In conjunction with the U.S.-Africa Business Forum, a number of American companies have announced new partnerships in Africa: Blackstone will invest in African energy projects, Coca-Cola will partner with Africa to bring clean water to its communities, GE will help build African infrastructure. Marriott will build more hotels. American companies have announced new deals in clean energy, aviation, banking, and construction worth more than $14 billion.

The U.S. has also announced a series of steps to boost its economic ties with Africa:

In the face of the Russian restrictions of agricultural products imports from the EU, it is important more than ever for all trade and sectoral associations involved in the production, wholesale an retail of agricultural and agri-food products to join forces to give all affected parties a common voice and petition the EU institutions for protection of their particular interests and seek compensation for their loss of earnings.

Key Stakeholders

The European Union (EU) has allocated 415 million euro to support Africa’s integration programmes. The allocation is meant to fund the first phase of a new programme. It is the first ever EU programme in development and cooperation that covers Africa as a whole to address trans-national and global challenges, such as migration and mobility, climate change and security.

Russia remains the EU's second most important food export market after the U.S.A. In 2012, the value of food and drinks exported from the EU to Russia was close to € 9 billion. Russia is in fact the No. 1 export market for some EU Member States. A large part of the EU food and drink exports to Russia come from Germany, the Netherlands, France and Poland, which means these countries are likely to be more affected

Policy: The United States recognizes that Africa is a region of growing economic opportunity and innovation and aims to expand a trade and investment partnership that is grounded in shared interests and mutual responsibility. Africa offers a diverse and broad range of trade and investment opportunities in national and regional markets. The U.S. Government will encourage U.S.

Ban Items:

• Cattle meat: fresh, chilled or frozen

• Pork: fresh, chilled or frozen

• Poultry and its subproducts: fresh, chilled or frozen

• Salted, dried or smoked meat

• Fish, shellfish, scallops and other aquatic invertebrates

• Milk and dairy products

• Vegetables

• Fruit

• Nuts

• Sausage and similar meat products

• Cheese and similar products

Ban: Effective immediately and will last for one year

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decree bans or limits food and agricultural imports for one year from countries that have imposed or supported sanctions, according to the Kremlin website. The government is drawing up a list of restricted goods. It plans to ban the import of all U.S. agricultural products, including poultry, meat products  as well as all fruit and vegetable imports from the European Union. Some dairy products will also be restricted. The final list will be communicated later this week.

The European Parliament maintains an Information office in every Member State and a Liaison office in the United States: Athens, Barcelona, Berlin, Bratislava, Brussels,  Bucarest, Budapest,  Copenhague, Dublin, Edinburgh, Helsinki, Lisbon,  Ljubljana,  London, Luxembourg, Madrid,  Marseille, Milan, Munich, Nicosia, Paris, Prague, Riga, Rome, Sofia, Stockholm, Strasbourg, Tallinn, The Hague, Valetta, Vienna, Vilnius,  Warsaw, Wroclaw, Washington DC, Zagreb.

The Council appoints the 27 Commissioners-designate in agreement with the elected Commission President. Each Commissioner, one from each EU country, is assigned responsibility for a specific policy area by the Commission President. The Commission as a whole is subject to the European Parliament's approval.

List of people officially nominated by their national governments for the next mandate of the European Commission starting in autumn 2014. President-elect Juncker had asked for all the nominations to be submitted by the end of July. However, some Member States are expected to wait for the special meeting of the European Council on August 30 before they officially put forward their nominee.