i recently saw that [Usa-Africa trade](https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c0013.html) went down hill after 2011, Trade volume during 2005-11 was about 760B, during 2015-21 it was 385B or half compared to 05-2011. Why did that happen, esp. when trade with other powers is rising, like [China-Africa](https://www.statista.com/chart/27880/trade-between-china-and-africa/)?
I’m from neither of these regions so im clueless about why that is, but it’s interesting to me so i wanted to ask here.
3 comments
This is an econ things, but this seems to largely be Oil and other natural resource related.
[https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2018/07/06/figures-of-the-week-update-on-us-africa-trade-and-the-implementation-of-agoa/](https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2018/07/06/figures-of-the-week-update-on-us-africa-trade-and-the-implementation-of-agoa/)
This one seems like an easy explanation, the African countries who exported oil to the USA exported to other countries (mainly China, India, and Europe) as the USA was supplied domestically by the fracking boom. Some like Nigeria and South Sudan have had internal issues see their oil production fall, but this in general seems to be secondary to the domestic production of oil in America displacing trade. Non-oil trade under the AGOA (a limited tariff free import policy that covers things like textiles, coffee, and some other items) seems to largely be stable according to that Brookings report.
On the Flip side US investment is relatively stable, though a lot of it seems to be concentrated in North and Southern Africa. To some extent this has to do with the largest economies in the continent being in those regions (+ Nigeria) but there isn’t really a middle Africa data point I can find.
[https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2019/10/09/figure-of-the-week-foreign-direct-investment-in-africa/](https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2019/10/09/figure-of-the-week-foreign-direct-investment-in-africa/)
Just spitballing, but US oil imports [peaked](https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=pet&s=mcrimus1&f=m) around 2007. Africa includes several [OPEC members](https://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/about_us/25.htm): Libya, Algeria, Angola, Gabon, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, and Republic of Congo. US trade with non-African OPEC states, like Saudi Arabia, is also [down](https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/europe-middle-east/middle-eastnorth-africa/saudi-arabia) relative to the late 2000’s.
In addition to oil, our focus is shifting. We are now the largest investor in Morocco. Mark my words, Morocco will be one of the most successful countries in Africa this century. They’re building a diverse economy anchored around trade, while establishing a tolerant and pluralistic society. That type of stability attracts our investors.