African trade is dominated by "diverse natural resources that the continent enjoys in abundance" (EconomyWatch.com). If you want to learn more about the natural resources of Africa, click here.
According to The Observation of Economic Complexity, the following visuals represent South Africa's trading partners in 1965, 1980, and 2015 (respectively).
As you can see from these graphics, South Africa was doing a lot of trade with the European countries in the mid 1960s. However, in the second graphic we start to see an increase in activity with Asia and the United States. Then in this graphic above for 2015, we can see that Asia has taken a large part of South Africa's exports. According to the South African Institute of International Affairs, Asian economies are using trade agreements to eliminate regional barriers and enhance production networks. A strategic priority of Asian economies has been the elimination of trade and other barriers between them. The objective of these agreements is to facilitate the development of regional production networks, but also improve market access into those countries that impose relatively high tariff barriers compared with developed economies. (Edwards and Lawrence, 2012) This will prove very helpful to both African and Asian countries as they will be able to acquire goods and services not native to them.
The History of Trade in Southern Africa
Sources: The Library of Congress Country Studies (photius.com) |
Source: Countries of The World
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