The weaknesses in the global economy will make it much harder to sustain strong export growth and to mobilise foreign savings to fund large trade deficits. To adjust to this more difficult external environment, African economies will have to live with smaller trade deficits, which implies constraining the growth of consumption and prioritising policies which can support sustainable export growth.
The second reason is that any similarities may result not only from ex ante agreements between market participants but also from herd behaviour, which is typical of a market where neither ideas nor investment strategies can be patented.