U.K. Seeks to Be Largest G-7 Investor in Africa

(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. is working toward being the biggest investor in Africa among the Group of Seven nations, Trade Commissioner for Africa Emma Wade-Smith said as the country prepares to leave the European Union at the end of the month.

The country in September signed a trade-continuity agreement with five members of the Southern African Customs Union and Mozambique to govern trade between them after the U.K. leaves the EU on Oct. 31, and has signed a similar pact with Tunisia for post-Brexit arrangements, Wade-Smith said in an interview on Bloomberg Television Monday. The U.K. sees opportunities in infrastructure and clean energy, and wants to form stronger, long-term partnerships in the region, she said.

African countries are working on a continent-wide free-trade agreement, which could cover a market of 1.2 billion people with a combined gross domestic product of $2.5 trillion, according to the African Union, which is leading the initiative.

“When U.K. companies are looking at prospective companies to export to, invest in, they are looking at the scale at which they can do that business,” Wade-Smith said. Integration in Africa is a positive move for U.K. investors to expand portfolios, she said.

The U.K. plans to host an Africa investment summit in January, Wade-Smith said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Francine Lacqua in London at flacqua@bloomberg.net;Ana Monteiro in Johannesburg at amonteiro4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rene Vollgraaff at rvollgraaff@bloomberg.net, Helen Nyambura

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.