Angola, Gambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Madagascar, Mali and Mauritania will not pay duties on 98 per cent of taxable products under Beijing’s latest measure to buy more agricultural goods from the continent.
Europe and the US announce plans aimed at securing mineral supplies from resource-rich Africa, to establish a supply chain with less of a ‘Chinese imprint’.
China is helping African countries to grow more food products and set up industries to process farm produce as part of efforts to reverse a long-time trade imbalance in its favour. It is also increasing African food imports after more than two decades of mostly buying raw materials from the continent while exporting electronics and textiles, resulting in a trade surplus that saw China accused of promoting the unhealthy imbalance. Last year, Chinese exports to Africa made up nearly 60 per cent of
New initiatives to boost Africa’s agricultural and industrial modernisation do not mean a shift away from infrastructure building but rather the launch of a parallel track, observers say.