4 South Africa’s Economic Diplomacy and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement: Challenges and Prospects
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Sanusha Naidu
Abstract
Economic diplomacy has been the foundation of the international system. Within this context, economic diplomacy is not insulated from other forms of diplomatic engagements. This defines the way economic diplomacy should be interpreted and expands how the concept should be measured, especially regarding its implementation and the way it supports a country’s foreign policy. Based on this, the chapter examines an understanding of economic diplomacy in policy decisions and implementation relating to South Africa’s foreign policy behaviour. It argues that how economic diplomacy is determined in practice is linked to how South Africa’s trade policy is defined, exploring to what extent the lines of commercial diplomacy are blurred with economic diplomacy and what fundamentally informs the country’s engagements in foreign economic relations. To this end, the alignment and practice in terms of Pretoria’s African policy, and the context of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, either as an expression of the country’s formal economic diplomacy policy or its significance as part of Pretoria’s economic calculus is deemed important in disaggregating the way economic diplomacy is perceived.
Abstract
Economic diplomacy has been the foundation of the international system. Within this context, economic diplomacy is not insulated from other forms of diplomatic engagements. This defines the way economic diplomacy should be interpreted and expands how the concept should be measured, especially regarding its implementation and the way it supports a country’s foreign policy. Based on this, the chapter examines an understanding of economic diplomacy in policy decisions and implementation relating to South Africa’s foreign policy behaviour. It argues that how economic diplomacy is determined in practice is linked to how South Africa’s trade policy is defined, exploring to what extent the lines of commercial diplomacy are blurred with economic diplomacy and what fundamentally informs the country’s engagements in foreign economic relations. To this end, the alignment and practice in terms of Pretoria’s African policy, and the context of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, either as an expression of the country’s formal economic diplomacy policy or its significance as part of Pretoria’s economic calculus is deemed important in disaggregating the way economic diplomacy is perceived.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of Figure and Tables vii
- List of Abbreviations viii
- Notes on Contributors x
- Acknowledgements xiv
- Introducing African Diplomacy as a Field of Study 1
- An Overview of the Evolution of Diplomacy in Europe and Africa 11
- Common African Positions as Diplomatic Instruments 29
- South Africa’s Economic Diplomacy and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement: Challenges and Prospects 42
- Prospects for Smart Diplomacy and Its Use in the Foreign Policies of African Small Island Developing States 56
- Maritime Diplomacy and the African Maritime Agenda 71
- Twitter/X Diplomacy and Its Use and Practice in Africa 88
- The Quiet Diplomacy of the Chibok Abductions 105
- A Diplomatic Conduit: The Role of Science Diplomacy in Africa 121
- Africa’s Health Diplomacy 137
- Ghana’s Cultural Diplomacy 150
- Morocco’s Cultural Diplomacy with Africa 163
- Understanding Knowledge Diplomacy in Africa 178
- African Agency: The Case of Russian Nuclear Programmes in Egypt, Ghana, South Africa and Zambia 196
- Challenges and Triumphs for Women Leaders in African Diplomacy 221
- African Diplomacy: An Agenda for Practice and Research 236
- Index 248
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of Figure and Tables vii
- List of Abbreviations viii
- Notes on Contributors x
- Acknowledgements xiv
- Introducing African Diplomacy as a Field of Study 1
- An Overview of the Evolution of Diplomacy in Europe and Africa 11
- Common African Positions as Diplomatic Instruments 29
- South Africa’s Economic Diplomacy and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement: Challenges and Prospects 42
- Prospects for Smart Diplomacy and Its Use in the Foreign Policies of African Small Island Developing States 56
- Maritime Diplomacy and the African Maritime Agenda 71
- Twitter/X Diplomacy and Its Use and Practice in Africa 88
- The Quiet Diplomacy of the Chibok Abductions 105
- A Diplomatic Conduit: The Role of Science Diplomacy in Africa 121
- Africa’s Health Diplomacy 137
- Ghana’s Cultural Diplomacy 150
- Morocco’s Cultural Diplomacy with Africa 163
- Understanding Knowledge Diplomacy in Africa 178
- African Agency: The Case of Russian Nuclear Programmes in Egypt, Ghana, South Africa and Zambia 196
- Challenges and Triumphs for Women Leaders in African Diplomacy 221
- African Diplomacy: An Agenda for Practice and Research 236
- Index 248
