A perspective on inter-African trade, from the perspective of an average citizen

Many of us know fruits like ‘mazhanje’, ‘tsubvu’ and ‘matunduru’ which are only found in the SADC region and considered ‘exotic’ fruits elsewhere By Mohammed Thiane One of the factors that has fascinated me since my arrival in Senegal, is how everything available from market stalls to corner shops, and in the supermarkets, is imported – and I don’t use ‘everything’ lightly. For many, including the local people, its assumed that because much of Senegal is very dry and prone to drought, that this allows for limited farming. But with very little research, I have discovered that in fact, Senegal grows export-level (and delicious!) mangoes, groundnuts/peanuts, and tomatoes, to name a few. I also recently discovered that in Zimbabwe, there are many farms growing blueberries – for export. In all the years I lived in Zimbabwe I had never seen or tasted a blueberry. My only (fond) recollection of ‘blueberry’ anything, was the Blueberry muffins from Spar…Oh my… As I mentioned in my last article, part of my regular breakfast meal involves tea. Now, this is not just any tea. For Zimbabweans, if you mention tea, there is usually only one that comes to mind.