Greece's commercial strategy in Africa and what needs to be corrected

Greece has stayed far behind in terms of its trade strategy in Africa. At the same time, having a peaceful approach, it does not follow the example of Turkey, China USA and Russia. No emphasis has been placed neither on the establishment of bilateral agreements, nor to a plan to support Greek companies and entrepreneurs in their efforts to grow in Africa, both in terms of exports and investments. As a result, they are desperately operating on their own, having a significant disadvantage compared to companies from other countries supported by their governments. There are active Greek communities mainly in South Africa, Sudan, Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia. However, they are now made up of second- and third-generation Greeks with far fewer ties with Greece. The Patriarchate of Alexandria-Egypt leads a fairly extensive network of church missions on the continent, but has limited involvement in business. At the same time, Greek-owned companies have a strong presence in Africa which has grown particularly in recent years. There is enormous potential for the development of the Greek-African relations with great benefits for both sides. Africa is growing rapidly at a time when Greece is seeking to increase its exports, but without an organized plan. As with most remote regions of Greece in the world, with Sub-Saharan Africa, Greece maintains relatively limited relations. Although as early as the 18th century, Greek visits were recorded in the region and gradually the first Greek communities were created, the distance, the limited role of the continent in the issues that occasionally Greece had and the commitment of Athens basically to the direct "neighborhood" did not favor the cultivation of strong ties and relations with Sub-Saharan Africa.  

Transnational relations: Greece's political relations with most sub-Saharan African countries are particularly limited. Greece has seven embassies in the region (Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan) and a dense network of honorary consulates. The problem is that these diplomatic missions are not properly evaluated, as in the case of Sudan and Zimbabwe, which, when there was a reason to exist, now it would be much more useful to move to Uganda and Zambia respectively where there is a strong Greek element and business interest. There is also no presence in very important countries where Greece could have presence, such as Ghana, Tanzania, Senegal, Mozambique and others. Authorities from five sub-Saharan African countries (Angola, DR Congo, Nigeria, South Africa and Sudan) are found in Athens respectively, with a low number of official visits by officials from both sides inescapably indicating the low level of relations.

Indeed, even in the last decade official visits have been very limited, apart from some vice ministers of foreign affairs visiting some countries without a certain planning. On the African side, no significant official visits are welcomed. At the level of transnational agreements, those between Greece and South Africa in 1998 concerning the promotion and mutual protection of investments, cooperation in the field of tourism and commercial shipping stand out. The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), signed on June 10, 2016, gives South Africa free access to the markets of European countries (full access to 96.2% of its products and partial to 2.5%). For her part, South Africa gives 86.2% of Community products free access to its market.

Trade: Unsurprisingly, trade relations between Greece and Sub-Saharan Africa are also particularly limited. Since its entry into the European Union, the Greek economy has been transformed to such an extent that most of its trade flows are directed to other Member States of the European Union and, of course, to the Balkans and Turkey. Thus, trade with Sub-Saharan Africa remained at very low levels.

Greece will have to come up with a strategy, taking an example from other countries that are not attached to the Western world, but have opened their horizons and are expanding in the developing world where competition is much lower and opportunities are more. The developing world is a window into the past, where one can implement successful strategies that have been successful in the past in the Western world. One advantage that Greece has not exploited is its very warm acceptance in Africa, because it never had colonies there.