China Set To Cash In on African Free Trade Agreement

China Briefing posted on 27 May 2019 a commentary titled "China Set to Cash in on New African Free Trade Agreement" by Chris Devonshire-Ellis.

China has been pushing low-end manufacturing out of China and into lower-cost southeast Asian markets such as Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia. As these markets become higher cost and/or saturated, the author argues that this manufacturing capacity will increasingly move to Africa. Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement will contribute positively to this process.

Kenya Concerned about Trade with China

Kenya's Business Daily published on 15 May 2018 an article titled "Kenya Rejects China-EAC Trade Pact" by Boniface Otieno.

Kenya's long-standing and large trade deficit with China was highlighted when Kenya announced that it will not sign a free trade agreement with China that has been under negotiation with the East African Community (EAC) since 2016. The decision is intended to protect Kenya's nascent manufacturing sector from being overrun by China's cheaper and more efficient producers.

Obstacles to US Investment in Africa

Peter Hansen

Peter Hansen, a Washington attorney who specializes in African investment law, made a compelling case for expanding U.S. bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and double tax treaties (DTTs) with countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.  Published on 4 February 2013 by The Heritage Foundation and titled "Unleashing the U.S. Investor in Africa: A Critique of U.S. Policy Toward the Continent,"  Hansen pointed out that the United States has only six BITs in Sub-Saharan Africa with Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, Rwanda and Senegal.  The United States only has a DTT with South Africa.

By comparison, France has 11 BITs and 26 DTTs with Sub-Saharan Africa, Germany has 26 BITs and even China has 11 BITs.  Hansen argues that these governments have significantly reduced the risk for companies from their countries to invest in Africa while the United States has failed to give this program a sufficiently high priority.  As a result, American companies are reluctant to invest in important countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Ethiopia.