• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
  • Guest Content
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Elevenses
  • Business
  • Food
  • Travel
  • Property
  • JOBS
  • All
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Sport
    • Tech/Auto
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Elevenses
  • Business
  • Food
  • Travel
  • Property
  • JOBS
  • All
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Sport
    • Tech/Auto
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Business and Economics Economics

Euro-African trade signifies changing relations

By Stephen Angus Peter Junor  October represents a deadline for the various African blocs to negotiate and accept a free trade deal with the EU, a deal which has been on the table since Doha 2000. African relations with the EU are split into five blocs: West Africa, Central Africa, Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA), East […]

Joe Mellor by Joe Mellor
2014-08-05 10:30
in Economics
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

By Stephen Angus Peter Junor 

October represents a deadline for the various African blocs to negotiate and accept a free trade deal with the EU, a deal which has been on the table since Doha 2000. African relations with the EU are split into five blocs: West Africa, Central Africa, Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA), East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

As of now, West Africa and the SADC are the only two blocs to have effectively agreed to the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) while negotiations are still ongoing regarding the other three blocs. The European Commission has shown that West Africa is the largest trading partner to the EU out of the five blocs and contains the largest African economy, Nigeria. Whether or not the other blocs agree to the deal, there has been a paradigm shift towards using trade as a means of development, compared to an aid-based approach.

China has laid the foundations for this approach as official figures show that Chinese trade with Africa has increased 20-fold since 2000, surpassing $200 billion this year. This has coincided with a massive rise in total Chinese GDP and a growing geopolitical influence across the world. Indeed the influence of China may be a factor in the hesitancy of the other African blocs to accept the EPA.

The relationship between Europe and Africa has been a long, turbulent and fundamentally unequal one. From the initial scramble for Africa at the beginning of the last century where most of the continent was partitioned between the major European powers at the time, mostly Britain and France, to the more recent acceptance that aid reinforces power imbalances between the North and South which further entrenches the perception of inequality and reliance.

Martin Drewry (director of the NGO Health Poverty Action) in a recent Guardian article highlighted further imbalances from a UK perspective. He explained how poorly regulated multinational corporations using tax havens and giving aid in the form of unsustainable loans are further examples of how Africa loses out economically. Furthermore, he highlights that climate change adversely affects the developing world, through respective geographies, climates and less ability to adequately mitigate.

An increase in trade is designed to move beyond the inequalities and foster a more equal relationship but as we have seen with Sino-African trade and some of the stipulations within the EPA, it is questionable how equal this relationship is. The former governor of Nigeria’s central bank, Lamido Sanusi, expressed his dismay that China ‘takes’ primary goods such as metals and minerals while Africa receives manufactured goods that often have an adverse effect on local markets that cannot cope with an influx of cheaper goods.

Concerns over opening up markets too much has also prevented Nigeria from fully committing to agreeing to the EPA while the rest of the West African nations have. The Wilson Center commended African negotiators for reducing the extent of market liberalisation stipulated within the EPA but still expected about 80 per cent of African markets to be opened up to European goods and services. It recently appeared as if Nigeria’s worries had been eased but there is scepticism about how much progress has really been made. Zambia (ESA) echoed these worries with their Minister of Commerce suggesting that further regional integration and trade predominantly through value addition of raw materials would be a better strategy, thus protecting local markets and supporting African economies more than the EPA would. This form of South-South cooperation is growing, as represented by the BRICS themselves.

As South-South cooperation is increasing, it is challenging countries in the global North to rethink their relationship with the South. China in particular has a relatively advanced economy and can offer much of what Europe can. As China is still developing and can build a relationship on mutual experience it represents a more equal partner. With China offering so much, Europe has recognised that its relations with Africa need to change, which is signified by a shift towards increased trade.

RelatedPosts

Wealth of Nations Index shows ‘exceptional’ drop for Britain

Brits need to accept they’re poorer, top banker says

UK slips down rankings of the world’s-biggest exporters

Irish economy booms as British economy heads for bust

The USA is now following the same path, with the three day US-Africa summit in Washington taking place from 4th to 6th August. It is expected that up to $1billion worth of business deals will be announced in addition to more peacekeeping support as well as the expansion of food and power initiatives. The President of the African Development Bank, Donald Kaberuka, welcomed the changing relationship, “there are still bits of aid needed here or there but fundamentally the relationship is now defined as one of trade, investment, growth and opportunities.” It comes as no surprise to see America taking this approach but with Europe gaining a foothold and China heavily involved in Africa there is a risk that competition could become too high as the world powers jostle for trade deals and partnerships.

Compared to the historical relationship that Europe has had with Africa, Africa is in a much stronger position now and from a geopolitical perspective Europe arguably needs the trade deals with Africa more than Africa does. This in itself shows that the relationship between Africa and Europe (and the rest of the world) has changed. The rise of developing countries is reworking power relations and this is reflected in Europe’s changing relationship with Africa. Whether the remaining three African blocs agree to the EPA may go some way to determining how influential Europe can be on the continent but the fundamentals of Euro-African relations are now more equal, reflecting Africa’s recent growth and burgeoning potential that will see Africa become an ever more important continent in the future.

Content Protection by DMCA.com
Please login to join discussion

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending

Elevenses: The Thing About Wrexham’s Cinderella Story

Elevenses: Exposing the Tories’ Deepfake Illegal Immigration Bill

Elevenses: Rishi’s Finest Hour

More from TLE

Caroline Lucas to vote against Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal

Navigating the murky world of seat politics on the London Underground

Uber Eats to deliver hangover cure during festive season

Battle of the fashion weeks – London vs Paris

Two-thirds of Brits feel ‘left in the dark’ about impact of post-Brexit trade deals

High-flying city banker jailed after being snared by paedophile hunters trying to meet 14-year-old for sex

Weather forecast, alerts and UVB index for London, Saturday 6 February 2021

Can the US resist a Twenty-First Century Cold War?

Lotto Results for Wednesday 8 June 2022 Lottery Tonight’s winning numbers

Southern rehab centres treat over half of those admitted for rising over the counter drug addiction

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Commercial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Address

The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE
Company number 09221879
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.