January 2023 World Economic Forum 5
Trade, tourism and freight Tourist and passenger numbers appear to be recovering since 2020/21 but they are still well below pre-pandemic levels (see below). Freight numbers also bounced back in 2021 following the pandemic although, surprisingly, Nigeria’s went down.
Following the US-Africa Summit where $55bn of deals were announced by the US government we can see that trade between the continent and the US is still below 2011 levels, at a time when the US was far more dependent on Africa (and especially Nigeria) for its supply of oil. The advent of fracking in America has now made it a top-three oil and gas producer. The US recently overtook Qatar as the biggest exporter of LNG, having amended its laws to allow it to export these fossil fuels.
Tourism recovery in Africa for the first nine months of 2022
January
International tourist arrivals in 2022 (million)
1.39
February 1.77
International tourist arrivals in 2019 (million)
Year to Date Change (%)
4.34
4.04
-68
-56
$22bn
$20bn
$18bn
$16bn
$14bn
$12bn
$10bn
$8bn
$6bn
$4bn
$2bn
US trade with Africa, 2021
US imports n US exports n
South Africa Egypt
Nigeria
Morocco Algeria Ghana Libya
Côte d'Ivoire Angola
Tunisia
4500
4000
3500
2011
2016
US imports of crude oil and products - selected countries
Opec n Non Opec n
2021
March
April
May
June
July
August
2.31
2.47
2.83
3.4
5.06
4.57
4.43
4.63
4
4.75
6.41
6.14
-48
-47
-29
-28
-21
-24
3000
b/d
000
2500
2000
1500
i a
A r a b i
S a u d i g e r i a l g e r i a
NA
l a
A n g o
C a n a d a i c o
M e x
.
i a
R u s s i a
A r a b i
S a u d i g e r i a l g e r i a
NA
l a
A n g o
C a n a d a i c o
M e x
.
i a
R u s s i a
A r a b i
S a u d i g e r i a l g e r i a
NA
l a
A n g o
C a n a d a i c o
M e x
.
i a
R u s s
September 3.53
4.61
-23
1000
Top 5 passenger countries in Africa in 2021 (domestic + international traffic)
Egypt
South Africa
Morocco
Nigeria
Kenya
Top 5 freight countries in Africa in 2021 (domestic + international traffic)
Ethiopia
South Africa
Nigeria
Egypt
DRC
2021 Passengers % growth over 2020
13,300,037
9,336,709
8 ,597,411
6,337,619
3,198,052
43.5
16.6
41.2
46.4
49.1
2021 Freight (tonnes) % growth over 2020
47,972
49.3
44,250
37.7
14,004 -43.6
11 ,749
6,993
89.8
13.1
500
0
$260bn
$240bn
$220bn
$200bn
$180bn
$160bn
$140bn
$120bn
$100bn
$80bn
$60bn
$40bn
$20bn
US and China, total trade with Africa since 2011
China
US
$0bn
2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011
2021
