U.S. Economic Involvement with Apartheid South Africa

The following table outlines U.S. economic involvement in South Africa during apartheid. One can see the decline in U.S. economic involvement as the democratic movement grew inside South Africa and campaigns for sanctions and divestment grew outside South Africa. The dollar value shown here is for the end of the year shown.

The table does not include the value of U.S. portfolio investment (stockholding by U.S. investors of shares traded on the South African stock Exchange). It has been estimated that in 1987 that U.S. investors owned between $4 and $6 billion dollars of shares of companies traded on the South African Stock Exchange. The value of such holdings is volatile both because of changes in share prices and because investor trade into out of shares depending on market conditions.

Richard Knight

October 2002

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U.S. Economic Involvement with South Africa
	Number of U.S. Parent Companies with South African Affiliates	Number of South African affiliates of U.S. parent Companies	Number of Employees	$ millions
				End-Year
				Total U.S. Direct Investment	U.S. Bank Loans Outstanding	Annual
						U.S. Merchandise Exports	U.S. Merchandise Imports
Year
1993	NA	NA	NA	NA	1,050.0	2,196.7	1,846.9
1992	NA	NA	NA	871	1,650.0	2,432.8	1,719.2
1991	88	104	39,700	857	1,878.0	2,113.4	1,733.3
1990	90	108	35,700	767	2,062.0	1,732.4	1,700.6
1989	99	123	36,000	699	2,297.0	1,659.4	1,529.0
1988	NA	164	61,600	1,252	2,510.0	1,687.6	1,512.9
1987	NA	189	87,700	1,497	2,888.0	1,281.2	1,345.5
1986	NA	226	99,500	1,517	2,957.0	1,158.3	2,364.5
1985	NA	262	115,600	1,394	3,240.5	1,205.0	2,070.8
1984	NA	273	119,700	1,440	4,704.5	2,265.2	2,487.7
1983	NA	279	126,800	1,987	4,637.1	2,108.0	2,417.0
1982	203	287	136,300	2,281	3,676.5	2,368.2	1,966.8
1981	NA	NA	NA	2,619	576.2	2,911.7	2,445.3
1977	NA	414	126,300	1,792	2,277.5	1,054.4	1,261.1
NA = Not Available
Direct Investment is “equal to the U.S. parents' equity in, and net outstanding loans to, their foreign affiliates. The position may be viewed as the U.S. parents' contribution to the total assets of their foreign affiliates or as financing provided by U.S. parents to their foreign affiliates in the form of either equity or debt. The data are derived from the foreign affiliates' books at year end." An Affiliate is a South African business enterprise "in which there is direct investment - that is, it is a... [South African] business enterprise that is directly or indirectly owned or controlled by one U.S. person to the extent of 10% or more of the voting securities for an incorporated business enterprise or an equivalent interest in an unincorporated enterprise." For details see U.S. Direct Investment Abroad: 1989 Benchmark Survey, Final Results, U.S. Department of Commerce, October 1992. Revised figures for U.S. direct investment for 1989, 1990 and 1991 were issued in June 1993. Figures for the Number of U.S. Parent Companies with South African Affiliates and Number of Employees are for non-bank affiliates of non-bank U.S. parent companies, except in Benchmark Survey years (1977, 1982, 1989), when figures are for all affiliates of all U.S. parent companies.
U.S. Bank Loans Outstanding, as defined by the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, includes cross-border and non-local currency lending. These result from a U.S. bank office in one country lending to the residents of another country or lending in a currency other than that of the borrowers' country. Not included is lending in Rand inside South Africa. This figure does not include government, bilateral or other non-bank debt.
Table compiled by Richard Knight, The Africa Fund
Sources: U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Federal Reserve Bank.