Think BRICSA

South Africa doesn’t have the population or the GDP of the so-called BRIC’s — Brazil, Russia, India and China — so it’s a bit cheeky of us to argue we’re in the same league, right? Well, don’t tell that to the Financial Times Johannesburg correspondent Richard Lapper.  Read his take on why we punch far above our weight globally. Here’s a flavour:

Seven years ago, South Africa joined Brazil and India to form the G3, also known as Ibsa. Although its economy is by far the smallest of the three, the country’s influence within Africa gives South Africa disproportionate weight, making it an attractive partner for the Brics when they seek to exercise diplomatic muscle. That influence was visible late last year in Copenhagen when South Africa – alongside Brazil, India and China – took an active role in climate change negotiations, giving birth to the so-called Basic group…

“South Africa is becoming the corporate captain of Africa because it has more pan-African companies than any other country in Africa and this gives it a seat at the table of the Brics,” says Michael Power at Investec Asset Management in Cape Town…

For financial services groups, exchange controls and tight regulation meant the sector has emerged little scathed from the crisis and well placed to move forward. Last June, for example, FirstRand announced it would refocus activities on Africa and the region’s growing trade and investment links with India and China, agreeing a month later a strategic alliance with China Construction Bank. Like ICBC, CCB ranks among the big four Chinese banks…

South African managers are seen as less risk-averse than their counterparts in Europe and the US. The country’s ethnic diversity and tumultuous recent history means they also tend to be open to different cultures and less dogmatic about business methods. Companies have become adept at working with local partners, influencing the course of a venture even though they might not have total control…

Black economic empowerment, a policy introduced in the 1990s under which an elite of black managers was created and billions of dollars of corporate equity transferred to black business, has made South African companies more acceptable in Africa and other emerging markets. Companies have meanwhile acquired experience in selling their products to South Africa’s own emerging black middle class and low-income groups, arming them to operate in similar markets further afield. “South African business isn’t as afraid of Africa as its competitors. They know what does and does not work and I think proximity helps as well,” says Mr Power…