Changes in The Commodities Market - Part 3: what implications for producers and end users?

In 2016, the countenance of Africa emerged slightly reassured. While global growth has remained fairly dull, with sluggish international trade and economic packages on the continent continuing to fail, the rebound of prices for many commodities along with a sustained investment dynamics have somewhat dispersed the threatening clouds that had obscured its economic horizon in 2015. A slight improvement therefore, but which should not make us forget that the macroeconomic performance o ...

Le forum de haut niveau de Tana sur la sécurité en Afrique (22-23 Avril, 2017, Bahir Dar, Ethiopie) a choisi pour thème à sa 6e édition la question de la gouvernance des ressources naturelles en Afrique. L’une des sessions du forum avait cherché à « comprendre et à expliquer pourquoi l’exploitation de ces ressources est de plus en plus source de tension et de violence qui ont des répercussions dramatiques sur la paix et la stabilité sur le continent ». Lors des différentes intervent ...

For its 6th edition, the Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa, held in Bahir Dar on Lake Tana in Ethiopia from April 22 to 23, 2017, focused on the theme of Natural Resource Governance in Africa. One of the forum session’s key discussion points sought to "understand and explain why the exploitation of these resources is increasingly a source of tension and violence, which have dramatic repercussions on the continent’s peace and stability." During the various events throughout ...

Chinese investors are increasingly interested in Africa. Some criticize them for privileging mining investments. A 2017 analysis of these investments shows that investments in mining have not been the only ones privileged by the Chinese operators. Many other sectors such as transport and energy have benefited from Chinese investments, much more so than the mining sector, for example. ...

We argue in this paper that electricity production needs to be multiplied by a large factor in the coming years for East Africa to reach the economic growth rate it deserves after the improvement of its socio-political situation. The rural electrification rate in North Africa as represented for instance by Morocco was higher than 99.50% in the first quarter of 2017 while it was barely 10% in some parts of Western Kenya. We also make the case for hydroelectricity as the adequate ren ...

Si les produits énergétiques sont de toute évidence au cœur des relations géopolitiques, d’autres « commodities » ne peuvent être négligées pour expliquer certaines évolutions de la scène économique et politique internationale. L’acier compte parmi celles-ci et ce, depuis le XIX siècle. Qu’en est-il aujourd’hui ? Dans un contexte d’une demande interne atone, l’expansion considérable de la production chinoise mais également de ses exportations pèsent lourdement sur la santé des sidér ...