China’s latest concession doesn’t shake a system in which Africa exports raw materials while overseas firms capture most of the value-added
As an act of economic diplomacy, Beijing’s offer of tariff- and quota-free trade to 53 African countries, coming into effect on 1 May, was expertly timed. In late April, European Union MPs voted to withdraw tariff-free trade from countries that refuse to take back migrants, while the Trump administration in the United States has not exempted Africa from its tariffs. African business leaders and politicians have responded with promises to ramp up their exports to China.