South Africa and France in Africa and the Indian Ocean – Economic and Commercial Partners or Rivals?

This chapter first describes how South Africa and France stand in relation to one another. This in turn prompts not only an analysis of current bilateral economic and commercial relations but also a close examination of the foreseeable changes in each country’s policies both within the regional context of shifting patterns within South Africa and the southern Africa – Indian Ocean area, and within the wider context of the ineluctable transformation of the world economy as new giants begin to emerge, notably in Asia.