The visit by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to South Africa, Burkina Faso, the Republic of Congo and Angola, which ended yesterday, reflects the closer ties between Brazil and the African continent. The visit was a further step in the consolidation of a foreign policy aimed at widening commercial cooperation with developing nations outside the Europe-US axis, though obviously without excluding those two markets.

Last year, for example, Brazil’s exports to developing countries accounted for 54.7% of total exports. Between 2002 and 2006, Brazil’s total trade with African countries more than tripled, from US$5bn to US$15.5bn.

Source: Office of the President and Embassy of Brazil in London