Browsing: South Africa

• South African exports to the U.S. would be subjected to a flat 30 per cent tariff, effective August 1, 2025.
• Trump accuses South Africa of maintaining one-sided trade practices that include “tariff and non-tariff barriers” and a “lack of reciprocity.”
• South Africa faults the move saying calculation misrepresents actual trade balance and fails to consider that over half of U.S. goods enter South Africa duty-free.

As the U.S. gears up for a new round of global trade realignments, South Africa faces an uphill diplomatic and economic task after being hit with a sweeping 30 per cent tariff on all exports to the United States of America.

In an unexpected and jarring move that sent shockwaves through diplomatic and economic circles, U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday, July 7, announced that South African exports to the U.S. would be subjected to a flat 30 per cent tariff, effective August 1, 2025. …

• In the six months to June 30, EU identified four major mining projects in Africa among its 13 globally strategic targets under the Critical Raw Materials Act.
• These projects spread across Malawi, South Africa, Madagascar and Zambia will receive direct EU financing and technical support.
• EU sees Africa as a key supplier of critical raw materials essential to decarbonisation, green technologies, and clean energy value chains.

In the six months to June 30, 2025, the European Union significantly ramped up its financial and technical support for Africa’s mining sector, aligning its foreign investment strategy with the continent’s growing role in the global energy transition. This renewed focus underscores Africa’s vast potential as a supplier of critical raw materials that are essential to decarbonisation, green technologies, and clean energy value chains.

In June, the EU identified four Africa-based initiatives among its 13 globally strategic projects under the Critical Raw Materials Act. …

• Marriott unveils plans to add more than 50 hotels and 9,000 rooms by the end of 2027. 
• Hilton seeks to triple its African portfolio to more than 160 hotels, opening over 100 new hotels in the coming years and creating approximately 18,000 jobs.
• Job creation, tourism, and the quest for regional connectivity fueling investments.

At the recent Future Hospitality Summit Africa in Cape Town, two of the world’s largest hotel chains—Marriott International and Hilton Worldwide— have unveiled bold, transformative plans to expand across Africa’s rapidly evolving hospitality industry.

With combined targets of over 150 new properties and more than 27,000 rooms across multiple African countries by 2027, the announcements signal not only a rising tide of foreign investment in African tourism but also a growing confidence in the continent’s economic resurgence, travel demand, and urbanization.

This strategic pivot positions Africa as the next frontier in global tourism and luxury accommodation, …

• This expansion drive comes on the heels of Hyatt’s impressive 51 per cent rooms growth across Africa in the past two years alone.
• “Last year marked a breakthrough for Hyatt in Africa, and we’re just getting started,” states Stephen Ansell, Managing Director, Hyatt, Middle East and Africa.
• An outstanding feature of the hotel’s African strategy is the dual-brand model—a cost-effective and flexible solution for rapidly urbanizing cities.

As global hospitality brands sharpen their focus on untapped and emerging markets, one name is charting an ambitious course across Africa: Hyatt Hotels Corporation. The US-based multinational is betting big on the continent’s rising middle class, robust travel demand, and burgeoning business corridors—with plans to grow its footprint by a staggering 50 per cent by the end of 2030.

This expansion drive comes on the heels of the business’ impressive 51 per cent rooms growth across Africa in the past two years …

• Tanzania, Malawi, and South Africa have entered into talks with a view to end a devastating trade war.
• Malawi, South Africa ease trade restrictions as Tanzania lifts retaliation ban on transit goods.
• Countries reaffirm their commitment to strengthening trade, and fostering economic cooperation.

Tanzania and Malawi have finally come to an amicable end to their trade war with authorities in the two countries burying the hatchet after bilateral discussions. The talks resulted in a Simplified Trade Regime Agreement (STRA) that covers South Africa, a regional trade powerhouse that was also caught in the line of fire between the two nations.

In a media communique released at the start of this month, Tanzania’s Minister of Agriculture Hussein Bashe said previously instituted restrictions have now been suspended.

He said the two countries have reaffirmed a shared commitment to strengthening trade, fostering economic cooperation, and resolving what he described as ‘existing issues.’

The …

• U.S. President Donald Trump unleashes sweeping tariffs targeting struggling African nations in a bold trade shift.
• South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and other major trading partners branded among the “worst offenders” in global commerce.
• Trump accuses countries of imposing high tariffs on US goods, erecting “non-tariff barriers,” or engaging in policies deemed harmful to American economic interests.

Even before the pain following aid cuts could reverberate across Africa, U.S. President Donald Trump has unleashed another shocker on economies in Africa, announcing a wave of tariffs targeting countries that offer Washington “unfair trade practices”.

The new measures, which include a baseline 10 per cent levy on all imports and additional “reciprocal tariffs” on select countries, could deal a sharp blow to key African economies already struggling with global economic headwinds post the Covid-19 fallout.

South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and other major trading partners now face steeper trade barriers, with Trump branding them …

• African countries undermine their economic growth by prioritising trade with Europe and the United States over regional markets.
• How do we ensure that African countries trade among themselves? asks Dr. Phenyo Butale, Botswana’s Minister of International Relations.
• “We [Botswana] have high-quality beef in Botswana and the North West province, we export it to the European Union, yet Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo buy their beef from Brazil. Does that make sense? It doesn’t,” says Dr. Butale.

Despite its vast resources and production capacity, regional trade in Africa remains low with many economies relying heavily on overseas markets. This state of affairs has prompted Botswana to raise the alarm about low levels of intra-African trade.

“It’s disheartening that Africa is still unable to realise trade among its countries,” said Dr Phenyo Butale, Botswana’s Minister of International Relations, delivering a lecture in honour of the late South African Deputy …

• Trump’s escalating aid cuts are crippling global humanitarian efforts, with the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) now forced to shut its southern Africa office.
• The closure threatens food assistance for millions, as WFP has been leading the response to the region’s worst drought in 40 years.
• With USAID slashing 90% of foreign aid contracts and WFP facing a 40% budget cut, 26 million people across seven countries are at risk of severe hunger.

The escalating U.S. aid cuts under President Donald Trump are impacting millions worldwide, exposing the extent to which American taxpayers have been funding global aid. This raises a critical question: Is Trump’s decision justified?

His administration’s aggressive push to reduce foreign aid—led by the so-called Department of Efficiency in Government—continues to disrupt operations of major international organizations, with the latest casualty being the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP).

Currently, WFP provides food assistance to over 150 million …

• Stryk Global Diplomacy picked to spearhead talks on oil and gas between Africa and U.S. President Donald Trump.
• The deal aims at ensuring that Africa’s energy interests are well represented in U.S. legislative and policy discussions.
• “Africans need energy to fix energy poverty issues and spur economic growth,” said Stryk Global Diplomacy.

The African Energy Chamber (AEC) —a lobby that represents the African energy sector–has enlisted the services of a global consulting firm, Stryk Global Diplomacy (SGD), to spearhead talks on oil and gas between the continent and U.S. President Donald Trump administration.

In an update on Tuesday, the African Energy Chamber said the move aims at ensuring that Africa’s energy interests are effectively represented in U.S. legislative and policy discussions.

“Stryk is a super Lobbyist. He understands Africa and he gets results. He is adaptive and forward-thinking. He achieves results by building consensus. I am confident he is going …

• Donald Trump threatens to cease all funding to South Africa.
• South African-born Elon Musk against Expropriation Law.
• South Africa says the new law is just and seeks land equality in the wake of apartheid. 

Donald Trump and his advisor, Elon Musk, have threatened to cease all aid to South Africa over its Expropriation Law. The move comes after South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa signed an Expropriation Bill into law this January a move that does not sit well with Trump and Musk, an American billionaire who was born in South Africa.

South Africa says the law, seeks to empower the state to conduct land expropriation to provide equitable compensation to those who lost their land under the infamous apartheid regime. “The land expropriation law seeks to repeal the apartheid-era Expropriation Act (1975) which saw thousands of African families forcibly removed from their land to benefit the white minority,” explains a …