Great Britain’s prolonged, complex exit from the European Union has been among the biggest stories in international trade for a few years now. And recently, it’s begun to involve African nations more directly. This was more or less inevitable given the vast economic reach of both the European Union and Great Britain, but at this point we’re nearing a point at which African nations will be negotiating new deals with the UK - and the continued strength of the British pound could help to incentivize new agreements.
Our recent look at the UK’s pitch for post-Brexit trade with Africa expressed that London is prepared to make numerous overtures in the name of securing favorable arrangements. Most notably, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to end preferential treatment for EU migrants (something some are justifiably dubious he will follow up on), as well as that the UK would halt investment in various coal industries in pursuit of more low-carbon energy. Beyond these more political points, though, there was also a great deal of talk about investment between Britain and African nations (including the announcement of 27 commercial deals with African firms worth £6.5 billion, as was also stated in our previous article).