South Africa May Join the Vanguard of Developing Markets

A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE | ECONOMIC STRUCTURE | CURRENCY | EQUITY | IN SUMMARY

The uniting of Brazil, Russia, India, and China under the acronym BRIC constitutes an acknowledgment of the significant role that developing economies are likely to play in future global growth and investment opportunities. BRIC encapsulates the importance of the three largest developing countries (Brazil, India, China) and stresses the notability of economic transitions in formerly socialist countries such as Russia. But as interest in BRIC has heated up, Africa—traditionally a central topic in economic development work—has been conspicuous by its absence. In many ways, however, the nation of South Africa can be thought of as the African BRIC: all in all, it’s just another BRIC in the emerging market wall.