Infographic: Is China’s new 100% duty-free trade pledge for African LDCs a big deal?

The 9th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), held in Beijing from September 4-6, 2024, resulted in many new plans to enhance China-Africa cooperation, especially on trade. At the Summit, the most attention-grabbing trade-related announcement was China’s pledge to remove 100% of tariffs on all exports from Africa’s Least Developed Countries (LDCs) that have diplomatic ties […]

Press Release: Fostering Prosperity: Boosting & Diversifying Africa’s Exports to China

The African Union Permanent Mission to China and Development Reimagined (DR) organised a roundtable discussion on the theme “Fostering Prosperity: Boosting & Diversifying Africa’s Exports to China” on June 25, 2024, at the African Union’s Permanent Mission in Beijing. This hybrid event aimed to create a platform for discussions and reflections on strategic and practical […]

African Members’ Position at WTO’s 13th Ministerial Conference

This briefing reviews African positions put forward at The World Trade Organisation (WTO)’s 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) earlier this year and the potential impact of the meetings on internal and external African trade. It will also examine Africa’s broader relationship with the WTO and to what degree African members are able to participate in and […]

HOW IS THE RED SEA CRISIS AFFECTING AFRICAN COUNTRIES?

Starting on November 19, Houthi attacks and counter-strikes on commercial ships transiting through the Bab al-Mandab strait along the Red Sea have been a major disruptor of international trade through this vital artery. A 32km wide channel connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, the strait is a strategic maritime chokepoint. The route […]

What South African Rooibos Tea Can Tell Us About Africa-China Trade Flows

Last month, China’s General Administration of Customs released its customs data for 2023. The data showed that China’s total trade with Africa grew a modest 1.5 percent in 2023, reaching $282.1 billion, but Africa’s trade deficit with China widened. While Chinese exports to Africa reached $173 billion, an increase of 7.5 percent over 2022, Africa’s exports to China dropped by […]

It’s time for African countries to shape the WTO, not just sit in it

At the 50th anniversary celebration of the origins of the international trade system in 1998 in Geneva, Nelson Mandela in his speech said: “The developing countries must accept that we want to be fully part of the WTO, and that includes improving the management of the world trading system to ensure that our economies do […]

Not Just an African Tale: China’s Trade Slowdown from a Global Perspective

In recent weeks, a flurry of articles appeared pointing out that Africa’s biggest bilateral trade partner, China, had significantly slowed its imports from Africa. To prevent another oversimplified doom and gloom narrative about Africa from circulating, we decided to break down the numbers to get a deeper understanding of this phenomenon – something we continuously […]