A loosening of trade restrictions and growing sophistication among African consumers has helped spur growth within Africa for sub- Saharan Africa (SSA). “Intra-African trade is largely driven by exports of value-added goods such as transportation equipment, agri-business and light manufactured goods,” said Grace Otieno, senior manager: Rest of Africa at Nedbank. Speaking at a business briefing last week, she said that from a global perspective the SSA region had seen its trade compass shifting south – to Asia, Latin America and Intra-Africa. “However, the north (ie, Europe and the Unites States) still accounts for the biggest share of value-added trade, followed by intra-African trade,” said Otieno. She added that the south was dominated by the export of primary raw commodities. “Asia – mainly China – is fthe third largest export destination for SSA oil,” she said. Otieno said the four regional bodies within the SSA region – Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas); Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa); East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) – were pursuing deeper integration which was expected to eventually converge into the African Common Market and an African Economic Community (AEC). “The region’s strengths are the regional trade diversification strategies, the rising African middle class consumer and sizeable regional bodies, both in terms of a growing gross domestic product (GDP) and a large population,” said Otieno. INSERT & CAPTION The African export portfolio is predominantly commodity exports, leaving it prone to commodity price shocks. – Grace Otieno
