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Speech given by Celio Bermann, University of Sao Paulo and Brazilian NGO’s and Social Movements Forum for Environment and Development, at the Expert Roundtable “Resource Governance in Africa in the 21st century”, Berlin, March 26-28, 2007
Introduction
It's not just China that is actively working to tap into Africa's natural resources; Brazil, India and Russia are rapidly expanding as well. Like China, these countries are working to offer Africa much-needed basic technology, infrastructure and investment in return for access to its minerals and energy.
Together, the BRICs nations accounted for 11% of Africa's total trade in 2004, up from 5% in 1995, while that of Africa's traditional trading partners - the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the U.S.- declined to 33% in 2004, from a level of 36% attained in 1995, according to a report published by the African Export-Import Bank.
By 2025, the BRICs could account for over half the size of the G6 (U.S., U.K., Japan, Canada, Germany and France), according to a recent study by the American investment bank Goldman Sachs.
China is still seen by some African industries and governments, as well as by Africa's traditional partners in the west, as the most aggressive of the BRICs in its quest for Africa's energy and other natural resources.
Russia's Renova - which has shareholdings in metals, oil and coal assets - has a 49% stake in United Manganese of Kalahari, which is exploring a manganese deposit in western South Africa. And Russia's metals giant Russian Aluminum owns Friguia in Guinea, which produces about 600,000 metric tons of alumina per year and is on track to expand to 1 million tons by 2008. It's also exploring at the Dian Dian bauxite deposit nearby.
Although Brazil, Russia and India aren't unified in their approach to Africa, and enter markets in different countries in varying ways, each country is pursuing a somewhat different path, there have been some recent examples of cooperation between the countries.
The recently launched "Triangle Trade" under the India, Brazil and South Africa Forum, or IBSA, represents an initiative to promote the interests of their rapidly-growing economies.
India's trade with South Africa grew from $2.4 billion in 2003-04, to $4 billion in 2005-06. Meanwhile Brazil's trade with South Africa doubled in 2005-06. In 2005, trade between the two countries was estimated at $1.5 billion.
Brazilian trade with Africa as a whole is already around $5 billion annually, or about 5% of Brazil's total, according to a recent report by the country's Trade and Investment Promotion Agency, and there's scope for expansion.
Among the Brazilian extractive natural resources industries which have activities in Africa, two of them play an important role: Petrobras, the Brazilian oil and energy company; and CVRD-Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, one of the biggest metal and mining companies of the world.