U.S. companies' game of catch-up shows the perils of waking up late to the next big frontier market, Africa. The continent's economy is forecast to grow to $2.6 trillion in 2020. While most U.S. companies focused on Asia and Latin America, China was leapfrogging America in Africa.

Latin America is blessed with a wealth of natural resources and seeks investment and loans to capitalize on them. China needs the commodities to keep its economy growing. Those interests have come together in an unorthodox partnership, as China lends and invests billions of dollars in countries around Latin America in return for a guaranteed flow of commodities, particularly oil.

Brazil has become both strong confident enough to play an active role on the world stage. In an increasingly multipolar world, Brazil is emerging as a powerful voice representing the Global South in multilateral forums like the G-20, the World Trade Organization and discussions over greenhouse gas emissions.

In the last two decades, Canadian investors have been taking advantage of the dramatic changes in Latin America. This existing relationship emerged at a conference which drew leading actors in the Canada-Latin America relationship from academia, business, government, civil society and NGOs.

He added that he wants to increase the number of Saudi students in Korea, and wants to see more vocational training programs for Saudi students. Last week, for instance, the Samsung Engineering Association established an engineering center in the Kingdom here to provide training to Saudi students. Likewise, LG has also established an IT academy particularly for women.

“Maritime trade and people-to-people exchanges have drawn us closer. Today, we seek to build a modern and dynamic partnership on the strength of these traditional bonds,” Singh had said earlier after the bilateral meeting with Kikwete.

India may have certain soft-power advantages, including its Bollywood film industry as well as widespread English fluency and a history of living under British colonial rule that it shares with many African countries. There is also a significant Indian diaspora in Africa.

Africa's attractiveness as a place to invest is growing, according to a survey about business across the continent. But it's not all good news for African business. The survey shows that Africa is seen as an attractive investment primarily by Africans and then by emerging markets -- but less so by developed countries.