80
AFRICA
’
S SILK ROAD
:
CHINA
AND INDIA’
S NEW ECONOMIC FRONTIER
The leading role of China and India in African-Asian trade relations is not limited to Africa’s exports.
On the import side as well, these two countries have become the major trading partners for African countries. Japan used to be the largest Asian exporter of products that Africa imported from Asian countries.
However, China has taken over the leading position from Japan, accounting for more than one-third of Asia’s total exports to Africa (figure 2.16).
Product Composition Structure of Africa’s Trade with China andIndiaAfrica mainly exports petroleum and raw materials to China,
and non-oil minerals to India, while it imports more value-added commodities from both China and India (figure 2.17). Oil and natural gas are the single most dominant category of products exported from Africa to China, accounting for more than 62 percent of
total African exports to China, followed by ores and metals (17 percent) and agricultural raw materials (7 percent. In addition, Angola, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo provide percent of African oil exports to China (box 2.1). Exports to India also show a high concentration in resource-based products. Ore and metals comprise 61 percent, followed by agricultural raw materials (19 percent).
FIGURE 2.16
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