| Is the US ready to do a deal with South Africa? That’s the question South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is asking as he dispatches a special envoy to Washington to ease battered relations. Senior US administration members may not even grant the appointee an audience. Donald Trump, his American counterpart, has ceased aid, expelled its ambassador (who called the US leader a supremacist) and accused Pretoria of doing nothing to stem the killing of White farmers and the seizing of their land. Allies of Trump have gone as far as to call for sanctions against South African politicians and even the country itself. He’s also angered by South Africa’s case of genocide against US ally Israel at the International Court of Justice, and just this weekend took to social media to effectively rule out attending the Group of 20 leaders’ meeting in Johannesburg in November.  Mcebisi Jonas at an event in New York in September. Photographer: Steven Ferdman/Getty Images The new envoy is former Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas, who is now chairman of MTN, Africa’s biggest wireless carrier that holds a 49% stake in Irancell, one of Iran’s largest mobile-network operators. Jonas faces an unenviable task and takes on the job as South Africa’s coalition government fights over tax increases and spending reforms while failing to present a united front against the raft of international problems. But the two countries can’t really do without each other. Pretoria would be unwise to decouple itself from the world’s biggest economy, which buys its cars and fruit and with 600 American companies’ investments accounting for a 10th of its gross domestic product. And for the US — scrambling to limit its dependence on China — South Africa’s treasure trove of minerals is key.  Trump holds a “reciprocal tariffs” poster in Washington on April 2. Photographer: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg The US International Development Finance Corp. has lent money to South African projects to get the production of rare earths (of which China is the dominant supplier) and high-grade helium — a gas used in Elon Musk’s rockets — up and running. Jonas will try to point out to the Trump administration that South Africa hasn’t seized any land since the end of apartheid and that the crime epidemic afflicts Black and White citizens alike. Then he may need to explain why he called Trump a racist, a homophobe and a narcissist in a 2020 speech. “There are no quick fixes,” Jonas said in a statement accepting the appointment. That, he may find, is an understatement. — Antony Sguazzin Key stories and opinion:
South Africa Appoints Ex-Deputy Finance Minister as US Envoy
US Lawmakers Renew Call for Review of South Africa Relations
South Africa Said to Prefer Bilateral US Trade Deal Over AGOA
US Urges Visiting South Africa Business Leaders to Balance Trade
How a White Fringe Group Drew Trump’s Ire on South Africa Fighting raging in a major city in Sudan’s Darfur region forced at least 400,000 people to flee as the UK hosts an international aid conference that seeks to find a path to ending the two-year civil war. Nine aid workers died in violence that engulfed the Zamzam camp for internally displaced people near El-Fasher in western Sudan in recent days, according to the United Nations. The city is the last remaining stronghold of the Sudanese army in a region where the Rapid Support Forces militia has expanded its control since the conflict erupted in April 2023.  People who fled the Zamzam camp for the internally displaced in a makeshift encampment in Sudan’s western Darfur region. Photographer: AFP/Getty Images Fitch Ratings upgraded Nigeria’s credit rating by one step to B, citing improved policy credibility and reduced near-term risks to macroeconomic stability. While the assessment remains in the junk category, it reflects increased confidence in the government’s broad commitment to policy reforms implemented since its move to orthodox economic policies in June 2023, Fitch said. Angola said it used about $200 million as additional collateral for a $1 billion loan from JPMorgan Chase after the oil-producing nation’s dollar bonds slumped along with crude prices this week. The southern African nation in December and January issued about $2 billion in bonds as collateral for a $1 billion loan from the lender.  The Bay of Luanda, Angola. Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg Mauritius’ lawmakers will vote on additional spending of 21 billion rupees ($472 million) for the fiscal year through June as the International Monetary Fund urges the government to reduce spending in the next budget in order to stabilize its finances. The extra amount will add to the 290 billion rupees of expenditure approved by lawmakers last year as part of a budget that drew criticism from the new government. Lesotho granted Musk’s Starlink a 10-year license to operate its satellite network there as the tiny southern African mountain kingdom seeks to improve ties with the US. Trump this month slapped a 50% reciprocal tariff — one of the world’s highest — on Maseru before pausing the duty for 90 days, while keeping a 10% levy. Prime Minister Sam Matekane said last week the nation, among the world’s poorest, would take steps to avert or soften the impact of the duties.  A textile factory in Lesotho. Photographer: Roberta Ciuccio/AFP/Getty Images Thank you for your responses to our weekly Next Africa Quiz and congratulations to Godwin Opurum, who was first to identify Mauritius as the African nation where the former finance minister and ex-central bank governor were arrested last week. | 
