For any country, exporting goods internationally is likely to improve its economic condition. However, in the nations, where people have hardly any access to basic services, it seems an irony to export goods to other locations. On second thoughts, people who are struggling to combat poverty in several under developed countries cannot help much but sell their commodities and strengthen their financial condition to some extent.
Export business in African continent
African nations are engrossed with the same plight at present, where exporting business has become an unavoidable necessity. Despite the hardships, they face in absence of ample food products, and other daily use items they have to export commodities to other countries for survival. On the brighter side, several trade agreements have helped African countries to improve their economic condition appreciably with export business. Implementation of African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has been an effective step in this regard and has paved way for trade between U.S and Africa.
AGOA has diversified African exports appreciably and simultaneously it has enhanced the business environments in many African nations. At present, thirty-nine African countries from the Sub-Sahara region qualify to gain form AGOA benefits, where they get opportunity to do trade with non-African nations. Several foreign agencies like USAID also provides apt funding to support several African Regional Trade Hubs.
Keeping up with the trend to benefit the economically weaker sections of Africa, the European Union also contributes significantly. The EU buys 40% of agricultural exports from Sub-Saharan Africa, which includes many commodities such as tea, coffee, vegetables, citrus fruits, and so on. In the past decade, the trade has almost increased to two fold, with the exporting business between Africa and EU having an upper hand over the trade between African nations themselves.
Imports to Africa
Thankfully, African countries do not confine themselves to exporting goods to other locations in the contemporary times. Instead, they expect business from several non-African nations that eye growth possibilities in this continent in various sectors. Just to cite an example, most of the developing nations withstand the pressure to increase the yields in their farms in order to intensify and sustain production.
The scope for them is wide open to supply light machinery and fertilizer to various African economies. The demand for semi-durable goods has also soared in the dynamic markets of the African continent, especially among the rapidly growing middle class segments. This in turn makes way for foreign countries to supply the intended goods and ensure good financial returns.
Overall, the state of African nations is more or less heading toward attaining a steady state. However, there is still a lot to do to improve the economic condition of the African nations. Notably, the Sub-Saharan Africa alone reels under an excessive poverty pressure, where above 800 million of population earns below $1.25 per day.