Sao Paolo, Brazil
Source: Gaf.arq
During the World Cup in South Africa, there was a flurry of activity. It was business mixed with pleasure from heads of states to business tycoons to everyday citizens. The World Cup in South Africa was symbolic of the rise of developing nations in world affairs. And, South Africa passes the baton to another emerging nation, Brazil, for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. But, Brazil and Africa have more in common, both their histories and so, it seems, their future.
Few realize that people of African descent make up about 50% of Brazil’s population of close to 200 million. So, Brazil has the largest African diaspora exceeding the U.S. diaspora by about 2.5 times. And, its consumer market tops Nigeria’s by about 25%.
Brazil’s history with Africa started when Portugal traded African people into slavery to serve on plantations in Brazil and other South American nations.  But today, trade and relations with Brazil is obviously different and growing. Trade between Brazil and Africa was 28 billion in 2008.
Because of the size of Brazil’s consumer markets and its diversified economy, African companies will find many opportunities. The 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil may also provide unique opportunities for African firms involved in the 2010 FIFA World Cup as Brazil looks for expertise to facilitate its own hosting of the World Cup, according to Jose Cusnir of SOFTEX, a Brazilian ICT exporting program.
In addition, there are several vehicles promoting business between Brazil and Africa, including bilateral trade agreements and the preferential trade agreement between nations in the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and those in the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR). There is also a tri-partite of nations in the India, Brazil, South Africa (IBSA) Forum.
Brazilian culture also has a conducive style for global business. Robert Janssen, a managing partner at OutsourceBrazil, shares that Brazilians have a very open, engaging, and cooperative style. Cusnir shares that Africans also have a collaborative/consultative culture, which is a strength.
Both Cusnir and Janssen note that Africa and Brazil also share similar development issues like growth, health, and agriculture. Brazil is sharing its experience to catalyze efforts in Africa. For example, the Africa-Brazil Agricultural Innovation Marketplace focuses on enhancing south-south cooperation in agricultural research and development in Africa. Cusnir says, “there is also much we can learn from Africa.”
In ICT, Brazil and South Africa have strong, emerging sectors. Janssen indicates that this creates complementary opportunities for both Brazilian and South African firms. Janssen shares an example where one of their Brazilian ICT firms has software needed by a South African firm to serve its English clients in Europe, and through this opportunity the Brazilian firm is able to expand its exposure to the English-speaking European market. An excellent example of cooperative competition, or co-opetition.
Cusnir states that Brazil has done a lot with very few resources by using open source. An example is an e-government application for portals built as an open-source solution to assist over 5,000 municipalities in Brazil. This is a solution African governments can put to the test.
Africa and Brazil also have innovations to share with developed nations. Janssen mentions that since the global economic crisis strapped budgets in developed countries, they are now looking at how developing nations effectively manage with fewer resources. In another example, Judith McHale, Under Secretary of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in the U.S. State Department, recently said of the M-PESA mobile payment system in Kenya, “We do not have such a system in America and we could import it to make it part of our national payment system.”
Looking into the future of relations between Brazil and Africa, expect an acceleration in the growth and breath as south-south cooperation takes hold in more tangible means like the ratification of the SACU-MERCOSUR preferential trade agreement by parliaments in all nations party to the agreement.
Jose Cusnir and Robert Janssen were interviewed on the AfribizTalk radio show. To listen, click here. To access presentations on the Brazilian software sector given in Sandton, South Africa in June 2010, click here.
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A Peak at Africa-Brazil Business Relations originally appeared on Afribiz.net on July 16, 2010.
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