The avocado strategy: how Africa aims to rebalance trade with China
- From Ethiopia to Namibia, countries on the continent hope to expand their focus from natural resources in a drive to narrow their trading gap with China
- But barriers must be overcome to get goods from African farms to Chinese tables
When more than 50 African countries took part in the first China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo in China in June, they were on a mission: to tap into the massive Chinese market.
Among the exporters at the show in the central Chinese city of Changsha were Kenyan companies promoting cut flowers and Rwandan processors selling fruit juices.
With China exporting far more to the continent than it imports from it, African nations are trying to restructure their trading relationship with the Asian giant and narrow the huge trade deficit that is in China’s favour.
Trade between China and Africa has grown twentyfold since the turn of the millennium but in 14 of those years there has been a Chinese surplus.
China’s imports of African goods are dominated by natural resources such as crude oil, copper, cobalt, iron ore, diamonds, gold and titanium, which it buys to meet its industrial and manufacturing needs. In return, Africa imports machinery, electronics and manufactured consumer goods.
But now more African countries – from Ethiopia to Namibia – are trying to move up the export value chain, a shift that will involve working out what Chinese consumers want and finding ways to get it to them.
Africa’s trade imbalance with China was one of the big issues on the agenda when leaders met for the China-Africa summit in Beijing last year.