Events
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Brexit + Africa Event
Brexit refers to the UK’s decision to leave the European Union (EU). The Brexit and Africa side event will seek to explore the opportunities available to Africa now that deals can be conducted directly with the UK and not via the EU.
The Brexit referendum in June 2016 was touted as a way to give the British people a say in the on-going debate into the UK’s continued membership of the EU. Turnout for the referendum was very high and the outcome surprised most pollsters. The result also caused the British pound to fall to its lowest level against the dollar in 30 years. Currently, the UK’s trade deals with Africa are essentially the EU’s trade deals with Africa. As the UK exits the EU, all of those deals will have to be renegotiated and the race is on to cut bilateral trade deals. Many African states remain deeply dissatisfied by the terms of the trade agreements currently on offer from Europe and Britain has some important opportunities available with African countries.
The panelists at the ‘Brexit and Africa’ side event will be discussing:
- uncertainty over the future of trade relations between the UK and Africa.
- examining opportunities available for African governments and companies seeking direct links in trade and finance with the UK
- exploring mechanisms policy dialogue and relationship building with British political and trade facilitators