The South African BRICS Business Council represents South African business interests within the BRICS framework, working to deepen trade, investment, and industrial cooperation with partner countries. It facilitates dialogue between government and the private sector to identify practical opportunities in priority sectors such as infrastructure, energy, and manufacturing. Through business forums and working groups linked to BRICS, it helps translate diplomatic relations into concrete commercial partnerships.
Take a look at some of their activities with their international counterparts over the past year:
Tencent and Alibaba help China close its skills gap
China is confronting a widening labour shortage that threatens to slow its industrial momentum, with new data revealing a shortfall of nearly 20 million highly skilled workers — including a deficit of five million in artificial intelligence alone.
South Africa could become a manufacturing hub for China, thanks to Belt and Road Initiative
South Africa is positioning itself as a manufacturing and export hub for Chinese companies seeking to expand into African markets, with new investment flowing into sectors such as textiles, footwear and manufacturing under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
What the reinsurance agenda means for South Africa’s financial future
The 2025 BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro underscored one thing: the alliance is no longer content being a geopolitical talking point. It’s setting the stage for structural change in global finance.
From calls to de-dollarize trade to plans for greater financial self-reliance, the summit outcomes could have lasting implications for sectors like reinsurance, where risk, capital, and stability intersect.
Russia’s bid to lure the world’s brightest minds
In a country once defined by its vast reserves of oil, gas, and grain, Russia’s scarcest resource today may be people.
With unemployment at a record low — just 2.3 percent — and a shrinking population that shows no sign of reversing, the Kremlin is facing a paradox rare in modern economies: there are jobs, but not enough people to fill them.
From coal mining to coding? UAE tries to arm workers for the digital age
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has unveiled an initiative that aims to reskill workers for the digital age and foster global talent mobility.
Presented by Latifa Mohammad, Senior Human Capital Manager at DP World, during the BRICS Skills Auditorium, the UAE’s programme focuses on cross-sectoral knowledge exchange and collaboration.
South Africa’s factories try to reinvent themselves
In a warehouse east of Johannesburg, hydraulic presses stamp out metal parts for mining trucks. A few kilometres away, workers at a small cosmetics lab workers pour lotions into jars. Between the clang of steel and the quiet hum of mixers lies the story of South African manufacturing — a sector beset with challenges, trying to reinvent itself one product line at a time.
Indonesia powers villages with renewable energy and skills
In the remote corners of Indonesia, where electricity remains a luxury, a transformative initiative is lighting the way.
The Green Jobs – Renewable Energy Provision programme is empowering young people to bring sustainable energy solutions to the nation’s most underserved regions. It is a collaborative effort between Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and the IBEKA Foundation.
Huawei, Microsoft, and IBM drive digital skills revolution in South Africa
South Africa is a country of contrasts. Official unemployment is at 32.9%. Youth unemployment is more than 60%. Yet employers in mining, green energy, and digital finance cannot find the people they need.
