South African Institute of International Affairs

South African Institute of International Affairs

The University of the Witwatersrand
Established	1934; 90 years ago (1934)
Focus	African foreign policy analysis, risk analysis, governance and conflict analysis, economic analysis
Headquarters	Jan Smuts House, Wits University, Johannesburg, South Africa
Chairman	Moeletsi Mbeki
Chief Executive	Elizabeth Sidiropoulos
Website	saiia.org.za

The South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) is an independent South African public policy and foreign relations think tank based in Johannesburg. Founded 1934 in Cape Town, the institute is located on the campus of the University of the Witwatersrand since 1944.^[1]

The institute is organised under five research programmes in the fields of governance and foreign policy, economic diplomacy, and natural resource governance in Africa. Since 1993, SAIIA publishes the quarterly, peer-reviewed South African Journal of Foreign Affairs through Routledge of Taylor & Francis, along with monographs, policy papers and opinion pieces.^[2]

SAIIA is ranked the third among African think tanks in the 2020 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report published by the University of Pennsylvania. It is ranked 85th internationally and is one of only five African think tanks placed in the global Top 100.^[3]

The current chairmain of SAIIA is Moeletsi Mbeki, with Elizabeth Sidiropoulos as Chief Executive and Neuma Grobbelar as Director of Research. SAIIA maintains a strategic partnership with Chatham House, including a partnership on Central and Eastern European relations with Africa.^[4]