US Wants To Strengthen Commercial Ties With South Africa, Says Yellen

According to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the U.S. wants to strengthen commercial ties with South Africa to diversify global supply chains.

Yellen also praised South Africa for its "bold" involvement "Just Energy Transition Partnership," which the U.S. and other Western countries support. "This partnership represents South Africa's bold first step toward expanding electricity access and reliability and creating a low carbon and resilient climate economy," Yellen said, as reported by Reuters.

According to Yellen, the promotion of "friend-shoring," in which allies collaborate on manufacturing and obtaining raw materials, will be aided by closer ties with countries that share U.S. economic ideals.

"The U.S. strongly values our relationship with South Africa," Yellen said Thursday during a meeting with the South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, as per Reuters.

The U.S. Treasury arrived in South Africa Wednesday, two days after Sergey Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, spoke with his South African counterpart, Naledi Pandor, in Pretoria. She further appreciated Godongwana's "cooperation and insightful views" during their initial discussions.

South Africa's Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, said the two would discuss tackling financial terrorism, funding for climate change, fixing the problems with African sovereign debt, and other global issues that will be addressed at the G20 summit next month.

He mentioned that Yellen's visit was "momentous," noting that the last time a U.S. Treasury secretary came was in 2014.

As part of the Biden administration's effort to strengthen ties with the second-largest continent in the world, Yellen is touring Africa for ten days. She has already visited Zambia and Senegal, where she discussed the opportunities that Africa's young population and expanding middle class present for American business.

Yellen's Africa tour comes weeks after the US-Africa Summit in Washington, where the U.S. unveiled billion-dollar initiatives coupled with private sector investment. As competitors China and Russia vie for influence and opportunity in Africa, the U.S. has been trying to lessen the deterioration of its once-dominant position in the region.

South Africa is the most prominent African country to have adopted a neutral stance on the conflict in Ukraine and refused to join the U.S. and its allies in denouncing Russia.