Ben Tavener of The Rio Times is reporting that Brazil, along with Russia, India, China, and South Africa, took place in the fifth annual BRICS Summit in Durban, South Africa in March. These most significant emerging economies contribute 17 percent of the world’s trade and combined direct foreign investment in all of the countries has tripled within 10 years. This year’s summit in Africa is indicative of the rapid rise in trade between BRICS and African nations.
Tavener writes:
Trade between the BRICS and African countries has now reportedly even outpaced inter-BRICS trade, meaning fierce competition for influence over the fast-developing continent’s natural resources.
Due to China’s acute reliance on importing huge quantities of commodities and foodstuffs to keep its economy booming, it is by far Africa’s biggest business partner, with India a distant second. Although Brazil has reported to have ramped up its rapprochement with various African countries, direct investments in Africa remain low.
Despite the fact that demand for Brazilian imports across Africa has also risen sharply in the past decade – from US$1.35 billion in 2001 to US$12 billion in 2011 – Brazil has focused predominantly on Mozambique and Angola. Locations where major Brazilian companies such as Vale, Petrobras, Andrade Gutierrez and Odebrecht have set up African bases.
Read more at The Rio Times.
This news brief was written by Kaitlin Higgins, editorial assistant for The Burton Wire.
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