As of October 2021, the European Union (EU) was the main trade partner of Africa. Around ** percent of the total trade from and to the continent involved the European countries in that year. Moreover, ** percent of the trade involved China, while *** percent was from and to India.

Top Import Trading Partners of South-africa with import value and Year on Year growth comparison

South Africa Composite Leading Index: sa: 2000=100: Trading Partner Countries data was reported at 111.800 2000=100 in Dec 2012. This records an increase from the previous number of 110.800 2000=100 for Nov 2012. South Africa Composite Leading Index: sa: 2000=100: Trading Partner Countries data is updated monthly, averaging 68.050 2000=100 from Jan 1960 (Median) to Dec 2012, with 636 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 119.500 2000=100 in Jul 2007 and a record low of 36.700 2000=100 in Mar 1960. South Africa Composite Leading Index: sa: 2000=100: Trading Partner Countries data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by South African Reserve Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Africa – Table ZA.S003: Composite Business Cycle Indicators: Seasonally Adjusted. Rebased from 2000=100 to 2010=100 Replacement series ID: 356228802

Among the countries located on the African continent, Russia's leading trade partner in 2022 was Egypt. The revenue from Russian exports from and imports into Egypt reached approximately 3.9 billion U.S. dollars. The total revenue of Russia from trade with African countries exceeded 17 billion U.S. dollars in 2021.

This statistic shows the main export partner countries for South Africa in 2023. In 2023, the main export partner of South Africa was China, with a share of 16 percent in exports.

Europe was the leading trade partner of Africa between 2010 and 2019. In that period, the European countries accounted for 36 percent of the total import and export trade with the African continent. With a share of 28 percent, Asia represented Africa’s second-leading trade partner.

Figure 3 depicts China-Africa trade from 2000 to 2013. It shows that China-Africa trade consistently grew since the formation of the FOCAC in 2000. As can be seen in the figure, the US trade with Africa declined after the 2008 global financial crisis, allowing China to take the lead as Africa's largest trading partner. Figure 7 shows trade between China and Africa from 2003 to 2021. Although with fluctuations, trade between the two sides has been increasing since the establishment of the FOCAC mechanism. It reached a first high of US$203 billion in 2015 and then declined significantly the following year. However, the trade increased again from 2017 and surged to US$254 billion in 2021, up by 35% from the previous year. The high trade volume in 2021 has been attributed to the additional Chinese exports of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), such as masks and hazmat suits, as well as pharmaceutical products and testing equipment for the COVID-19 pandemic to Africa. However, Gu et al (2022: 11) indicated that the strong increase in China-Africa trade volume in 2021 is remarkable as data from China's customs agency shows that it is "made up of an increase in both Chinese exports to Africa (29.9% year-on-year) and African exports to China (43.7% year-on-year)". Figure 4 shows the number of countries around the world that have joined China's Belt and Road Initiatiative (BRI). As can be seen in the figure, China's BRI has attracted more than 140 countries. In Africa, the first countries that signed up for the BRI project were East and North African countries such as Kenya, Djibouti, Tanzania and Egypt. In Figure 5, the map shows the number of African countries that have signed up for the BRI since 2015. As can be seen in the figure, 52 countries in Africa had signed some BRI-related Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China by 2022.

Table 1 shows that studies that analysed the China-Africa relationship focusing on their 'strategic partnership' are very few, given the voluminous literature on China and Africa. A search of Sino-Africa studies conducted in English with the term 'strategic partnership' in their titles produced only ten papers (see table). Furthermore, as the table shows, studies investigating the increased security cooperation in China-Africa relations conducted in English are rare, although this part of the debate has also produced numerous research publications. The column titled 'Focus of study' in Table 1 above shows that majority of these studies concentrated on analysing economic cooperation, while a few also included political relations between China and Africa. Also, the column titled 'Definition of strategic partnership' shows that, all these studies, except Akpan and Onya (2018), made no attempts to define the concept of strategic partnership. Figure 8 shows the countries around the world in which the United Nations (UN) has deployed its peacekeepers. As shown in the figure, the UN has deployed several peacekeeping missions around the world since the late 1940s, with most of these operations taking place in the African continent. Figure 9 focuses on the UN’s peacekeeping operations in Africa. As can be seen in the figure, Chinese peacekeeping troops were deployed in five out of the seven UN-led missions on the African continent as of 2019. Figure 12 shows the foreign military bases that currently exist in African countries. As the figure shows, the African Continent is a host to 47 known foreign military bases, of which 34 are United States (US) bases. Figure 13 shows the foreign military bases in Djibouti. As seen in the figure, Djibouti hosts the US' Camp Lemonnier military base, just 13.4 kilometres away from the Chinese PLA's new navy facility, along with military bases of other major powers such as France, Germany and Japan in close proximity. Djibouti thus found itself in the middle of diplomatic tensions between China and the US over fears of a Chinese takeover of the Doraleh Container Terminal, Djibouti's main container port, in 2018, as China financed the development of the port. Figure 6 shows China's Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) commitments from 2006 to 2021. As can be seen in the figure, China's financial pledges to assist Africa increased from US$5 billion to US$60 in 2015. However, they dropped to US$40 billion in 2021. Further, drops in the number of activities, such as official development assistance (ODAs) and capacity building, including reductions in security collaborations, were also noted. However, a new development was China's reallocation of US$10 billion of its Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) towards Africa from the US$40 billion that it received from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

South Africa Composite Leading Index: sa: 2010=100: Trading Partner Countries data was reported at 127.900 2010=100 in Jun 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 127.100 2010=100 for May 2017. South Africa Composite Leading Index: sa: 2010=100: Trading Partner Countries data is updated monthly, averaging 78.450 2010=100 from Jan 1960 (Median) to Jun 2017, with 690 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 127.900 2010=100 in Jun 2017 and a record low of 34.900 2010=100 in Mar 1960. South Africa Composite Leading Index: sa: 2010=100: Trading Partner Countries data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by South African Reserve Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Africa – Table ZA.S003: Composite Business Cycle Indicators: Seasonally Adjusted. Rebased from 2010=100 to 2015=100 Replacement series ID: 398018727

In 2023, Liberia was the leading export destination for Japan in Africa, with over 393 billion Japanese yen. South Africa followed as the second-largest trade partner in Africa, with transport equipment and general machinery representing major export goods.

South Africa Composite Leading Index: sa: 2015=100: Trading Partner Countries: Others data was reported at 109.300 2015=100 in Jun 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 109.000 2015=100 for May 2018. South Africa Composite Leading Index: sa: 2015=100: Trading Partner Countries: Others data is updated monthly, averaging 57.450 2015=100 from Jan 1960 (Median) to Jun 2018, with 702 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 109.300 2015=100 in Jun 2018 and a record low of 28.000 2015=100 in Jan 1960. South Africa Composite Leading Index: sa: 2015=100: Trading Partner Countries: Others data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by South African Reserve Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Africa – Table ZA.S003: Composite Business Cycle Indicators: Seasonally Adjusted.

South Africa's total Imports in 2024 were valued at US$101.24 Billion, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. South Africa's main import partners were: China, India and Germany. The top three import commodities were: Mineral fuels, oils, distillation products; Machinery, nuclear reactors, boilers and Electrical, electronic equipment. Total Exports were valued at US$110.11 Billion. In 2024, South Africa had a trade surplus of US$8.87 Billion.

As of 2021, Nigeria and South Africa were the main importers from China in Africa. The two African countries imported from the Asian partner some 22.6 billion and 21.1 billion U.S. dollars, respectively. Chinese exports to Egypt followed closely, with a value of 18.3 billion U.S. dollars. Overall, the trade between African countries and China has been increasing in the last two decades. In 2020, Chinese exports to Africa were valued at 113.96 billion U.S. dollars.

South Africa's total Exports in 2024 were valued at US$110.11 Billion, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. South Africa's main export partners were: China, the United States and Germany. The top three export commodities were: Pearls, precious stones, metals, coins; Ores slag and ash and Vehicles other than railway, tramway. Total Imports were valued at US$101.24 Billion. In 2024, South Africa had a trade surplus of US$8.87 Billion.

Mozambique's total Exports in 2023 were valued at US$8.28 Billion, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. Mozambique's main export partners were: India, China and South Africa. The top three export commodities were: Mineral fuels, oils, distillation products; Aluminum and Ores slag and ash. Total Imports were valued at US$10.09 Billion. In 2023, Mozambique had a trade deficit of US$1.82 Billion.

The European Union (EU) was the largest importer from the African continent. In 2021, 24 percent of the African exports were to the EU. China ranked second, with 18 percent of the African exports directed towards the country.

Top Export Products from Za-south-africa to United-states with export value and Year on Year growth comparison

Exports in South Africa decreased to 166173.91 ZAR Million in April from 170488.98 ZAR Million in March of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - South Africa Exports - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

This statistic shows the main import partners for South Africa in 2023. In 2023, the main import partner for South Africa was China with a share of 21 percent in all imports.

As of 2023, the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland were the leading destinations of exports from Ghana, as they imported merchandise of over three billion U.S. dollars and 2.8 billion U.S. dollars from the West African country, respectively. China and South Africa were other main export trade partners of Ghana.

South Africa Composite Leading Index: sa: 2015=100: Trading Partner Countries: USA data was reported at 111.400 2015=100 in Jun 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 110.800 2015=100 for May 2018. South Africa Composite Leading Index: sa: 2015=100: Trading Partner Countries: USA data is updated monthly, averaging 65.900 2015=100 from Jan 1960 (Median) to Jun 2018, with 702 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 111.400 2015=100 in Jun 2018 and a record low of 29.000 2015=100 in Mar 1960. South Africa Composite Leading Index: sa: 2015=100: Trading Partner Countries: USA data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by South African Reserve Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Africa – Table ZA.S003: Composite Business Cycle Indicators: Seasonally Adjusted.