Brazilian President Rousseff at the 50th anniversary of the African Union in Ethiopia (Simon Maina/AFP/Getty)
At the recent African Union summit in Ethiopia, Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff announced that she would write off or restructure $900 million in African debt to her country. BBC News reports that Rousseff hopes this move will further open business deals between Brazil and the resource-rich continent.
Congo-Brazzaville owes the most to Brazil - $352m - followed by Tanzania ($237m) and Zambia ($113.4m).
Some Brazilian companies have already negotiated deals in Africa, but not without controversy.
Last month, hundreds of protesters in Mozambique blocked the entrance to a Brazilian coal mine in a row over a compensation deal agreed after they were displaced.Human Rights Watch, a rights group, said farming communities had been resettled on arid lands and had suffered food shortages.The Brazilian giant Vale, which owns the mine, and the government of Mozambique said improvements were being made.
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