How will a global trade war affect Africa? | Counting the Cost

Описание: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has upgraded its growth outlook for sub-Saharan Africa in 2019, citing a recovery in Nigeria.

Africa's most populous country is recovering from its worst contraction in a quarter of a century as prices for commodities like oil head higher.

And there's a positive contagion effect. In an update to its World Economic Outlook report, the IMF said the sub-Saharan region as a whole is now expected to grow 3.8 percent in 2019. That's up 0.1 percent compared with April's forecast.

But there was also a warning about the impact of tit-for-tat tariffs.

"The United States has initiated trade actions affecting a broad group of countries and faces retaliation or retaliatory threats from China, the European Union, its NAFTA partners and Japan, among others. Our modelling suggests that if current trade policy threats are realised and business confidence falls as a result, global output could be about 0.5 percent below current projections by 2020," said the IMF's Maury Obstfeld.

China is Africa's largest trading partner, so if Chinese-made products are hit with US tariffs, there could be a knock-on effect.

So how will a global trade war affect the continent? And how can Africa overcome the reliance of exporting commodities?

Ade Ayeyemi, the CEO of Ecobank Group talks to Counting the Cost.

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Known in the trade as "additive manufacturing", 3D-printing was first developed in the 1980s. Due to more sophisticated types of printers we can now print things like houses, clothes or spare parts for planes.

Not only could it revolutionise the way global goods are manufactured, some say it could change how we live and construct homes. Advocates believe low-cost 3D homes could even help end homelessness.

So how do you print a house? And what are the potential implications for global economics and trade? Simon Hart, senior Innovation lead at Innovate UK, talks to Counting the Cost.

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Google anti-trust case: The European Union slapped Google with a record $5bn fine for using its Android smartphone system to illegally boost its search engine - the biggest anti-trust penalty in EU history. Sonja Gallego reports from Paris.

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