SA Investment Agency CEO Talks BRICS Significance & Common Goals

"It's important to have a multilateral world that listens to different voices. And a lot of these [BRICS] economies, however big they are, they still remain developing if you look at their GDP per capita. There are a lot of commonalities about getting rid of poverty, addressing unemployment, fair trade around the world and equitable distribution of wealth. There are common goals, and we're happy to see this movement growing and the countries working together, as with many others of these trade and other platforms," the CEO said.

"South Africa from the size of the economy to the population has the smallest economy and the smallest population within the BRICS countries that offers an opportunity for us to export. […] There's a big, big benefit for South Africa to trade with countries that combined [have] almost 3 billion [of the] population. And now we have new members that are applying to come. So it's a big market for South Africa," he noted.

"Multilateral agreements generally take time not only to sign but to get into effect where they are implemented at a country level and they make changes on a day to day basis. And I think the Africa Free Trade Area Act will as well take its own time. But the positive thing is that when the countries are committed, it shows that there is will to implement Intra-Africa trade and do as best as they can to remove trade barriers," Zamxaka emphasized.

"I think many countries will be happy to trade in their own currency because it brings a bit of stability or have a currency that doesn't open themselves to, at times, market sentiments that are Western driven, where it's not even the fundamentals of the economy that are an issue," he stated.