Global Atlanta's Dispatch to South Africa was made possible through a partnership with Ethiopian Airlines. Via its nonstop flight from Atlanta to Addis Ababa, the airline offers local business and leisure travelers convenient one-stop access to the South African cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town.
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South Africa and Atlanta: Partnership Beyond Politics
Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Miller and Martin
There’s no getting around the fact that the winds have shifted in the bilateral relationship between South Africa and the United States.
The Trump administration has put Africa’s largest economy in the crosshairs over foreign-policy disagreements such as the war in Gaza and a land expropriation law the U.S. says discriminates against minority white farmers.
It’s not as if the Biden administration had no qualms with Africa’s largest economy, which has accused Israel of genocide and deepened its ties with fellow BRICS nations, sometimes at the expense of its close bonds with the U.S.
But amid these disagreements, previous governments have left room for negotiation, while the Trump administration has favored more drastic moves like cutting off American aid and offering refugee status to white farmers, all as some Republicans in Congress have threatened to remove South Africa from the preferential trade treatment of the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
The stark about-face has come at a pivotal moment for Atlanta. Former Ambassador Reuben Brigety last March launched the Atlanta Phambili initiative. The idea: even while diverging on policy, these friends could embrace the “affirmative aspects” of their relationship, such as civil rights, educational exchange, economic empowerment, trade and investment — all with Atlanta as the prime gateway.
The city embraced the challenge, hosting a huge delegation of South African officials and companies for a kickoff trip. Then, in December, Mayor Andre Dickens took over a reciprocal delegation.
With no more support from the top, the question now becomes whether Phambili is durable enough to be driven into the future by bottom-up business collaboration. That’s what city officials, educators and business leaders explored in this Global Atlanta event, sponsored by Ethiopian Airlines, looking at South Africa and Atlanta’s potential for partnership beyond politics.
-Trevor Williams
Organized By:
Hosted by:
Sponsored by:
Mahlet Yeshitla,
Sales Manager, Ethiopian Airlines
“Our mission extends beyond transportation. We aim to open doors to opportunities, empower business and enhance travel experience.“
-On Ethiopian’s nonstop flight started nearly two years ago linking Atlanta with Addis Ababa
Speakers
OPENING REMARKS:
PANELISTS:
Paulina Guzman
Director,
Mayor’s Office of International and Immigrant Affairs
Last year when we were preparing for this drove of South African industry representatives and diplomatic officials that were going to be coming to Atlanta, I learned this new word, Phambili, at the time. It was completely unfamiliar to me, but really now it is intertwined in so many aspects of how our office engages, not only in South Africa, but sort of how we think about building out all of our global partnerships.
Phambili is the Zulu term, meaning forward, or moving forward, and Mayor Andre Dickens’ vision for our city is moving Atlanta forward. So this initiative really focuses on progress, innovation and inclusive growth for all Atlantans.
Mourad Dakhli,
Associate Dean for International Student Engagement and Partnerships,
Georgia State University Robinson College of Business
Our students actually are working together. As I’m speaking right now we have about 200 students — split between South Africa and our own students – working in teams … We’ve been doing that for the last almost eight, nine years. Now we have about 2,000 students who benefited from this — we are talking about peer-to-peer connections.
-On virtual and in-person exchanges between GSU and South African universities
Neil Diamond
President
South African Chamber of Commerce in the USA
(SACCUSA)
By leveraging city-to-city partnerships, regional trade engagements and direct business to business collaboration, business can de-risk the national political tensions and drive meaningful political progress
Larry Yon
Co-Founder & President
CyberAlliance
Between individual investors, venture capital firms, family offices, funds, we’ve had an opportunity to be able to aggregate that capital and mitigate the risk by being able to invest alongside people on the ground in Africa. It was about how we get everybody playing in the sandbox, sharing the toys.
—On the African Diaspora Invests platform and addressing the perception of risk in Africa when deploying capital there
Lorna Maseko
Award-Winning Celebrity Chef, Cookbook Author & Television Host
I came to Atlanta, and I thought, ‘Wow, this really feels like home.‘
(Re)live the Moment: Multimedia
Video
Full Event (Members Only):
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