· A virtual UK-Africa conference to promote trade and investment opportunities in African markets being hosted by The United Kingdom on 20th Jan on the anniversary of the inaugural 2020 UK-Africa summit.
· Political observers are of the view that the post-Brexit trade deals between the UK and African nations were more or less the same as EU
A virtual UK-Africa conference to promote trade and investment opportunities in African markets being hosted by The United Kingdom on 20th Jan on the anniversary of the inaugural 2020 UK-Africa summit. A lot of importance is assigned to the event hosted by Britain’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, who skipped the World Economic Forum in Davos to lead the event.
A lot of enthusiasm was generated at last year’s summit, with the promise by the British government to offer a better version of the EU-Africa trade model and better protection to the interests of African nations. Technically, freedom from EU fold empowers Britain to make independent trade agreements better tailored to individual African nations. However, political observers are of the view that the post-Brexit trade deals between the UK and African nations were more or less the same as EU. Moreover, UK in spite of its long association with Africa has fallen behind in both trade and investment.
The UK has signed post-Brexit trade deals with 13 African countries that are no different from the old ones because they are primarily rollover agreements. The 13 African countries who have signed the agreement with the UK include Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia , South Africa, Mozambique, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zimbabwe.
Kenya signed a continuity trade deal with Britain, allowing Kenya to continue to export tea, coffee and spices, as well as vegetables and flowers to the UK without paying duties. The agreement came under harsh criticism for risking the integration of the East Africa Community (EAC), a trading bloc that is also working to negotiate a post-Brexit deal with the UK. Economic Analysts point out that the agreement could enhance the trade tensions between the EAC’s partner states.
Post-Brexit Britain offers least developed countries in Africa exporting “quota
