Depressed economy spurs intra-trade growth

As West Africa remains
depressed due to the drop in oil
and other commdity prices it is
not all doom and gloom, says
Olivier Vanreusel, director of
COMEXAS Africa.
“There are some interesting
new dynamics in West Africa
because of the difficult
economic conditions,” he says.
One new trend that has
arisen from this is the growing
intra-African trade. “It is a
means to achieve structural
change and economic
development on the continent
and it is working,” comments
Vanreusel, who spends much
time in West Africa.
He told FTW that he was
“extremely optimistic” about
the opportunities that were
arising from countries such as
Ghana and the Ivory Coast.
“No doubt it has been more
difficult lately to do business
in West Africa in light of the
drop in the oil price and the
commodity slump. Growth in
the respective countries has
slowed down, but there is still a
lot of demand,” says Vanreusel.
“But while many companies
have full order books, they are
still not able to trade as the
central banks are not releasing
money and they don’t have
access to foreign currency,” he
points out.
As a result of this, more and
more companies are looking to
trade within the continent. “We
have seen a definite increase in
inter-Africa business in the past
few months. Instead of buying
from usual suppliers, such as
China, companies are opting
to source from within Africa,”
he says.
Although it is arguably
more expensive to procure
goods regionally due to
the industrialisation and
transport challenges, traders
are creating a foreign income
for their companies.
“We are also seeing more
exporting, with companies
having to export more to
create their own currency and
so local products are starting
to move more than was the
case several months ago.”
He says this bodes well for
the logistics and maritime
industry at large.
“The situation that has
arisen from the slowdown
in the economies has led to
the development of exports
and the local manufacturing
sectors, which is an extremely
positive move forward,”
he says. “At the same time,
we are also seeing very
real attempts to diversify
economies in the region.”
INSERT & CAPTION
There are some
interesting new
dynamics in West
Africa because of the
difficult economic
conditions.
– Olivier Vanreusel
CAPTION 
COMEXAS Africa offers offer vessel owners full husbandry, chartering & agency services in
West Africa. Photo: COMEXAS