PERFORMANCE AND PATTERNS OF AFRICAN
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ASIAN TRADE AND INVESTMENT FLOWS
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Services Trade of African CountriesSub-Saharan exports of services grew from $9 billion into billion in 2004. Among Sub-Saharan countries, the largest export sector is travel,
accounting for more than half of all Sub-Saharan services exports,
followed by financial,
construction, communications services, and transport (see figure. Africa’s services export growth in the second half of the s increased, especially since 2003.
In recent years, almost three-quarters of recorded Sub-Saharan African exports of services have gone to the EU.
In Kenya, South Africa, and Mauritius, tourism is an important foreign- exchange earner. Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, and Tanzania get revenue from shipments from neighboring landlocked countries transiting through their ports,
while Ghana and Mali receive remittances from their citizens working in services sectors abroad. Overall, while Africa’s services exports rely
heavily on low-skilled labor, under the leadership of South Africa and to some extent
Senegal, Mauritius, and Kenya, Africa is engaging in the export of high-skill services.
These services include health, financial, and business services.
Sub-Saharan imports of services grew from $18 billion into billion in 2004. Africa imports mainly transport, financial, construction,
and communication services. In the early s, Sub-Saharan Africa showed rapid services import growth, with imports growing faster than exports. During the second half of the decade, Africa’s imports of services slowed down considerably. Sub-Saharan Africa’s annual deficit in services trade stands at roughly $10 billion.
FIGURE 2.20
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