The Africa-South America Bilateral Trade Potential (Dr. Cisse)

Pangea, the Transatlantic Slave Trade, developing economies, post-colonial political systems, export of primary goods as main revenue, … Despite the confounding similarities, relations between Africa and South America are few and far: some trade agreements exist mainly on a country-to-country basis, but no global framework of cooperation exists between the two continents.

A divisive trade gap still separates Africa and South America. Since 2006, the Africa-South America (ASA) Summit aims to boost bilateral cooperation, but its roadmap remains vague to this date.

Are those continents complementary or antipodal ? What are the economic opportunities between them ? We involved Afrikonomics’ editor in chief Dr Cisse to bring some insight into our research.

The ASA Summit

Dr Cisse: “Economic ties between Africa and South America are still an underrated topic. The leadership of Northern and East-Asian countries, and the profound social changes in Africa and South America of the 20th century all led to bounded international strategies. Today, with enough political autonomy and economic stability, both regions can dedicate resources on strategic international development. The ASA Summit best illustrates the will of those two regions to create a new pole of influence.”

Since 2006, countries of Latin America and Africa get together for the Africa-South America (ASA) Summit. The first edition of this triennial event was organized in 2006 in Nigeria. The Abuja Action Plan was adopted, engaging both regions to follow a closer cooperation scheme. Strategic projects were also suggested to spark the cooperation : the creation of the energy commission for South America and Africa, a South American-African bank, a network of universities, and the proposal of relating South America to Africa by means of communications. The permanent secretary of ASA was created to handle the logistics… Read More

Further reading : Africa and Latin America: A Common History, A Common Cause

Source: AFRIKONOMICS