunities, and the ability to make and receive cross-border payments. These are not peripheral issues, but rather critical factors that can determine whether a business enters a market, integrates into a supply chain, or competes for a commercial opportunity.
South Africa should position itself not only as a destination for Brics investment but as a platform from which international companies can build partnerships, establish production, and access opportunities across Africa. This is where business matchmaking, procurement linkages, supply chain integration, and trade finance become important. For Brics engagement to have a wider economic impact, practical pathways are needed to enable smaller South African companies to find partners, secure contracts, enter supply chains, and expand into other member markets.
The Brics Business Council's evolution to deal-making and trade facilitation is significant, with a focus on connecting institutional relationships and policy dialogue to specific commercial outcomes. The targets emerging from the 2026 Brics Business Forum provide a useful framework for this shift, including identifying and addressing trade barriers, supporting start-ups, and facilitating cross-border business partnerships. For South African businesses, the value of these targets will be determined by what they unlock, particularly in terms of investment partnerships, new export markets, technology transfer, and procurement opportunities.
As South Africa prepares to assume the Brics presidency in 2028, the country has an opportunity to shape an agenda around priorities that reflect its economic circumstances and position within Africa and the wider Global South. The African Continental Free Trade Area provides an opportunity to connect South African production and services to a much larger continental market. By positioning itself as a gateway to Africa, South Africa can attract partners to invest alongside local businesses, develop joint ventures, transfer technology, and build capabilities that serve both domestic and continental markets.
Key points
- South Africa aims to leverage its Brics membership to boost trade, investment, and economic diversification.
- The country seeks to create an enabling environment for its companies, particularly SMEs, to participate in Brics markets.
- South Africa's Brics presidency in 2028 provides an opportunity to shape an agenda around priorities that reflect its economic circumstances and position within Africa and the wider Global South.
