Two-way China-Africa trade fell sharply in the first half of the year to $82 billion, down 20% from the same time last year. Trade between the two regions has been severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing lockdowns.
But now that the Chinese economy is getting back up to speed and a growing number of African countries are re-opening their markets, trade volumes in the second half of the year are widely expected to improve.
But it’s not going to be easy warns Walter Ruigu, managing director of CAMAL Group, a global procurement and strategic sourcing company that does a lot of import/export between China and Africa. Walter joins Eric & Cobus to talk about what he’s hearing from his clients about what they want to ship and to where.
Show Notes:
- The South China Morning Post: China-Africa trade takes big hit from coronavirus in first half by Jevans Nyabiage
- Quartz Africa: Trade between China and Africa dropped 14% in the first quarter and could get worse by Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu
- Bloomberg: China in Africa Is More Than a Land Grab by Clara Ferreira Marques
About Walter Ruigu:
Walter Ruigu is the Managing Director of CAMAL Group, an independent trade and investment advisory firm based in Beijing. CAMAL supports producers of mineral commodities in accessing China and Asian markets. The firm also supports mining and construction companies in their international procurement of capital equipment. Correspondingly, CAMAL supports Chinese companies with a “go global” agenda to enter the African market. CAMAL has worked with mining and construction companies in various countries, enabling them to successfully export minerals such as manganese and chrome to China and to procure quality capital goods. It has also facilitated numerous strategic partnerships between Chinese and African companies.
