With its abundance of natural resources left relatively untapped, it seems Brazil is one of the newest players to take an increasingly large interest in Africa.  Most might claim that historically ventures into the third world have been controversially exploitative (namely in the case of China), however I think that this is a misnomer.

The truth is these African countries are in dire need of foreign investment, unfortunately they’re at a point where they have all these natural riches lying under them yet they have neither the financial capital nor the proper infrastructure to be able to extract them.  The entrance of developed countries such as Brazil and China, whether the majority of the wealth is being funneled back home or not, is going to play largely into how quickly African countries will able to develop the infrastructure they need to be able to start doing the job themselves.

I think our perception of how business is done between the developed and developing world is largely skewed because of such misconceptions.  There’s almost a tyrannical image synonymous with African mining popularized by movies like “Blood Diamond” that does these countries no good.  They need investment, we need resources, simple trade.

Word Count: 200                 Brazil in Africa: A new Atlantic Alliance