Contenu du sommaire : Les BRICS en Afrique : ambitions et réalités d'un groupe d'influence

Ambitions and realities of an influential group
The BRICS Forum unites a group of very different countries that share a desire to become international heavyweights. This article describes the progress the BRICS Forum made during the Fifth BRICS Summit in March 2013 in Durban, when the group solidified its position as an influencer of world events and set up cooperative bodies such as the BRICS Business Council. The authors particularly focus on the launch of the new BRICS Bank – a launch that did not happen already. They describe the difficulties of bringing initiatives to life within a group that has so little in common; they also examine the BRICS Forum's relations with sub-Saharan Africa and these relations impacts Africa.

South Africa in BRICS-African relations
South Africa's position within the BRICS regularly raises a series of questions. From a macroeconomic perspective, the country's weak gross national product, growth and demographics compared to those of Brazil, Russia, India and China brings into question its inclusion in the club of large emerging powers. However, following a foreign policy initiative, South Africa was invited to join the BRICs in December 2010 and participated in the 2011 summit in Sanya, a village on the island province of Hainan in China's far south. This article analyses the diplomatic strategies that South Africa used to join the BRICs and describes exactly how South African diplomats instrumentalized their country's self-proclaimed status as African leader and pivot in Africa-BRICS relations. This instrumentalization, which serves South Africa's own interests above all, engenders several negative effects.

Brazil's foreign South-South policy in the post-Lula era
The author analyses Brazil's foreign policy, particularly towards Africa, from the beginning of the 2000s, when Luiz Inácio Lula da Sliva's rose to power in 2003, to the present, under Dilma Rousseff. The author revisits the generally-accepted current of thought that emphasizes Lula's strong commitment to Africa, thereby highlighting Rousseff's cutbacks to the budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and reductions in the diplomatic corps. However, Carolina Mihorance de Castro points out that Rousseff's difficulty in assuming power has forced her to reduce foreign policy budgets to support internal ones. To boost Brazil's economy and get a return on Brazil's investments in Africa and Latin America, Rousseff has also had to more markedly guide foreign policy toward supporting exports. In Brazil's lively competition with China for trade and investment, sub-Saharan Africa represents an important market for Brazil and a potential ally in recognizing Brazil's international role.

How does Russia view its relationship with Africa?
Sub-Saharan Africa and Russia have long-standing relations. Recently, several bilateral initiatives and the rising importance of the multilateral BRICS forum have given these relations a new turn. In this article, Alexandra A. Arkhangelskaya looks at Russia's foreign policy and its impact on its relationship with sub-Saharan Africa, its vision of multilateralism and its international obligations. She reviews the Soviet period's legacy on Russian foreign policy in general, and as it relates to Africa in particular. She also examines Russia's participation in various multilateral ruling bodies, emphasizing the BRICS' growing presence in a multipolar and totally rearranged world order. The author studies Russia's current political and economic relations with various African countries, noting that while commercial interests and trade are increasing, sub-Saharan Africa ranks low on the list of Russia's foreign policy priorities. In her conclusion, the author suggests several official diplomatic and economic actions that would intensify Russo-African relations.

India-Senegal relations: the emergence of a “diplomacy of cooperation”Since independence in 1947, India has confirmed its position as a key actor in South-South cooperation – its status rooted in the solidarity and the anti-colonialism of the Non-Aligned Movement. The author examines a specific example of this cooperation: Indo-Senegalese relations. At first glance, the two countries seem an unlikely pair, given the lack of direct colonial ties and the absence of an Indian diaspora in Senegal. However, their relationship illustrates how the two countries have evolved politically and how partnerships between emerging countries and those that aspire to join their ranks have grown stronger. The author analyzes the place in international fora that India and Senegal have taken since independence. She studies the diplomatic and ideological changes that have occurred since then, lingering over the specific conditions that have motivated the two countries to tighten up their cooperation in recent years. The author concludes with an observation: the goal of international solidarity that both countries pursue should not come at the price of their own development.

China and Africa: The mining challenge
Beyond questions posed in the economic literature about the development implications of exporting countries' rich underground resources, this article looks at a possible rebalancing and restructuring of the Chinese economy and its impact on the economies of minerals-exporting countries in sub-Saharan Africa. China is the largest importer of sub-Saharan minerals. However, a rebalancing of the Chinese economy and a lowering of the share of investment in China's GDP is on the agenda: the new Chinese leaders have said they aim to lessen that share from 48% today to 42% by 2022. A one-percent decrease in investment could lead to a 1.3% decrease in the price of minerals. Exporting countries in Africa with the least diversified economies would especially feel the impact of such a decrease.

The Central African Republic's imbroglio
The Central African Republic's imbroglio arose from the prolongation of several situations. Structurally, the central government's authority is confined to the capital and major cities. In the country's north, rebels have taken control of rural areas and divided the nation into a mosaic of more or less autonomous regions. Over time, gangs of highwaymen (zargina) have imposed their predatory model on the territory. The putsches of François Bozizé and Michel Djotodia encouraged a massive enlistment of foreign mercenaries from Chad and Soudan to fight in the republic's conflicts. Séléka's takeover of Bangui in March 2013 inextricably tangled-up these elements, resulting in systematic looting across the country followed by confrontations that have religious overtones.