JOHANNESBURG. Swedish trade with Africa is excalating nicely and steadily.
Sweden´s export to Africa increased by 39 percent during the first six months, to SEK 13 177 milion (2.4 percent of Swedens total export). And Africas export to Sweden went up by 45 percent, to SEK 1 874 million (0.4 percent).
“One should keep in mind that the Swedish import of e g oil is not included in these trade figures”, says Klas Ljungberg, responsible for trade promotion with Africa at the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Klas Ljungberg, who heads a newly established group of trade promotion experts that are assigned to various centres in Africa, is planning to take a Swedish Trade Delegation to Sudan, one of the countries that are expected to benefit from last years peace deal between the Khartoum Government and SPLA, the Southern Sudan liberation movement.
While the situation in Dharfour is critical, a new sence of stability is slowly settling in. Swedish trade with Sudan is miniscule, only SEK 351 million during Jan-June, up 39 percent, against SEK 39 million in import (up from SEK 1 million).
Other countries on Klas Ljungberg´s promotional radar during the past year have been Angola, Ghana and DR Congo.
There is no room for Afro-pessimism in Klas Ljungberg´s vocabulary. “Ericsson has shown other Swedish businesses that you can make a lot of money in a country like DRC despite the hardships there. Margins around 25 percent or more are the norm rather than the exception in most African countries”, says Klas Ljungberg. South Africa continues to be Sweden´s largest trade partner by far in Africa. Swedish exports to South Africa increased by 32 percent, to SEK 2830 million, between January and June, according to Statistics Sweden.
And South Africa´s export to Sweden during the same period, rocketed by 54 percent, to SEK 1074 million.
The largest increase from Sweden to South Africa, not surprisingly, came from export of telecommunication equipment (184 percent; SEK 726 million), while the South African increase (57 percent; SEK 431 million), was not due to food, including wine, as much as engineering products, the largest portion thereof, most likely, catalytic converters.
The export to Algeria (124 % to SEK 1 941 million), Morocco (117 % to SEK 1 406 million) and Egypt (28 % to SEK 1 685 million) also shot up nicely during the period, while the import from those countries was tiny.
The full extent of the trade with Africa does not show up though, as indirect trade, e g through Swedish subsidiaries or contractors, is not reflected. The export of Sony Ericsson handsets, produced in China is not counted. Nor is the export of Volvo cars from Belgium.
Similarly African export of raw material is largely not accounted for, as it first reaches an EU port.
Africascan comment
Trade with Africa seem to have entered a new phase, where South Africa not the least is setting the pace by investing in property, retail and manufacturing.
While the West is largely still wary of Africa´s dangers and threads very carefully, another outsider, China, is taking a longer term view and invests quite agressively in Africa.
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