South Africa and the United Kingdom are strategic partners with mutual interests in trade, security health and promoting a rules-based international system. The trade and investment relationship between the two countries is reportedly valued at £8 billion per year, with both countries committing to strengthening ties despite Brexit.
Antony Phillipson will discuss South Africa-UK relations as well as the recent political turmoil at No. 10 Downing Street and the proclamation of a new monarch following the death of Queen Elizabeth.
About the speaker:
Antony joined the Civil Service in 1993 and began his career in the Department of Trade and Industry where his posts included Private Secretary and then Principal Private Secretary to the Secretary of State (1996-2000). After four years in the Embassy in Washington as First Secretary Trade Policy and then Counsellor, Global Issues (2000-2004), he returned to London as the Prime Minister’s Private Secretary for Foreign Affairs (2004-2007). He then moved to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as Head of the Iran Co-ordination Group (2007-2010). In April 2011 he was appointed High Commissioner to Singapore, a post he held until April 2015 when he returned to London as Director (EU External) in the European and Global Issues Secretariat (EGIS) in the Cabinet Office.
After the EU referendum in June 2016 EGIS became the Department for Exiting the European Union. Antony served as Director, Trade and Partnerships in DExEU until November 2017 when he was appointed Consul General in New York and Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for North America. In June 2021 Antony was appointed High Commissioner-designate to South Africa. He took up his post in July 2021.