This article brings some reflections about the presence of Brazilian enterprises in the African market, focusing particularly the vision of different authors that had studied the trade relationship between Brazil and Africa. The text aims to answer two main questions. Firstly, under what motivations the Brazil-Africa trade obtained a notable growth between the 70's and the 90's? Secondly, what are the perspectives to the Brazilian entrepreneurs that want to begin a new business in Africa? Through bibliographical research and interviews with businessmen that worked in Africa in the mentioned period and with foreign trade specialists, it was found that in the mentioned years the Brazilian government gave generous incentives to the entrepreneurship directed to the African market. With the end of this privileging policy, many firms failed, nevertheless some of them are still active, for instance the Afro-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and the construction company Norberto Odebrecht, whose trajectories propitiated the entry of other Brazilian enterprises in the African market. Besides that, they propitiate important lessons to the entrepreneurs that wish to initiate a business in the African market. We conclude that, in spite of the reduction of the state support and the changes in the Brazilian internal and external economic context, the commercial opportunities in the African continent exist and can not be ignored by the businessmen, that tend to judge Africa as a whole by its negative aspects, which are stressed by the media, in the same way that many African businessmen are unaware of the quality of the Brazilian products and services.
Brazil-Africa Trade; International Economic Relations; Foreign Trade