Why would South Africa be superpower material?

It could just be confirmation bias, but I feel like every other video about EU4 and civ in observer mode seems to produce some great SA Empire.

Which got me thinking - what case can be made for a diverging timeline where SA is not only a great power, but a superpower, perhaps even the dominant one on the globe? What assets does it really have, compared to other countries and regions? And at which point would the timeline have to diverge for SA to really build on its advantages?
 

Kaze

Banned
Location - controlling both the Pacific, Atlantic, and the Antarctic Oceans.
Resources - metals, diamonds, manufacturing, roads and railroads, and possible oil
Population - quite large and quite stable.
Government - stable for the most part.

Now for dominating the area - you would either have to have them go free post World War One, or have a super nation (an Egypt, Ottomans, or Carthage) develop before the European arrival.
 
I know it might be a bit later than you have in mind, but they could keep their nuclear program up and running.
 
There is if you toss in Zimbabwe/Rhodesia

With Pre-1900 technology entire Sub-Saharan Africa united simply cannot produce the same amount of food that Russia or the US could in the same time period.

I mean, I could be a important international power, but a superpower?
 
The easiest POD is if Portugal diverts most of their efforts to South Africa from Brazil. Maybe they agree the Tordesillas Line extends to not much more than Brazilian Northeast, and would-be bandeirantes go for their slave-raiding, gold/diamond hunting expeditions in South Africa instead. Somehow, the Mfecane is able to be triggered, depopulation a large swathe of the interior, and some rinderpest epidemics would help in killing locals to establish Portuguese rule.

When everything is settled, Portugal rules everything south of the Zambezi, plus Angola, Zambia, Mozambique, and part of Kantanga. This region gains independence as the Empire of Africa under a rebellious Portuguese prince. The number of people already there, the potential for immigration, the agricultural potential, the strategic location, and the sheer resource power of this country means you have Brazil on steroids, to say the least.
 
Location - controlling both the Pacific, Atlantic, and the Antarctic Oceans.
Resources - metals, diamonds, manufacturing, roads and railroads, and possible oil
Population - quite large and quite stable.
Government - stable for the most part.

Their agricultural produce could also be a resource (Wheat, Citrus Fruits, Beef etc). Also coal.
 
Have a hybrid Cartheginian-Khoikhoi (Hello Hanno!) civilization, simmering, cut off from the remainder of the city-dwelling world for thousands of years.

Then somehow have their culture tuned just right that they adjust to 'modernity' (such as it would be at Portuguese or Arab contact) correctly, and expand steadily and permanently into most of southern Africa.
 
Their agricultural produce could also be a resource (Wheat, Citrus Fruits, Beef etc). Also coal.

If we're talking about JUST South Africa as in .za then coal ain't gonna mean much w/o a railroad. (Southern Africa might be different though) but most/all of .za's coal is in the interior provinces (Mpumalanga is one such place) rather than along the coast - hence why the power stations inland still use coal but most of the coastal provinces (Natal excepted AFAIK) run on nuclear power (the cost of shipping coal over 1000km from Nelspruit to Cape Town would make it ridiculously expensive).

Gold, diamonds make the most sense after farming (citrus, sugarcane and bananas along the eastern coast (sub-tropical climate); grapes, olives etc in the Cape (mediterranean climate) mielies (whatever that is to you in English), wheat etc in the interior (Free State, North West), cattle and sheep ranching in the drier Karoo climate if crop farming is out (ostriches too).
 
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