Brazil Africa's growing star
The increase in Brazilian aid and investment in Africa has seen a rise in economy boosting projects in Mozambique, Kenya, and Angola from the South American giant.
Amid a myriad of development projects on the continent, including a fight against the AIDS epidemic in Mozambique, a $150 million loan to Kenya for road construction, training the Angolan military, among others, Brazil is increasingly affirming itself as a force to reckon with in resource-rich Africa.
The rising economic powerhouse is[LINK=http://www.theafricareport.com/index.php/201105305140956/columns/africa-s-emerging-partners-friend-or-foe-5140956.html] building on its historical ties in order to project greater influence[/LINK] in the developing world and the expanding business appeal of Africa.
"There's the growing sense that Africa is Brazil's frontier. Brazil is in the privileged position of finally reaching the institutional capacity to do this," says Jerry Dávila, a historian at the University of Illinois.
Davila has written extensively about Brazil's inroads across the South Atlantic Ocean.
Rio de Janeiro's aid now exceeds $1 billion, and Africa accounts for about 55 percent of the expenditures according to the Brazilian Cooperation Agency, which oversees aid projects abroad.
The latest collection of aid projects and loans to Mozambique, Kenya and trade flows between Brazil and Africa surged from $4.3 billion in 2002 to $27.6 billion in 2011. ??Brazilian connections in Africa also include farming ventures in Sudan; a fiber optic cable connecting Brazil to parts of Africa, and direct flights from some African capitals.
A new Brazilian university has also begun offering classes for students from Portuguese-speaking countries, including Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Principe.
The development of the Brazil-African relationship also highlights Brazil's transition from aid recipient to aid provider.
The country recently overtook Britain as the world's sixth-largest economy, and now has more embassies in Africa than Great Britain.
Brazil now has 36 embassies across Africa, and sent jets to fly delegations from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Cape Verde to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in New York, in June.
Nonetheless, Brazil still trails China and the United States, which has far more expansive aid programmes and trade in Africa.
"We still have a smaller foreign aid profile than other countries, but we're learning how to do cooperation," said Marco Farani, the director of the Brazilian Cooperation Agency |
