Russia–South Africa Relations: Collaboration in BRICS and the G-20

The document analyzes the strategic relationship between Russia and South Africa, noting that while political ties are strong and mutually beneficial for challenging existing global governance structures (such as the IMF and G-20), economic cooperation remains significantly underdeveloped. It highlights South Africa's role as a gateway to the African continent and the potential for BRICS to serve as a coordination mechanism for developing nations to increase their bargaining power in global forums. The authors argue that increasing trade and investment flows is essential to making the BRICS forum more credible and reliable.

• Russia views collaboration with South Africa as a means to promote a multipolar world order and enhance its influence in global governance institutions, including the G-20, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Trade Organization (WTO).
• The BRICS forum serves as an intermediate negotiation space where member countries can align their interests before presenting joint positions to the G-20, which increases the likelihood of those positions being approved.
• Despite political alignment, economic ties between Russia and South Africa are very limited and fall far below their potential, with Russia lacking a trade mission in South Africa and having a small market share compared to other BRICS members.
• Russia recognizes South Africa's economic leadership in Africa, noting its GDP constitutes 50% of the aggregate GDP of other sub-Saharan African countries, and sees potential for joint representation in the Southern African Development Community.
• A strategic goal for Russia within BRICS is the development of a national currency payment system for trade, which could potentially lead other African nations to settle accounts with BRICS members using South African rands, thereby impacting the US dollar.
• South Africa's independence within BRICS is potentially threatened by its high trade dependency on China, although Russian experts believe South Africa can still act independently or form alliances to counterbalance this influence.
• Priority areas for future economic collaboration include mineral resources, energy facility construction (including hydropower and oil/gas pipelines), nuclear energy, and high-technology sectors such as mobile and IP-based services.

APA

Volchkova, N., & Ryabtseva, M. (2013). Russia–South Africa Relations: Collaboration in BRICS and the G-20. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Occasional-Paper-135.pdf

Chicago

Volchkova, Natalya, and Maria Ryabtseva. Russia–South Africa Relations: Collaboration in BRICS and the G-20. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2013. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Occasional-Paper-135.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Volchkova |first1=Natalya |last2=Ryabtseva |first2=Maria |title=Russia–South Africa Relations: Collaboration in BRICS and the G-20 |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=February 2013 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Occasional-Paper-135.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{volchkova2013russiasouth, author = {Volchkova, Natalya and Ryabtseva, Maria}, title = {{Russia–South Africa Relations: Collaboration in BRICS and the G-20}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2013}, month = feb, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Occasional-Paper-135.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }