🇧🇾🇪🇺🇷🇺 The migration crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border is only the latest episode in the political conflict between Belarus and the European Union.

Earlier, Brussels approved the toughest sanctions against the republic’s economy in the history of their diplomatic relations:

❌ a ban on European business cooperating with Belarusian exporters of potash fertilizers (in terms of nomenclature items), oil products and tobacco, as well as banking sector companies

❌ restricted access to the European capital market, including a ban on the purchase of Belarusian securities with a maturity of more than 90 days

❌ a ban on European banks providing insurance services and loans to the Belarusian government and state bodies, including the suspension of lending through the European Investment Bank

❌ a ban on European air carriers flying through Belarus, and Belavia flights over the EU

❌ individual sanctions (more than 160 citizens of Belarus are included in the so-called “black lists”), mean a ban on visits to the EU, business interaction and the “freezing” of accounts in EU banks

The stability of the Belarusian economy is one of the key factors that will influence the dynamics of the crisis, which creates risks for Russian interests.

Real economic integration with Russia is necessary to maintain social and economic stability in Belarus, writes Valdai Club expert Vyacheslav Sutyrin.

🔗 Economy of Belarus: Between Western Sanctions and Union with Russia

#Belarus #economy #sanctions #EU #Europe

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

🌍 Africa remains practically the only hotbed of positive demographic dynamics in the world.

With such demographic prospects, the continent's population will practically double over the next three decades - from 1.3 billion now to almost 2.5 billion by 2050 (meanwhile, the population of developed countries will remain virtually the same).

What does it mean for businesses and potential exporters? The fact is that when they go to Africa, they go to expanding markets, which in thirty years will be twice as large as they are now.

The population will be twice as large, and will need more roads, power plants, food, electronics, cars, clothing, etc. Moreover, the middle class in Africa will grow at a much faster rate than the demographic increase would otherwise dictate. By 2050, it will at least triple.

Africa's advantages as a platform for Russian foreign economic expansion are not limited to demographic factors. The developed markets of the OECD countries, especially the European Union, are highly regulated, which creates the highest barriers for exporting companies from Russia. Although tariff barriers are limited by WTO rules, the same European markets have a lot of non-tariff barriers. The regulatory environment in Africa is generally much more favourable, although of course it differs from country to country.

The third advantage of Africa is that the local market is experiencing a shortage of both high-tech companies and companies with a medium level of technology development.

Of course, the African market is not a panacea and one hundred percent recipe for the development of an effective industrial policy of Russia. This is just one of many directions in which the development of foreign economic activity of our country should proceed. However, to neglect its importance would be extremely short-sighted, just as it is short-sighted to neglect the future, writes Valdai Club expert Alexander Zotin.

🔗 Where to Look for an Effective Industrial Policy, and Why Russia Needs Africa

#Corporations_and_Economy #economy #Africa

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club