Hmmm, looking at the leads on the front page yesterday and a couple of them, submitted by one member, didn’t have a flag - ‘Member based in Zaire’ it said.

How odd why didn’t we have a flag for Zaire?  Because it’s no longer Zaire, it’s the Democratic Republic of the Congo of course!

Needless to say changes have been made to the system and you can now view a flag for DR Congo:

So what can we say about the country?  It’s a large country in west-central Africa with a huge potential - 60 million people and tons of natural resources.  But like many in the region it has been devastated by war, poor leadership, corruption etc.

If you’re thinking of trading with them their imports include: foodstuffs, machinery (especially mining machinery), transport equipment and fuel.

Their main exports are: diamond, copper, crude oil, coffee and cobalt.

Their main trading partners are: Belgium, US, Zimbabwe, Finland, South Africa, France and Germany.  But I’m sure exbunia and his compatriots will welcome trade from people everywhere.
           

There was an interesting feature on the news yesterday.  It was a look at cotton farming in the States and Africa.

The American farmers are subsidised by their government and so can afford to flood the market with cheap (and, it must be said, high quality) cotton, effectively pricing out third world farmers.  But what really struck me was the difference in technology levels.

They showed the American farmer mowing down acres of cotton fields with a huge mechanical harvester; then gave us a shot of a number of Africans happily compressing (hand-picked) cotton with their feet, accompanied by some traditional chants.

Charmingly rustic as the Africans were, they just can’t compete.  One of those harvesters apparently collects more cotton in a day than an African farmer can in a lifetime.  And if the subsidies were stopped it’s countries like Brazil that would fill the gap not Africans.

Clearly ensuring that goods are sold at a fair price is just one factor that needs to be addressed in the fight against poverty in Africa.

To grab a bigger share of world trade Africans will need to increase volumes, improve manufacturing processes and raise standards.   And the best way forward is a balanced combination of external technological help (for the short term) and home-grown innovation.
           

Prompted by that image of a pot of honey that’s being rotated on the trade lead pages (so tempting isn’t it!) I’ve been reading up on honey.

How is honey formed? - Bees collect the nectar of flowering plants and after regurgitating it a few times (yuk!) it is stored in the honeycomb for use as a food source during the winter months.

Honey is sweeter than sugar and comes in a variety of flavours (generally the flavour of the main flower that it’s made from).

Since flowers are found all over the world you shouldn’t be surprised to learn that honey is produced all around the world as well. 

Many countries both import and export honey.  This is because of the many different flavours – people like variety.

Major exporting countries include China, Argentina, Mexico and Canada. 

Where do they export to?  Middle Eastern countries -  Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen; European countries, United States and Canada to name a few.

A search on the portal for honey brings up two Sell Leads.  One from Turkey and another from Brazil.

The Turkish lead does a very good job in selling its product - “Selected honey from wild mountains in Turkey for healthy and good life”, it also mentions the different flavours and includes that image of a honey pot.  Well done freedsel, that’s what a good Sell Lead should look like.

Everyone is talking about China, the potential there is just huge.

Take a look at their exports:
China exported $132.5 billion to the United States alone (and imported $39.8 billion - what a surplus!).

They export a wide range of goods - electrical machinery, apparel, toys and games, footwear,
furniture, minerals, fuel.  And you can see this reflected on our portal, lots of members based in China offering a variety of goods.

What kind of goods should you be selling to our Chinese members? -
Iron and steel, mineral fuel and ore, power generation equipment, optical and medical equipment, man-made filaments, vehicles and vehicle parts.

Whilst we’re on the topic of China, here’s an interesting report that might make you re-think
your strategy towards that country:
The Role of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Exports to China: A Statistical Profile

It was interesting to read that the majority of exporters to China are like most of you: SMEs (Small to Medium Sized Enterprises).