Britain and Africa: heading for the Brexit rocks

Dirk Kohnert

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: High-flying illusions on the part of the proponents and grim predictions on the part of the sceptics have characterised the controversy around Brexit. The article assesses five key issues at stake for post-Brexit relationships between Britain, the EU, and Africa: market access, foreign direct investment (FDI), aid, security, and the nature of the partnership. The analysis focuses on those sub-Saharan African countries that belong to the Commonwealth, as the British government’s vision of a “Global Britain” relies heavily on its reinforced cooperation with Commonwealth nations. The review of potential developments in these different policy fields shows that the expectations of Brexiteers and African politicians alike concerning an enhanced, partnership-like post-Brexit Commonwealth relationship are largely unfounded. Although the post-Brexit United Kingdom will increase African countries’ choices regarding preferred trading partners, it remains questionable whether London could offer something new that other global players with increasing interest in Africa, such as China, do not already have on their agenda.

Keywords: UK; Brexit; EU; Africa; international trade; tariffs; aid; security; partnership (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F13 F2 F35 F54 F63 G15 G2 N17 N47 N77 O17 P16 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-08, Revised 2018-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr and nep-int
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Working Paper: Britain and Africa: heading for the Brexit rocks (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:89202

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