BRICS corporates: In collaboration or in competition in Africa? Case studies from the South African mining industry

Wenzel, Nadine

doi:10.1080/10220461.2014.969765

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…This paper presents detailed evidence from the first three cases. Cases Four and Six have been discussed elsewhere (Wenzel 2014(Wenzel , 2016. The three case studies presented initially here function within what Fine and Rustomjee (1996) have termed a Minerals-Energy Complex (MEC).…”

Section: Ethnographic Research Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…To enter and grow presence and market share in new locations, the majority of South African executives studied considered investors from non-South African BRICS economies as potential alternatives to their customary Western partners. They began to strategise and contemplate new mining projects once the sanctions era came to an end and before the BRICS pact existed (Wenzel 2014;Wenzel, Graefe, and Freund 2013). South Africa's entry into the BRICS alliance in December 2010 was considered symbolic rather than a step into the unknown.…”

Section: Shifting Structures: Brics Players As New Collaboratorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Surviving in the BRICS: the struggle of South African business in coping with new partners and investors

Wenzel

Freund

Graefe

2018

International Review of Applied Economics

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The purpose of this paper is to improve our understanding of how South African economic actors react to the gradual entry of non-South African BRICS firms in their established business areas. Throughout the twentieth century, South Africa's trade and investment activities were conducted overwhelmingly with Western countries. However, the end of apartheid coincided with significant shifts as new players had a wider and growing presence. South Africa entering the BRICS alliance is symbolic of the change. Ease of entry into the South African economy has increased greatly. South African businesses in key subsectors in the mining and capital equipment industry have had to adapt to new players, and find space in new structures, value chains and initiatives. This paper presents the results of this research activity from the perspective of the South African political economy. Practice-oriented research investigated how six local companies forge new partnerships and how well South African firms adapt and cope with an altered and often unstable environment. It assumed that entrepreneurial activity is not autonomous but takes place within a larger organisational framework. Entrepreneurial activity facilitates the effective exploitation of particular niches and relationships with service providers. KEYWORDS South Africa; BRICS; mining management; entrepreneurship; Chinese business relations; niche management a transmission belt for global forces to the rest of the continent'. This is key to grasping where the South African economy is positioned in the grand discussion over BRICS. After exploring the diverse interests and strategies of players from the individual BRICS nations, Carmody (2013) notes that South African interests in fact bolster Chinese big businesses' activities in Africa with impacts that remain unclear. The purpose of this paper is to improve our understanding of how South African economic actors react to the gradual entry of non-South African BRICS firms in their established business areas. Carmody does not define the particular role of South African companies in the BRICS process (Draper and Qobo 2015). In addition, it is not clear how governments politically engaging in BRICS would promote more value-added exports and attract investment in minerals beneficiation or processing at source as would be desirable (Kaplan 2015). Instead, increased competition from BRICS firms, mainly with those from India and China, has become a practical challenge for many firms, notably in manufacturing (Kaplan 2015; Manufacturing Circle 2017). An understanding of how to engage economically with non-South African BRICS actors is pertinent for policy makers and private firms (Qobo 2010; Draper and Qobo 2015). In her criticism of suspect state-business relations, Catherine Grant Makokera (2015, 127) advances the argument earlier made by Qobo (2010) on the '.. .need for the public and private sectors in South Africa to work together in order to develop further the economic diplomacy of the country. There is a clear potential to mu...

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Section: Ethnographic Research Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Shifting Structures: Brics Players As New Collaboratorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surviving in the BRICS: the struggle of South African business in coping with new partners and investors

Wenzel

Freund

Graefe

2018

International Review of Applied Economics

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“…In fact, the jury is still out on whether the BRICS grouping is a 'bargaining coalition, [an] imagined community, or [a] geopolitical fad' (Brütsch and Papa 2013). So far, observers have highlighted that the one thing the BRICS really have in common is their quest for natural resources and energy to fuel their economic development (see, for instance, Wenzel 2014;Wilson 2015). In this respect, particular attention has been paid to the role of China vis-à-vis the African continent, with academic scholarship appearing for the first time over the last ten years or so (see Alden 2008;Bräutigam 2009;Cheru and Obi 2009;Taylor 2009).…”

Section: Thinking Southmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Routledge Handbook of transregional studies

Melber

2022

The Round Table

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The Routledge Handbook of Transregional Studies brings together the various fields within which transregional phenomena are scientifically observed and analysed. This handbook presents the theoretical and methodological potential of such studies for the advancement of the conceptualization of global and area-bound developments.Following three decades of intense debate about globalization and transnationalism, it has become clear that border-crossing connections and interactions between societies are highly important, yet not all extend beyond the borders of nation-states or are of truly world-wide reach. The product of extensive international and interdisciplinary cooperation, this handbook is divided into ten sections that introduce the wide variety of topics within transregional studies, including Colonialism and Post-Colonial Studies, Spatial Formats, International Organizations, Religions and Religious Movements, and Transregional Studies and Narratives of Globalization. Recognizing that transregional studies asks about the space-making and space-formatting character of connections as well as the empirical status of such connections under the global condition, the volume reaches beyond the typical confines of area and regional studies to consider how areas are transcended and transformed more widely.Combining case studies with both theoretical and methodological considerations, The Routledge Handbook of Transregional Studies provides the first overview of the currently flourishing field of transregional studies and is the ideal volume for students and scholars of this diverse subject and its related fields.

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“…economies as potential alternatives to their customary Western partners. They began to strategise and contemplate new mining projects once the sanctions era came to an end and before the BRICS pact existed (Wenzel 2014;Wenzel, Graefe, and Freund 2013). South Africa's entry into the BRICS alliance in December 2010 was considered symbolic rather than a step into the unknown.…”

Section: ) Growing Shares In New Marketsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surviving in the BRICS: the struggle of South African business in coping with new partners and investors

Wenzel¹,

Freund²,

Graefe³

2021

Ownership and Governance of Companies

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BRICS corporates: In collaboration or in competition in Africa? Case studies from the South African mining industry

Cited by 5 publications

References 5 publications

Surviving in the BRICS: the struggle of South African business in coping with new partners and investors

Surviving in the BRICS: the struggle of South African business in coping with new partners and investors

The Routledge Handbook of transregional studies

Surviving in the BRICS: the struggle of South African business in coping with new partners and investors

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