Quote Originally Posted by KingJaja View Post
$210 billion could grow to $1 trillion in ten years if trade is aggressively pursued.
It might, and it might not. Africa is seen as a high risk investment destination in the US, and there are many other places in the world (SE Asia and Latin America among them) with equal growth potential and far lower perceived risk.

Again, for trade to flourish there has to be some level of compatibility in the markets that are trading: you have to have something they want, and they have to have something you want. The Chinese and African economies are compatible in many ways: China imports large quantities of hydrocarbons and basic industrial raw materials. US demand in these areas is much lower and can generally be satisfied closer to home. China exports huge quantities of low cost manufactured goods, from textiles to machinery, that are in high demand in cost-sensitive developing countries.

In most of Asia Chinese goods are universally seen as being cheap but of poor quality: consumers seeking goods to flash or industries seeking durable capital goods show a strong preference for US, European, Japanese, or Korean goods. China-made goods carrying a foreign brand are more palatable, but a Chinese brand is pretty much the bottom of the pile. African consumers may get to that place as well, as consumers become more sophisticated, or the Chinese may up their game a bit.

I really can't see much basis for a campaign to increase trade with Africa at the level of national policy. What does the US need from Africa that can't be supplied closer to home? What can the US reasonably aspire to export to Africa?