In tourist offices, the most frequent images of Africa are those of safari animals. In the news, the tragedy of several conflicts lingers. On film screens, African conflict diamonds take centre stage in a Hollywood movie.

This image of Africa does not reflect its economic diversity, entrepreneurial aspirations or the optimism that goes with rising investment, growth and greater stability."Brand Africa" is in need of a change if Africa is to take its rightful place in world markets.

The articles below, from ITC, UNCTAD and IMF contributors, are the first in the series of stories on Changing “Brand Africa” that will be featured on this site.

Ask anyone about Africa and the first response you get is a negative picture of conflict, hunger, HIV/AIDS and other health issues. But question a bit more and it’s clear that Africa is becoming a promising place for business. Africa has been described as the “The Last Big Emerging Market” with great opportunity and potential. The success of the market is essential if we wish to address the biggest challenge of our times: reducing poverty.

ITC's vision to develop trade, contained in its Strategy for Africa, rests on boosting intra-African trade flows, promoting networking between trade support institutions, building a positive brand, ensuring that poverty and gender issues are in the mainstream of its activities, and building effective partnerships.

It works with African institutions and reaches out to new players who influence trade and business development in civil society.

Making investment work for long-term development is a challenge facing both resource-rich and income-poor countries.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) has boomed in Africa over the last 12 months — with record-breaking inflows of $38.8 billion in 2006, a 26.5% rise — and this revival looks set to continue. Africa’s challenge is to seize this opportunity to help boost domestic productive capacities, enabling broader economic and human development over the long term.

CLICK HERE to see how Africa is presenting a new face through a stronger role for women, a world of potential in services, upgrading traditional exports, and building foundations for prosperity.

Sub-Saharan Africa’s economic stability, combined with a favourable global growth climate, now offers opportunities that the region has begun to exploit. But further work is needed at the “micro” level to accelerate progress on the Millennium Development Goals.

Johnnic Communications, also known as Johncom, is one of Africa’s largest media and entertainment groups with interests ranging from bookshops to movie theatres clustering around its newspaper, music and film distribution business. It shares major links with a British multimedia giant but the South African company has always been a champion of South–South trade. Now it is expanding vigorously in Nigeria to help develop the potential of what has been called the Nollywood film business.

An Ethiopian woman entrepreneur links poor weavers with rich traditions to wealthy, culture-seeking buyers.

Traditionally in Ethiopia, men weave and women spin. Muya also trains women as weavers, to help them gain financial independence.

In this award-winning business case, technology opens new job opportunities and allows Bushmen to share their valuable knowledge to conserve the environment.

Rwandan coffee is featured at Starbucks this year. The path to creating a premium, well-branded coffee from a low-return mass product involved both aid agencies and private firms.

This Tunisian businessman is representative of his country’s effort to position itself in Information and Communications Technology (ICT).

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a prerequisite to do business in Africa. Shell’s African Vice President explains.

Sierra Leone’s export development authorities are working to revitalize the ginger industry, a route out of poverty after years of war. This story is based on an interview with Abu Bakkar Kebbay, from the export development agency of the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Tanzania is working to make itself better known to attract foreign buyers and tourists.

Africa has traditionally not been on the radar screen of foreign direct investors. The reasons include the “Balkanization” of the continent and hence its small markets, its weak infrastructure and an image problem: in much of the world Africa’s image is dominated by pictures of civil war, sickness and famine.

Countries are putting priority on trade-related assistance in this new model for financing development projects, by the Millennium Challenge Corporation.

A new partnership to develop trade in Africa will back up the efforts of businesses and governments at a time when Africa’s trade prospects are looking up.

From Mongolia to Finland, Mauritius to Zambia, El Salvador to Chile, they are doing a lot about exporting.

Five of the best-performing national trade development agencies received global awards for expanding exports and improving their economy at the 6th World Conference of Trade Promotion Organizations held in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 12–13 March 2007.

Mobile phone use in Africa is growing fast. As computers and the Internet revolutionized business in the West, so mobile technology can help solve business problems for African exporters.

ITC has launched a web portal for the organic sector in developing countries.

 “Organic Link”  helps exporters, research centres and other stakeholders in developing countries to find information on buyers and markets through:

Civil society can help trade negotiators take more development-oriented positions in trade talks.

Civil society, including women’s organizations and the media, can help Africa’s quest for an equitable world trading system, said participants from these institutions at a workshop of the Joint Integrated Technical Assistance Programme (JITAP) in Accra, Ghana.

“Methods and Resources for the Management of Trade Information Services” is the theme of ITC’s annual seminar for managers of trade information and market intelligence units in developing and transition economies.

At the two-week training event (held in English), participants will test the major international sources for market information online and discuss information management methods and practices. This year, the seminar will focus on networking tools and modalities.

Interview — Magatte N’Doye

Learn more about other Trade Forum users, starting with a long-standing reader in Senegal’s Ministry for Trade and Consumer Affairs.

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Business Guide to Trade Remedies in the United States: Anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguards legislation, practices and procedures