What were you doing on September 20, 2019? What made the day memorable? If you do not remember reading an article in this column titled ‘Butterfly approach to trade’, then you should sense my disappointment.

The title of this week’s instalment is borrowed from a book titled I Never Saw Another Buttery, which is a collection of poems and drawings. I’m afraid I’ve seen one. If you missed it, let me share the news of its recent sighting with you.

First, there was an ‘approach’. Now, after all these years – around 31, to be exact – it returns as a ‘strategy’. Before we take flight, which might well be a flight of fancy, it would be worthwhile to align on the difference between an approach and a strategy. In its simplest distinction, an ‘approach’ is a general way of dealing with something, while a ‘strategy’ is a more detailed, specific plan designed to achieve a particular goal. In other words, an ‘approach’ is a broad perspective, while a ‘strategy’ is a carefully crafted roadmap with specific steps and actions.

There is another consideration – although the sighted ‘Butterfly Approach to Trade’ has seemingly disappeared from the reach of my favourite search engine, it was first referenced in 1994. To comprehend this ‘approach’, you have to visualise the world in one dimension, with Africa at the centre, the Americas to the left, and Asia and Australasia to the right. For the purists, the butterfly’s antennae represent Western and Eastern Europe. Observant readers would point out that this leaves only Greenland and Antarctica unaccounted for. Well, with US President Donald Trump having expressed a desire to annex Greenland, that theoretically leaves only Antarctica. In Roulette, this ‘approach’ – or should it be called a ‘strategy’? – is known as a combination bet.

Talking about ‘strategy’, the suspense must be killing you by now. On July 4, Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau tabled his 2025/26 Budget Vote, stating that the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) is driving a R700-billion investment pipeline into the economy to unlock reform. Does this remind you of anything – something else that might have taken flight? President Cyril Ramaphosa’s South Africa Investment Conference series. What happened with that? To avoid distraction, you could visit https://www.sainvestmentconference.co.za/ at your leisure.

In the last sentence of the dtic’s media statement, Tau “further placed the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) at the centre of efforts to propel the African continent to greater economic heights through the Butterfly Strategy aimed at a vision where Africa is not a periphery to global trade, but it’s beating heart”. The ‘Butterfly Strategy’ is in bold letters. And there we have it! But what is it?

Google’s AI Overview offers this explanation: “The ‘butterfly strategy’ in the context of South Africa’s trade policy refers to a trade and export plan that aims to expand the country’s economic reach beyond traditional markets. It envisions South Africa’s trade and export efforts as having a central base in Africa, with ‘wings’ extending both westward across the Atlantic and eastward across the Indian and Pacific Oceans. This strategy is closely linked to the AfCFTA, which South Africa hopes to leverage to become a major global economic player.” The source is an article published on the Engineering News Online website on July 4, titled ‘South Africa reaffirms butterfly export strategy amid rising global trade tensions’. So, where is the “carefully crafted roadmap with specific steps and actions”?

According to Tau, the ‘butterfly strategy’ has the ‘game-changing’ AfCFTA Agreement as its central component. To be clear, ‘game changing’ means something has a significant and transformative effect, completely altering the way a situation develops or is handled. Call me a sceptic – ‘game changing’? I fear not. The Minister continues: “From this centre, two wings unfurl – one reaching westward across the Atlantic, the other eastward across the Indian and Pacific oceans, carrying with them the ambition of South African enterprise.”

So, where does this leave Europe, the ‘missing’ antennae? How do you like them apples, or in Europe’s instance, your oranges?

In case you is curious, a butterfly without antennae is still referred to as a butterfly. However, missing antennae is detrimental to a butterfly’s ability to sense its environment.