4, 679. 78 3, 848. 12 angola botswana congo, dem. rep. of lesotho malawi mauritius mozambique namibia seychelles south africa swaziland tanzania zambia zimbabwe 16. 4 3. 1 40. 59 1. 34 28. 88 72. 22 37. 3 8. 47 1, 859. 93 5. 79 82. 13 37. 38 93. 91 26. 47 1. 43 11. 24 1. 95 13. 2 75. 42 18. 27 11. 45 2, 482. 52 107. 83 60. 05 120. 9 36. 23 1. 18 14. 14 4. 23 18. 69 82. 12 20. 9 8. 23 2, 071. 16 5. 56 77. 25 19. 15 117. 17 60. 91 1. 49 6. 44 3. 94 19. 92 72. 19 31. 24 10. 74 1, 872. 15 2. 61 79. 14 25. 18 124. 97 44. 42 2. 62 9. 48 4. 14 28. 86 76. 74 21. 02 13. 97 1, 772. 8 8. 72 77. 55 35. 12 91. 18 sadc total 2, 290. 34 2, 936. 53 2, 474. 45 2, 313. 87 2, 180. 53 5, 777 6, 330. 63 4, 815. 26 4, 164. 71 4, 492. 16 balance with sadc - 476. 35 - 284. 66 - 966. 6 - 1, 035. 36 - 747. 84 balance with africa 1, 842. 42 1, 800. 04 - 85. 41 - 515. 07 644. 04 japan ’ s exports to africa africa source : international monetary fund. table 2 african trade with selected asian countries ( us $ millions ) asian imports from sadc 590. 9 82. 18 273. 47 231. 68 527. 1 86. 95 55. 93 1, 218. 48 104. 07 265. 19 296. 76 891. 72 96. 12 358. 47 1, 701. 22 206. 22 197. 53 356. 12 1, 011. 66 292. 61 2, 827. 45 300. 12 183. 8 384. 41 1, 520. 31 102. 25 369. 79 1, 171. 24 298. 94 84. 58 167. 38 89

to us $ 3. 8 billion in 1998 following the asian crisis. similarly, japanese exports to africa increased significantly from us $ 5. 8 billion in 1994 to us $ 6. 3 billion in 1996, before dropping to us $ 4. 2 billion in 1998 and us $ 4. 5 billion in 1999. the japanese economy had a trade surplus of us $ 1. 8 billion with african countries in 1994 and 1995. it turned around to deficits of us $ 85. 4 million and us $ 515. 0 million in 1996 and 1997, respectively, following japan ’ s economic slowdown and strengthening of the yen in 1996. the challenge to african economies is to become more competitive in asian markets, so as to turnaround the trade surplus of us $ 644. 0 million in 1998. the situation is slightly different with sadc. since 1994, japan has operated with a significant trade deficit. japan ’ s trade deficit with sadc decreased from us $ 476. 4 million in 1994 to us $ 284. 6 million in 1995 and then significantly increased to us $ 1. 0 billion in 1997 before falling somewhat to us $ 747. 8 million in 1998. sadc would benefit significantly from japan ’ s economic revival if it were to sustain the level of competitiveness that it has attained thus far. this requires a clear export focus and strategy vis - a - vis the huge japanese market. it is important not to forget that japan is the second largest economy in the world and japan is well - disposed to africa at this stage. 3. asia ’ s economic recovery following worldwide crises that developed from the southeast asian economies, recent indications point to a promising economic revival in asia as a whole, particularly in those countries where the crisis was most severe : thailand ; the philippines ; indonesia ; malaysia and korea. the combined annual real gdp growth rate of these countries fell from 6. 6 % in 1997 to 3. 7 % in 1998 with severe impact on the gains that had been made to reduce poverty and generate jobs. growth is now expected to significantly increase to 5. 3 % in 1999 and 5. 4 % by 2000. the annual inflation rate which reached a high of 8. 0 % in 1998, is expected to drop significantly to 3. 1 % and 3. 5 % in 1999 and 2000 respectively. the asian annual current account balance, which stood at a deficit of us $ 51 billion in 1998 is expected to decline significantly to us $ 26 billion in 1999 and drop further to us