South Africa’s decade of relationship-building through the BRICS Business Council has reached the stage where delivery counts more than diplomacy. The relationships formed across the East, West and the emerging South exist. What remains uncertain is whether institutional engagement can be converted into working market access, functioning supply chains and real commercial outcomes for South African business.
The country’s existing capabilities form the operational base for that conversion. South Africa already produces and delivers across automotive manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, agriculture and agro-processing, machinery, financial services, renewable energy, digital services and critical minerals. Its mineral and agricultural resources remain important assets. The opportunity lies in using those strengths as a foundation for beneficiation, manufacturing, advanced services, innovation and technology-intensive production. As the SA BRICS Business Council frames it, the task 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.
Whether that connection happens depends on the mechanics of trade actually working. For a small, medium or micro enterprise, the difference between a market that exists in principle and one that can be accessed commercially can come down to certification requirements, sanitary and phytosanitary standards, customs processes, regulatory uncertainty, access to trade finance, procurement possibilities and the ability to make and receive cross-border payments. These are not peripheral issues. They can determine whether a business enters a market, integrates into a supply chain or competes for a commercial opportunity at all.
This is where the Council’s shift toward deal-making and trade facilitation matters. Its stated objective is to connect the institutional relationships and policy dialogue built over more than a decade to specific commercial outcomes, whether through investment partnerships, new export markets, technology transfer, procurement opportunities or more integrated supply chains. The targets that emerged from the BRICS Business Forum 2026 give that shift a measurable framework: identifying and addressing the 10 most significant trade barriers among BRICS members, supporting 100 BRICS start-ups each year as they expand into member markets, and facilitating 1,000 new cross-border business partnerships.
The emphasis on practical pathways reflects a recognition that matchmaking, procurement linkages, supply chain integration and trade finance are what allow smaller South African companies to find partners, secure contracts and expand into other member markets. Without those pathways, BRICS engagement risks remaining a conversation among large institutions rather than a delivery mechanism for the wider economy.
Technology and innovation follow the same logic. BRICS cooperation can support partnerships in artificial intelligence, digital services, fintech, green hydrogen, pharmaceuticals and critical minerals. The opportunity is not simply to increase trade volumes in these sectors but to build partnerships that strengthen research, technology transfer, joint manufacturing and advanced capabilities within South Africa itself. Moving beyond traditional buyer-and-seller arrangements toward co-investment, joint ventures and manufacturing partnerships is what builds the productive capacity needed to climb global value networks.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s position as a gateway to Africa adds a further dimension to the delivery question. The African Continental Free Trade Area offers a way to connect South African production and services to a much larger continental market. The argument is that South Africa should be positioned 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. That means attracting partners to invest alongside local businesses, develop joint ventures, transfer technology and build capabilities serving both domestic and continental markets. It also means ensuring that market access created through international engagement translates into opportunities for South African producers and service providers.
Execution on this agenda has a fixed deadline. South Africa’s next BRICS presidency in 2028 offers the chance to shape priorities that reflect the country’s economic circumstances and its position within Africa and the wider Global South. But the work of building that agenda cannot wait for the presidency to arrive. It must begin now, in coordination with government, the private sector and fellow BRICS Business Council chapters, examining trade patterns, identifying opportunities for industrialisation and value addition, strengthening investment partnerships, addressing barriers to market access and ensuring that South African private sector priorities are reflected in the broader BRICS economic agenda. The measure of success will be what these targets and relationships actually unlock for businesses on the ground.