Economic ties are the clearest evidence of closer Gulf-Africa relations. In the 2010s annual average trade between sub-Saharan Africa and the United Arab Emirates was less than half of that between the region and America. But since 2020 the sum of imports and exports between the United Arab Emirates and sub-Saharan Africa has been larger. Gulf interest in African mining is part of a broader trend. The United Arab Emirates (uae), Saudi Arabia and Qatar are increasingly influential in Africa. The continent is a destination for their capital, an arena for their rivalries and a test of their global ambitions. Do you think that Africa is the garden for the whole world ?

