Trade between China and Africa: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Trade in Africa is not vibrant as it is obtainable in other continents of the world. This is the more reason this review is undertaken to comparatively juxtapose Africa and China in terms of trade, so as to unveil the challenges as well as opportunities embedded. The major aim of this work is to highlight some of the key factors that explain why Africa as a continent has not been able to fully benefit from world trade. Several reasons have been presented to explain this appaling phenomenon, but what stands out is the fact that Africa’s uncompetitiveness in world trade has three dimensions, namely: internal; regional and foreign factors. To boost trade, African countries need to diversify into high value products, liberalise the service sector to open it up for increased investment and focus on pro-poor policies.