‘South Africa can serve as Nepal’s gateway to the continent’

In 2024, South Africa and Nepal marked 30 years of formal diplomatic relations. Yet, the ties between the two countries stretch back well beyond the establishment of official diplomatic channels in 1994. Nepal played a significant role in South Africa’s struggle against apartheid, serving as vice-chair of the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid for 25 years. This legacy of solidarity continues to underpin bilateral relations, which are shaped by shared democratic values, engagement through the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), a commitment to UN peacekeeping and common advocacy for climate action and greater representation of the Global South.

Based at the High Commission of South Africa in New Delhi, which also represents South Africa in Nepal and Bangladesh on a non-resident basis, High Commissioner H.E. Prof. Anil Sooklal oversees bilateral engagement across the region. Following visits by South African officials in 2012 and 2015, the two countries held their first bilateral consultations in Pretoria in March 2022. Since then, they have sought to translate diplomatic goodwill into practical coopeforation. The Declaration of Intent signed in 2022 provides a framework for expanding economic diplomacy, promoting trade and investment, and strengthening technical cooperation.

Despite longstanding political ties and shared interests in adventure tourism, bilateral trade remains limited. However, opportunities for deeper engagement are emerging in areas such as mineral exploration, civil aviation training, agro-processing, information and communication technology, and city-to-city cooperation between Kathmandu and Cape Town.

Speaking to Onlinekhabar, High Commissioner Sooklal discusses the historical ties between South Africa and Nepal, the prospects for trade, investment and educational cooperation, and the potential for both countries to advance shared priorities through multilateral platforms, including BRICS and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Welcome to Nepal, Your Excellency. What is your purpose for this visit?

Well, as you know, I am accredited as the High Commissioner of South Africa to Nepal. So, from time to time, I come here to see how we can strengthen our relationship—not only at the government level, but also within the business sector, civil society, academia, and think tanks.

We have had a very productive past four days in Kathmandu. You have a new government in place, so it was important for us to come and introduce ourselves and explore how we can continue working with this new administration. We follow developments in Nepal very closely.

We sent condolences from our president and the people of South Africa pertaining to the tragic events of August 26. As you know, there were six South Africans who were part of a visit to Nepal and were impacted by the flash floods; they are still missing. As High Commissioner, I am constantly getting requests for updates—not just from the families, but because this tragedy and its impact have been widely reported in South Africa. We want to reiterate our condolences and our solidarity with the government and people of Nepal.

During the past few days, we had the pleasure of meeting the Foreign Secretary, who is a good friend of mine because he previously served in South Africa as the High Commissioner of Nepal, and I knew him from that time. We discussed strengthening cooperation with the Foreign Ministry, and we also had a very productive meeting with the Foreign Minister, Shishir Khanal. We have invited him to South Africa to see how we can further strengthen relations between our two countries.

Now, not many people are aware that Nepal played a very important role in our freedom struggle. As you know, in 1962, the UN created the Special Committee Against Apartheid, and Nepal served on that committee. From 1969 until our democracy in 1994—when that committee was disbanded—Nepal served as the vice-chair for 25 years. So, Nepal was a very important part of the UN system in championing our freedom and democracy.

President Nelson Mandela spoke about this when he was released from prison, sending a message of appreciation for the vital role Nepal played within the international system during our freedom struggle. We share a historical relationship. We formed formal diplomatic ties in 1994, and our political relations are very strong because we cooperate closely on multilateral platforms within the UN. We are both vibrant democracies that believe in multilateralism and the UN system.

Furthermore, both of us champion issues of climate action, which is critical. The melting of the Himalayan glaciers and the impact it is having on your country is not of Nepal’s making—Nepal’s global carbon footprint is negligible, yet you are bearing the brunt of global warming. I think it is important that we continue to work within the UNFCCC to champion climate action, especially technology sharing to address both mitigation and adaptation.

Equally important is cooperating on disaster risk reduction. Global warming is causing sea levels to rise, and climate change is impacting countries across the world. The flash flooding we are seeing has a direct impact not only on human lives, but also on food security and other dimensions of our existence. These are some of the discussions we have had regarding how we can strengthen cooperation at both bilateral and multilateral levels, given that we are largely on the same page on these issues. We are very positive about the meetings we had with the Foreign Ministry and how we can take this relationship forward.

You celebrated 30 years of diplomatic relations in 2024, yet bilateral trade and investment remain very modest. Why has the economic relationship not grown more substantially?

I think the major factor is that despite having historical ties and very strong government-to-government relations, at the people-to-people level—including the private sector—we simply don’t know enough about each other. This is one of the things I have been highlighting: we need to exchange trade missions and identify three or four key areas for mutual benefit.

During this visit—both in my meeting with the Minister of Industry and Commerce and with the Nepal Chamber of Commerce—we identified several critical sectors. First is mining and minerals, as South Africa is a major mining nation and Nepal has vast mineral deposits that have yet to be fully explored. South Africa has extensive experience in this area, including critical minerals essential for green technologies. Second is infrastructure and ICT.

Given recent devastation, there are major infrastructure needs for reconstruction and general advancement. Nepal has a young, well-educated population skilled in new technologies, while Cape Town is becoming the African capital for data processing, BPO, and new technologies, presenting a strong partnership opportunity. Third is agro-processing, where South Africa is quite advanced. Finally, tourism offers vast opportunities, as travellers seek out Mount Everest and Nepal’s nature just as Cape Town remains a hugely popular destination.

To translate these into practical steps, we agreed with the Nepal Chamber of Commerce to twin their Women in Business wing with the South African BRICS Women’s Alliance, focusing on mainstreaming women and youth into the MSME sector. We also agreed to explore twinning the Nepal Chamber of Commerce with the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry, alongside facilitating reciprocal trade delegations.

On the people-to-people and institutional front, what other initiatives are underway?

We had two very good meetings regarding local and community ties. For city twinning, we met with the Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City and are exploring the possibility of twinning Kathmandu with Cape Town, creating a natural top-to-tip synergy between Kathmandu near Mount Everest and Cape Town at the southern tip of Africa. Regarding civic organisations, I met with the Rotary Club of Kathmandu and have already made contact with the Rotary Club of Cape Town to explore twinning the two chapters, given their shared focus on social upliftment and community development.

For think tanks and academia, we met with the Ambassadors’ Club to strengthen cooperation between South African research institutes and Nepalese think tanks, paving the way for student and academic exchanges. Lastly, regarding journalist exchanges, we want to restart the program that previously brought Nepali journalists to South Africa to give our bilateral relationship greater public visibility.

The two countries signed a Declaration of Intent on cooperation in 2022, focusing on trade, investment, tourism, education, and people-to-people ties. What concrete steps will turn this into reality?

As I mentioned, we must move from good discussions to practical implementation. We have agreed on initiating reciprocal trade delegation exchanges starting next year, alongside fast-tracking the twinning of our Rotary clubs and the cities of Kathmandu and Cape Town.

We are also exploring academic pathways. South African universities have some of the oldest and most respected faculties in mineralogy and mining studies—such as the University of the Witwatersrand, the University of Pretoria, and the University of Cape Town. Tuition in South Africa is a fraction of the cost compared to Europe or Australia, and many universities offer full scholarships for foreign students.

Additionally, we plan to invite the Council for Geoscience in South Africa—a state entity that has assisted countries like India with mineral mapping—to help Nepal identify and map its mineral deposits. Finally, we aim to expand civil aviation training. South Africa has a massive ecosystem of over 20 flight training schools with a 50-to-60-year track record. Over 300 Nepalis have already trained in South African aviation schools alongside cadets from major international airlines and air forces.

South Africa manages diplomatic relations with three very different countries in South Asia: India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. How do you balance these priorities, and what role does Nepal play in South Africa’s broader engagement in the region?

India is our fourth-largest trading partner globally, and we are India’s largest trading partner in Africa. However, given the potential, that trade is still relatively modest at around $18–$19 billion. The India-South Africa relationship is well-established, which allows me to dedicate significant attention to Nepal and Bangladesh.

While trade volumes with Bangladesh and Nepal are currently small, both are markets with immense potential. For example, we host a fairly large Bangladeshi diaspora of about 400,000 people in South Africa. To boost engagement, I recently asked your Tourism Minister—who is also the Minister of Civil Aviation—to extend an invitation to my counterpart, who is visiting India early next year, to also visit Nepal and expose her to opportunities here.

Both South Africa and Nepal face challenges regarding unemployment, inequality, and economic transformation. What lessons from South Africa’s experience might be relevant to Nepal?

Nepal and South Africa share similar challenges, which is why working together is so valuable. Both countries have youthful, highly skilled populations, but suffer from a lack of sufficient job creation.

While South Africa is the most advanced economy on the African continent, nearly two-thirds of our GDP comes from the services sector, which does not employ large masses of people. Our largest employment sector remains mining, which accounts for about 10% of our GDP. Job creation is our highest priority.

Inequality is another major hurdle; our Gini coefficient remains high, with a stark divide between the wealthy and the very poor. To bridge this gap, we must focus heavily on skills and capacity building—ensuring that education is fit-for-purpose so that university graduates possess the exact expertise demanded by the job market, rather than holding degrees that leave them un-employable. Empowering youth through practical skills and entrepreneurship is essential.

You served as South Africa’s BRICS Sherpa in 2023. In your view, how can Nepal benefit from global blocs like BRICS?

Nepal’s values align closely with what BRICS espouses. We advocate for strengthening multilateral bodies like the World Health Organization and reforming the World Trade Organization, whose dispute settlement mechanism has been paralysed for years.

Furthermore, traditional Bretton Woods institutions like the World Bank and IMF often impose rigid conditionalities that make accessing development funding difficult for the Global South. This is why we established the New Development Bank under BRICS—to enable developing nations to pool resources and finance their own development challenges without restrictive preconditions.

BRICS is not just about its member states; it is about the entire Global South. It aims to ensure a fairer trading regime, a fairer global financial architecture, and inclusive growth so that developing nations are not marginalised in a multi-polar world. As a former President of the UN General Assembly from the Maldives once noted: “We may be small, but we are not powerless.” Through platforms like BRICS, countries like Nepal and smaller states can amplify their voices on the multilateral stage.

On a lighter note, how do tourism and cultural ties connect our two nations?

Beyond adventure tourism like Mount Everest and Table Mountain, eco-tourism and wellness tourism are growing dimensions. South Africa is famous for its vast wildlife reserves—for instance, Kruger National Park is larger than the country of Belgium! People come there to experience nature in its purest form, much like travellers come to Nepal for the mountains.

We also see great potential in sports cooperation. Your cricket team is getting better and better—you nearly beat us recently! Additionally, we have connections through cricket coaching; former South African cricketer Jhonty Rhodes, for instance, spends time coaching and has strong ties in the region.

Finally, South Africa serves as a natural gateway into the wider African continent. Next year, on Africa Day (May 26)—marking the founding of the OAU/African Union—we hope to host a Nepal-Africa Conference. With dozens of African embassies based in New Delhi that are concurrently accredited to Nepal, this event can showcase what the entire African continent has to offer to Nepal, and vice versa.

We also share deep historical ties through legal and judicial pioneers. For instance, Justice Navanethem Pillay—who served as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and as a judge on the International Criminal Court—is of South Asian origin and hails from the exact same town and school in South Africa as I do! We have deep roots to build upon, and I look forward to seeing our partnership grow.

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