China's companies are starting to harness this relatively untapped consumer market. Traveling across Africa, one sees newer and lower-priced "made-in-China" cars gaining market share against traditional competitors from Japan and Europe. The same is true of Chinese high-tech electronic goods and home appliances, which compete against products from South Korea and Japan.
Chinese companies are also becoming increasingly integrated in African economies, creating trade networks not just between China and Africa, but also within Africa and between Africa and the rest of the world. Many are considering moving their manufacturing bases to the continent to get closer to the market - as reflected in China-funded special export zones in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Zambia, Mauritius and Egypt.
This integration is being facilitated by the three regional trading blocs: the Southern African Development Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, and the East African Community. These new trading blocs have played a defining role in jump-starting trade within the continent, and the next logical step would be to combine these regional economic communities to form an "Africa Free Trade Zone", spanning the entire length of the continent from Cape Town to Cairo.
Such a pan-African trading bloc would encompass more than 630 million mostly young people, a GDP of $1.2 trillion, some of the world's most bountiful natural resources, and the world's largest uncultivated arable land. Given Africa's growing middle class and increased political and financial stability, the proposed AFTZ could rival the world's other economic unions, giving African states the necessary power to negotiate free trade agreements with other trading blocs.
Another mega-trend emerging along the China-Africa corridor is the growing circulation of the yuan across Africa. Soaring trade, rising direct investment by Chinese companies, and financial aid and subsidized loans from the Chinese government and its agencies provide a solid base for the regionalization of the yuan in Africa.
