United States Ambassador to South Africa, Leo Brent Bozell III, says Washington aims to double the number of American companies operating in the country, a move he believes could help create around 250 000 jobs. Bozell noted that his mandate includes advancing policies that benefit the American people, while also strengthening economic ties between the two nations.

However, the Ambassador warned that Washington is growing increasingly impatient with what he described as Pretoria’s lack of progress on a “list of five asks” that the United States presented to the South African government about a year ago. He did not disclose the details of the five requests, but indicated that movement on them is essential for deepening bilateral cooperation.

Thami Ngubeni spoke to Dr Sizo Nkala, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Africa–China Studies at the University of Johannesburg.