Chic African Culture Blog

Did you know?

1. No African country names begin with the letters F, H, I, J, O, P, Q, V, W, X, or Y.

2. Africa is surrounded by water but by definition Africa is not an island because Africa is a continent.

3. The Republic of the Congo is one of the most urbanized countries in Africa.

African Culture is World Heritage

Appreciate Africa through African art, food, proverb sayings, folklore, biographies, spirituality and African living history.

What Does Africa and The NYSE Have to do with Each Other

What Does Africa and The NYSE Have to do with Each Other

Africa's Coffee, Cocoa, and Cotton rule the New York Stock Exchange Intercontinental Exchange Group soft commodities market. African influences are extensive in the softs markets and are of vital importance to the international soft commodity trading of the world.

African influences are extensive in the NYSE softs markets


Africa's Influence On The New York Stock Exchange and China

A stock exchange is a facility where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock and bonds and other financial instruments. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization.

African influences are extensive in the soft markets especially in the case of cotton, cocoa, and coffee and are of vital importance to the international soft commodity trade on the Atlanta-based Intercontinental Exchange Group or ICE of the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE.

According to ICE, it became the center of global trading in soft commodities with its acquisition of the New York Board of Trade in 2007. Now known as ICE Futures U.S., the exchange offers futures and options on futures on soft commodities including coffee, cocoa, sugar, cotton, and frozen concentrated orange juice. 
What is a soft commodity? The definition of a soft commodity is a resource that is grown rather than mined such as coffee, cocoa, sugar, maize or corn, cotton, and tea. 

Unroasted coffee is Africa’s leading soft commodities value export, cocoa beans are second and cotton lint is the third. Soft commodities play a major part in the futures market. 

 What are futures? Futures are contracts that require traders to buy or sell assets at a set price at a set date in the future allowing farmers and other food producers to lock in the prices they would get for crops even before harvest time.

 The top export is cotton around 40% of $8.3 billion Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or $3.3 billion. Africa's three C’s Coffee, Cocoa, and Cotton rule the NYSE-ICE futures soft commodities market.

China as a foreign investor in Africa

China is the largest developing country foreign investor in Africa. Significant Chinese investment and development finance have been channeled into infrastructure. Trade with China is growing much faster than that with the United States and the European Union. 

The relationship started in the early 1980s, as part of concerted diplomatic efforts promoting Chinese economic cooperation with Africa. The largest share directed toward the resource sector, notably in South Africa, Angola, Ethiopia, Mali, Nigeria, and Uganda.

There are 16 major exchanges in Africa, 30 in total.

Ghana Stock Exchange

Lusaka Stock Exchange

Malawi Stock Exchange

Johannesburg Stock Exchange

Bond Exchange of South Africa

Stock Exchange of Mauritius

Zimbabwe Stock Exchange

Namibia Stock Exchange

Botswana Stock Exchange

Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchange

Abidjan Stock Exchange

Casablanca Stock Exchange

Nigeria Stock Exchange

Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange

Uganda Securities Exchange

Nairobi Stock Exchange

China is only one of several major emerging economies with an interest in Africa, the others being Brazil, India, The Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, and Turkey.

Africa received nearly half of the cumulative $54 billion provided by China in global foreign aid through 2012 significantly more than any other region. Chinese development assistance is frequently packaged into agreements that mix grants and investment, and concessional and non-concessional loans.

Investments in infrastructure and mining are likely to slow, given the recent decreases in global commodity prices, Chinese investment should continue to add to the domestic demand for goods and services in Africa.

Did you know
Africa’s Top 10 most value exported soft commodities according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2011 are in order cocoa beans, unroasted coffee, cotton lint, rubber natural dry, unmanufactured tobacco, oranges, tea, refined sugar, maize, and unshelled cashew nuts. 


Africa's three C’s Coffee, Cocoa, and Cotton rule the NYSE-ICE futures soft commodities market.


Getting to Know Africa

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Top 20 Largest Countries in Africa
How many countries does Africa have?

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Chic African Culture and The African Gourmet=

Africa is surrounded by water but is not an island, here are a few African Island facts.

Madagascar is the 4th large island in the world and is located in the Indian Ocean supporting a unique biology, about 90% of its plants and animals are found nowhere else on earth.

Composed of 155 islands, Seychelles is Africa's smallest country. By far the largest island is Mahe, home to about 90% of the population and the site of its capital city of Victoria.

Cabo Verde has a strategic location 310 miles or 500 km from the west coast of Africa near major north-south sea routes; important communications station; important sea and air refueling site.

Africa is surrounded by water but by definition Africa is not an island because Africa is a continent. Continents can not be considered islands because of their size and also by historic definition since many people who study geography define islands and continents as two different things.

This Week’s Best Posts and Pages

Nature Holds Many Secrets | Hurricanes, Angry African Ancestors

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Eastern coasts of Caribbean, United States, and South America, are in danger of being blasted by hurricanes wind and rain during hurricane season from June through November. But, why? The scientific reason why is because of Africa’s Sahara desert dust storms and the transition of thunderstorms off the west coast of Africa. The waters in the North Atlantic Ocean are typically at their warmest while the Sahara is at its hottest from July through October, so the chances of a hurricane are highest during these months. African legend, the paths hurricanes follow. Hurricanes are gigantic weather systems using convection, the movement of hot and cold air, to create dangerous storms. They are rotating heat engines powered by the warmth of tropical waters having three main parts, the eye, the eyewall, and rainbands. Hurricanes cannot form just anywhere in the world due to the need for hot and humid air. They normally form close to the equator and move west or northwest. Hurrica
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What is the difference between ugali and fufu

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How to make the popular African recipes Ugali and Fufu and what is the difference.  Ugali is a starch dish in Kenya and Tanzania made of fine cornmeal cooked in boiling water into a soft dough. Fufu is a thick, dough-like West African food made by boiling then pounding a starchy vegetable such as yam, plantain, or cassava or a mixture of starchy vegetables. The main difference between fufu and ugali is fufu is boiled first then pounded while ugali is simply boiled. Ugali recipe. Easy Ugali Recipe Prep time 5 minutes Cook time 30 minutes Total time 30 minutes Ingredients 4 cups finely ground cornmeal 8 cups water Directions Heat water to boiling in a saucepan. Slowly pour cornmeal into boiling water stirring continuously. Add more cornmeal if necessary until it is thick as soft bread dough. Serve immediately with vegetables, stew, or any dish you would use a spoon with to soak up the sauce, ugali is purposely bland tasting on its own. What is the difference between ugali and
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How to make sweet Nigerian Agege bread

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Pronounced ah-gay-gay agege bread is century old sweet tasting bread very popular with Hausa people in the West African country of Nigeria. Traditional Agege bread is not sold as sliced bread.  Agege is a district in the Ikeja Division of Lagos State, Nigeria. The name Agege bread was created by a Jamaican immigrant, Alhaji Ayokunnu in the town of Agege. His Agege bread was a popular street food for people on the go therefore he opened up a full-time Bakery to where he was providing bread to different stores.  Bread is not an indigenous food to Africans. Agege bread is popular because that's where the first bakery opened up selling this new style of African food on the street to busy Nigerians.    Agege bread is a delicious bread with a very soft center, sweet taste with crunchy crust. Traditional Agege bread is not sold as sliced bread. You can substitute coconut oil for the butter for a different version of Agege bread. Agege bread was created by Alhaji Ayokunnu How to m
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South African Beef Curry Recipe

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Perfect South African Apricot Beef Curry Recipe South African beef curry recipe is a South African food recipe to share around the world while learning about South Africa rainbow nation food history and favorite recipes of Black African, Colored mixed race ancestry, White, and Indian. South African Beef Curry Recipe When it comes to quick and satisfying slow cooker crockpot meals South African Apricot Beef Curry recipe is at the top of the African food dinner recipe list. Use your slow cooker for this simple South African Apricot Beef Curry recipe, it is full of apricot jam, spices and tender beef to serve with rice and grilled bread. How to Make Perfect South African Apricot Beef Curry Recipe Explore and Understand Africa Through Her Food and Culture By Chic African Culture African food recipe South Africa food is one of the most diverse on the African continent. South African apricot beef curry is an easy delicious slow cooker dinner recipe to make on a weeknight. South Afr
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African cultures express, encourage, and communicate energy

African cultures express, encourage, and communicate energy

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Being African in America I have grown up learning about different ethnic cultures. My father and mother are historians of African culture and history and their influence expanded my activities to several best-selling cookbooks, magazine columns, self-branded products, and a popular African culture and food blog.

Chic African Culture

Be better than average and support African history and culture. Since 2008 Chic African Culture and The African Gourmet highlight Africa through her food and culture. Contact us culture1africangourmet@gmail.com

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