Agreements and Disagreements
Let's take some more figures; this time from the WTO, which tracks exports to and imports from Africa as an entire continent (and other regions) here:
Quote:
Table A18 Merchandise trade by product, region and major trading partner, 2010-2011 — Canada
Table A19 Merchandise trade by product, region and major trading partner, 2010-2011 — United States
Table A20 Merchandise trade by product, region and major trading partner, 2010-2011 — Brazil
Table A21 Merchandise trade by product, region and major trading partner, 2010-2011 — European Union (27)
Table A22 Merchandise trade by product, region and major trading partner, 2010-2011 — China
Table A23 Merchandise trade by product, region and major trading partner, 2010-2011 — Hong Kong , China
Table A25 Merchandise trade by product, region and major trading partner, 2010-2011 — Japan
Table A26 Merchandise trade by product, region and major trading partner, 2010-2011 — Korea, Rep. of
Table A27 Merchandise trade by product, region and major trading partner, 2009-2010 — Malaysia
Table A28 Merchandise trade by product, region and major trading partner, 2010-2011 — Singapore
The relative economic significance of Africa to these countries is (in billions $US):
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EU 2010 Exp 162.33; Imp 176.47
EU 2011 Exp 183.49; Imp 203.12
China 2010 Exp 56.06; Imp 67.07
China 2011 Exp 69.14; Imp 93.24
US 2010 Exp 28.28; Imp 87.47
US 2011 Exp 32.61; Imp 94.84
Japan 2010 Exp 10.08; Imp 11.69
Japan 2011 Exp 9.91; Imp 17.11
Brazil 2010 Exp 9.24; Imp 11.30
Brazil 2011 Exp 12.22; Imp 15.44
Korea 2010 Exp 10.21; Imp 6.29
Korea 2011 Exp 10.74; Imp 6.88
Canada 2010 Exp 3.30; Imp 9.62
Canada 2011 Exp 3.52; Imp 14.52
Singapore 2010 Exp 7.09; Imp 1.08
Singapore 2011 Exp 9.15; Imp 1.20
Malaysia 2010 Exp 4.89; Imp 2.87
Malaysia 2011 Exp 5.91; Imp 3.45
Hong Kong 2010 Exp 2.34; Imp 1.62
Hong Kong 2011 Exp 2.53; Imp 4.33
Given the widespread hue and cry of the "yellow peril" ("The Chinese are coming ! The Chinese are coming !"), it surprised me that the US was so close to them in African trade. That the EU was far and away the primary trading partner did not surprise me at all.
Other "hues and cries", intended to call Americans to action, are the "brown peril" ("The Muslims are coming ! The Muslims are coming !") and the "genocide peril" ("The genocide is coming ! The genocide is coming !"). All three of these messages may have varying degrees of truth in them; but that truth content should not necessarily cause Americans to take action.
The thing that struck me about President Obama's African visit was, what seemed to me, his discomfort with the realities of Sub-Saharan Africa, versus his ideological positions on civil and human rights - positions in which the Congressional Black Caucus (left-progressive in beliefs) also join. Perhaps, there also is discomfort with the fact that the Middle Passage had a beginning (Africa) and an end (America). The beginning can be ignored in the interest of tranquility, but that does not eliminate the discomfort.
So, perhaps it is best to sing Kumbayah (which is not African, but African-American-Gullah), exalt Nelson Mandela and forget about ancient history and present-day realities.
Regards
Mike
1 Attachment(s)
Some "What If" Questions ...
I was doing some reading on a different African topic and I came upon the following map (The Long-Term Effects of Africa’s Slave Trades; map is at p.17):
Attachment 1754
It shows the major ethnicities within (and some split up by) the neo-colonial state borders.
Since the thread has now turned to individual vs group leadership meetings, my thoughts when looking at the map turned to the "what if" questions:
1. What if the neo-colonial borders were scuppered; and new borders aligned on the basis of the ethnicities ?
2. How would these many more, much smaller countries fare in the diplomatic and trade arenas ?
3. Specifically, would the resultant multiplicity of West-Central African coastal countries (the most ethnically divided) then be placed at a competitive disadvantage as their pre-colonial antecedents apparently were - as recently argued in 2009 by two Univ. of Michigan economists, The Impact of the Slave Trade on African Economies.
4. What counter-strategies could that multiplicity of relatively tiny countries employ in order to offset the power of their trade "partners" (whether EU, China or US) ?
This is not an argument for keeping the neo-colonial borders; my dog is not in that fight; my presumption favors self-determination; but how many, many tiny countries would fare in a dog eat dog world seems a legitimate issue.
KJ: I expect you have considered this issue; I'd be interested in your thoughts.
Regards
Mike
President(s) from Africa, which countries?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
KingJaja
davidbfpo,
Another group session?
On March 28, Presidents Macky Sall, Joyce Banda, Ernest Bai Koroma & Jos Maria Pereira Neves met President Obama in
a group at the White House.
http://images.bwbx.io/cms/2013-06-21...ny_630x420.jpg
Predictably, Macky Sall, the leader of Senegal (one of Africa's more important nations) got a LOT of flack from Senegalese media for going to the White House
as part of a tour group.
There's something that the US doesn't get; that the Chinese seem to get - US might unwittingly be sending out the vibes that
it is too busy to visit African officials, so it prefers to seem them in groups.
This is never intentional but, I think diplomats need to be careful about that - Africa is very diverse & it is very difficult to cover the ground in a group.
I wondered who three of the African leaders were, Ms Banda was easy. So the White House press release was found and has the spin on why they met:
Quote:
Today President Obama welcomed President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone, President Macky Sall of Senegal, President Joyce Banda of Malawi, and Prime Minister Jos Maria Pereira Neves of Cape Verde to the White House. The United States has strong partnerships with these countries based on shared democratic values and shared interests. Each of these leaders has undertaken significant efforts to strengthen democratic institutions, protect and expand human rights and civil liberties, and increase economic opportunities for their people.
Is Egypt Trying to Block Israel's African Union Bid?
Some other nations have been busy in Africa.
Israel is actually quite popular in a lot of Sub Sahara Africa (at least the Christian parts), so there's a bid to grant them observer status at the African Union - which Egypt naturally opposes.
Quote:
CAIRO — Egyptian fears have been rekindled regarding the spread of Israeli influence in the Horn of Africa, and more particularly the Nile Basin, following information obtained by Egyptian security agencies that Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria were attempting to promote Israel’s candidacy as an observer member in the African Union (AU). These states were also urging other AU states to include a discussion of this request on the agenda for the African Summit in January 2014 in Addis Ababa.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/orig...#ixzz2jCOANGQ3