The Gulf has started to emboss its trademark in Africa. Even though U.S and France have established their standing in their former territories and other countries like Brazil and India also have their connections, one can slowly see the emergence of the Gulf.
The growing numbers of attendees in the UAE hosted Global Business forum in Africa is an attestation to that. Gulf and Africa share a long-term relationship, and the advantage points of culture and capital are making way for Gulf to be a key player in the African trade economy.
Historically the Middle East had its concentration on North Africa, and countries like UAE have taken charge and have started to move forward. The value of the non-oil agreements between Africa and Gulf is worth 24 billion dollars which 700% more than the last ten years.
The Gulf companies have invested more than 19 billion dollars for infrastructure projects in West Africa. The third largest Gulf firm in global operations DP world has invested over $1.5 billion in private-public partnerships and has entered into 30 agreements of investment projects. To protect itself from food scarcity Gulf countries are entering into agreements with agricultural producers. In 2020 the GCC would have imported 8% of the total value of all imports. It would amount to 53 billion dollars.
The attractiveness of incentives of 5% standard rate on most import and export goods and no customs duties has made Dubai a critical port of moving goods from Asia to Africa. Despite the cultural differences between the Gulf and its African counterpart, there is a very bright chance of excellent trade opportunities between them. The business opportunities would be a win-win scenario for both the Gulf and Africa mainly for Gulf to strengthen its food reserves. The analysts should keep their eyes glued for the developments that will happen in the future between the GCC and Africa.
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