Brazil in Africa: Another Emerging Power in the Continent?
This paper develops three basic arguments. First, it presents the basic underpinnings of Brazilian diplomacy in the past half century, concentrating on the changes adopted in the 1980s and the 1990s up to the foreign policy put forward by Lula's government (2003–2009). It recognises that Lula's foreign policy represents a step forward, especially where Africa is concerned. However, it does not seem to be clear whether the Brazilian economy has enough strength to sustain such a foreign policy, as is shown in the second part of the paper. This is indeed the case if comparisons are made with India, China and even South Africa, when the latter's regional role is considered. Finally, an effort is made to summarise the recent political cooperation established between Brazil and African countries as well as to present an overview of Brazil's trade and investment relations both with the region as a whole and with some important individual partners. Once this picture is established, we investigate whether these realms—diplomatic/political and economic—take independent tracks, or if they do interact in a coherent manner. Africa remained deep inside Brazil and Brazilians, not as something external to ourselves. But as a mythic space; neither geographical, nor historical.
BRAZILIAN FOREIGN POLICY AND INVESTMENTS
The change of presidency from Fernando Henrique Cardoso to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is understood as a turning point in the orientation of Brazilian foreign policy (Vigevani and Cepaluni 2007). During Lula’s mandate, Brazil experienced steadily increase of the flow of direct investments. In this context, Brazilian multinationals started operations and services provisions in developing countries. In Africa, Angola emerges as the main destination of Brazilian investments. The connections between foreign policy and firms’ internationalization are central to understand the recent pattern of the economic activities of Brazilian companies in Angola. This paper argues that the internationalization strategies of Brazilian companies in the country are related to the movements of the Brazilian foreign policy. Therefore, we posit the hypothesis that changes in foreign policy paradigm and government incentives have significant weight in the recent profile of Brazilian foreign direct investments. African countries are often considered as places of insecure political institutions for foreign direct investment (FDI) (MIGA/World Bank Group 2013). However, many countries in these regions have undergone a process
China's Exchange Rate Policy Dilemma
This paper summarizes key aspects of China’s exchange rate policy, outlines the problems it creates for both China and the global economy, and proposes a feasible policy compromise.