In an era when artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing are reshaping the world as we know it, Taiwan has become one of the world's most consequential technology junctions. That status is not built on branding, but on the hard mechanics of the modern digital economy: advanced semiconductors, high performance computing, server manufacturing, and the engineering depth required to deliver reliable infrastructure at scale. For countries that want to industrialise and digitise in parallel, this Asian tiger is not an optional partner but a strategic partner in the global system that makes modern technology work.
The clearest signal in 2025 has been the way major firms are consolidating their AI hardware footprint on the island. In late November, Google inaugurated in Taipei its largest AI infrastructure hardware engineering hub outside the United States, a move that underlines Taiwan's centrality in the global AI supply chain. More recently, Hon Hai, better known globally as Foxconn, said it will build a major Nvidia GB300 powered data centre in Taiwan in the first half of 2026, positioning it as the country's largest AI supercomputing hub and explicitly tying it to the push for "sovereign AI". That same centrality is visible every year at COMPUTEX in Taipei, where industry decision-makers meet to turn AI infrastructure plans into procurement, partnerships and deployment. Together, these moves point to a broader truth: Taiwan is where global supply chains meet practical engineering execution, from design and prototyping to production and deployment.
Taiwan's government policy is also aligning with this momentum. This year, it launched a major AI infrastructure drive designed to strengthen the foundations for domestic AI development and translate the boom into long term economic value. The macro data tells the same story, with 2025 export momentum widely driven by demand linked to AI hardware and high performance computing. In short, Taiwan is no longer just the place where the world's chips are made. It has morphed into the physical backbone of where the digital economy is engineered, and where adjacent industries like electric vehicles, robotics and digital health are being industrialised through that same manufacturing depth.
Turning diplomatic posture into economic delivery
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South Africa should read this landscape with clear eyes. Pretoria does not need to alter its official diplomatic posture to act pragmatically. The priority is to ensure diplomacy serves South Africa's economic interests, competitiveness and jobs by maintaining a stable, predictable interface for commercial and technology cooperation. That means being clear-eyed about the opportunity cost when any uncertainty, even administrative, slows decisions in sectors where confidence and continuity are decisive. South Africa is blessed with an abundance of critical minerals that go into the AI and Data Centre ecosystem. It can't be a bad idea to have favourable bilateral relations with a country that is leading in this field. There are lessons to be learned and cooperation to be had with this giant.
In the AI era, industrial policy is not only about attracting capital. It is also about securing trusted channels into supply chains, hardware know-how, and engineering partnerships that translate into real local value added productivity. When the interface is uncertain, executives delay decisions, compliance teams raise risk flags, and partnerships drift towards easier jurisdictions. A quarrel that drifts into headlines and uncertainty risks weakening precisely the kind of stable, predictable commercial channels that technology firms and manufacturers value.
In 2026, Pretoria should adopt a posture of openness and forward momentum. If South Africa wants to be a credible destination for advanced manufacturing, data infrastructure and high value services, it should prioritise tangible partnerships that de-risk investment decisions, expand commercial diversification and strengthen South Africa's economic sovereignty.
Nigeria's example and the African logic of tech partnerships
South Africa is not operating in a vacuum, nature does not allow for it. Other African countries are actively building practical cooperation with Taiwan around investment, technology and industrial collaboration. Nigeria offers a telling example. In 2025, Nigeria and Taiwan advanced an investment protection and promotion framework intended to encourage deeper collaboration, including in high technology and adjacent sectors. The point is not to copy another country's diplomacy, but to recognise that peer economies are choosing capability and delivery over theatre.
That logic maps cleanly onto Pretoria's reform priorities, where Operation Vulindlela has focused on electricity, freight logistics, water and digital capability as binding constraints. In power and industrial efficiency, Taiwanese groups such as Delta Electronics, TECO and Tatung are credible counterparts for Eskom, the National Transmission Company of South Africa (NTCSA) and large metros looking at grid modernisation, smart metering and automation that reduces losses. In logistics, Taiwan's industrial computing ecosystem, including firms like Advantech, aligns with Transnet's push for predictive maintenance and operational digitisation across corridors and ports.
The industrial prize sits in automotive and the EV transition, where Taiwan's electronics depth, including Foxconn's EV ambitions, fits the DTIC agenda to protect exports while localising more electronics content. On digital government and cybersecurity, partnerships routed through South Africa's State Information Technology Agency (SITA) can be strengthened by Taiwan's applied research engines such as the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), helping South Africa move faster from policy to deployable systems and trained engineers.
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In other words, the Taiwan relationship is not about symbolism. It is about keeping a high value technology channel stable so South Africa can modernise infrastructure, protect export industries and build new capabilities in the decade ahead. If the government wants credibility on growth, jobs and state capacity, the most strategic outcome is also the simplest: de-escalate the dispute, ring fence the commercial interface, and put in place a predictable cooperation track that prioritises technology transfer, localisation and skills. Cooperation and benchmarking with the best is the best way for the country to achieve its 2030 National Development Plan (NDP).
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Makibinyane Mohapeloa is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of MzansiSat, South Africa and fouder of Tshokoma Training and Consulting. He was named as one of the top 30 young entrepreneurs by the Tshwane Economic Development Agency in 2016.
Her career is driven by a deep passion for unlocking the immense growth potential of the African continent, and he firmly believes in the pivotal role young people can play in shaping Africa's economic future. This commitment is also reflected in her service on numerous boards, including the BBBEE ICT Council and Liselo Labs.
