African countries have been overlooked in global trade for generations. But not these days by St. Louis, where local leaders say that forging ties with the world’s fastest-growing continent could be a key component of the region’s economic future. That was largely the theme of Wednesday’s Growing Global luncheon hosted by World Trade Center St. Louis, which earlier this year led a delegation of St. Louis executives and stakeholders on a fact-finding mission to the Rwandan capital of Kigali to learn more about the markets and the kinds of partnerships that would be beneficial for both cities.
St. Louis organizations such as the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center have already planted flags in Africa, and World Trade Center St. Louis executive director Tim Nowak said Wednesday that local leaders have been meeting with the intention of forming a sister city agreement with Kigali.
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Fred Swaniker, a Ghanaian entrepreneur named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2019, says he believes St. Louis is doing more to build relationships and invest in Africa than any other American city.
“You may be one of the leaders in the U.S. in this regard,” Swaniker told attendees during a panel discussion. “I encourage you to double down.”
Why It Matters: The United Nations has projected that Africa’s population will reach 2.5 billion in the next 25 years, making it a new frontier for trade and investment. Organizations including World Trade Center St. Louis, Greater St. Louis, Inc., and others have similarly laid the groundwork for relationships in South America in recent years, yielding initiatives such as Cultivar STL, which accelerates agtech innovation. Now, local leaders are hoping to lay the foundation for equally beneficial partnerships across the Atlantic. The World Trade Center St. Louis, which promotes international trade and local economic development, is promoting these relationships as good for the region and the world.
“You have to go visit Africa,” Elzandi Oosthuizen, a global strategy leader at Bayer Crop Science, said from the stage at Wednesday’s event.. “There are three things that are going to happen to you once your feet touch the soil in Africa. You will never think the same about the human population. That will be changed forever. You will never think about your business the same as you did before you visited Africa. And I promise you the third thing is you are going to fall in love with Africa.”
What’s Next: Nowak says there are plans for a trade mission to Africa next year. “We’ll bring St. Louis leaders together to explore opportunities and open new doors for collaboration,” he says.
