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For Mali, a landlocked country in West Africa, it’s an uphill battle to diversify its economy, said Noel Diarra, deputy chief of Mission Mali.
“Mali is a land of opportunity, not only in natural resources and farming but also in the ITs,” Diarra said about a major investment in a new building to foster the emerging technology industry.
Diarra visited the Port of Philadelphia as part of the country’s trade mission to the U.S., but it’s not considered a major trading partner, according to the International Trade Administration. Exports from Mali to the U.S. totaled $3.3 million in 2021, up from $2.2 million in 2020.
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t significant trade activity from other countries across Africa.
Pa. state Senator Sharif Street serves on Philadelphia’s African and Caribbean Immigrant Affairs Commission.
Street said that few know how much import business Philadelphia already does with African nations.
“In the port of Philadelphia, we bring in four to five billion dollars of cocoa from Africa,” he said. “We also bring in shea butter and a myriad of other natural resources that are necessary for the manufacturing of so many different products.”
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