The misfortune of some makes the fortune of others. While Europe is increasingly sunk by the crisis, the "South" of the world continues to grow. And this trend no longer concerns only the emerging countries, but also Africa, precisely by virtue of the growing exchanges with the so-called BRICS.
Il African continent, huge resource of oil and raw materials and at the same time a fertile market for investments in infrastructure, transport and industrial and agricultural development, it has seen a significant increase in its commercial relations in the last 10 years, especially with China and Brazil.
The volume of trade between the South American locomotive and the African continent increased from 2000 to 2010 from 4 to 20 billion dollars, according to data from the World Bank. In November, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff also toured various African countries, indicating them as a priority: "The European crisis has accelerated our strategy: Brazil must absolutely position itself and immediately on the African market, which is growing strongly ”.
But China is still ahead: second a study by the rating agency Fitch, in 2010 the Asian giant already represented 14% of imports and 17% of total exports of the African continent, mainly focused on oil, iron ore, copper and coal. As countries, the most active in these relations are Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia.
The China-Africa trade turnover has increased from less than a billion dollars to more than 16 billion dollars in ten years, while Chinese investments in 2010 reached the figure of 11 billion dollars, of which a third in the raw materials sector. But that is not all. Beijing has implemented a real strategic plan on the continent, developing six specialized economic areas, in particular in Zambia, Nigeria and Ethiopia.
But the most significant data is that the Chinese import-export bank (Exim) has granted 67,2 billion dollars in loans on the African continent in the last decade, of which 3% are loans at more advantageous conditions than those on the market. For comparison, World Bank lending totaled “only” $54,7 billion over the same period.
"The interest of China and other emerging countries in Africa can be explained simply by the desire to avoid excessive exposure to European debt," explains Arnaud Louis, an analyst at Fitch. “Oil and mineral resources will continue to pull growth, but more importantly the internal market is expanding, inflated by the growing consumption of the middle class, particularly in countries such as Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya”, continues Richard Fox, co-author of Fitch's research.
The rating agency itself is increasingly interested in African dynamism. Ten years ago, it evaluated only one country, today as many as 16, e the continent's growth rate was estimated at 5 to 6 percent in 2012, second only to Asia.
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