US ‘strongly values’ its relationship with SA, Janet Yellen says

US treasury secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday lauded SA’s “bold” participation in the so-called Just Energy Transition Partnership backed by the US and other Western nations, but steered clear of mentioning US concerns about Pretoria's planned military drills with China and Russia.

Yellen spoke to reporters alongside finance minister Enoch Godongwana in Pretoria on the third leg of her nearly two-week tour of Africa, and just days after Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov visited SA.

In prepared remarks, Yellen welcomed Godongwana's “co-operation and insightful views” in their talks so far, and said she planned to raise several issues, including Zambia's stalled sovereign debt restructuring effort, given SA’s key role on the country’s creditor committee.

“The US strongly values our relationship with SA,” Yellen said in remarks that included no mention of Russia or China, or White House concerns about Pretoria's plans to hold joint military drills with both countries.

Godongwana said the two would discuss countering financial terrorism, climate financing, resolving sovereign debt crises in Africa and global topics that will form part of a meeting of the G20 group of major economies next month.

He said Yellen’s visit was a “momentous” occasion, noting the previous visit by a US Treasury secretary was in 2014.

The US treasury issued no statement about Yellen’s closed-door meeting on Wednesday with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, a meeting described by Pretoria as a “courtesy call”.

SA has remained one of Moscow’s most important allies on a continent divided over Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24 2022.

Yellen’s trip has begun a yearlong charm offensive by top US leaders, who will visit Africa to deepen US economic ties with the continent and counter China’s long dominance of trade and lending with many African nations.

Throughout her visit, Yellen has emphasised the right of countries to choose their trading partners, while pitching the greater transparency and lasting nature of engagement with the US.

The US treasury secretary, who meets Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago on Thursday, singled out SA’s Just Energy Transition Partnership, which was backed in late 2021 by the US, Britain, France, Germany and the EU. They pledged a combined $8.5bn to accelerate SA’s transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy, but the total bill will be much higher.

“This partnership represents SA’s bold first step towards expanding electricity access and reliability and creating a low carbon and climate resilient economy,” Yellen said, adding that it would “alleviate the deep fiscal strain the energy sector is putting on SA's economy”.

Reuters