As construction for the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa draws to a close, all eyes in the industry move to Brazil. In this article, we briefly consider the advantages of using either the Fédération Internationale des Ingénieurs-Conseils (FIDIC) Red Book, and the New Engineering Contract (NEC3) Engineering and Construction Contract.

As construction for the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa draws to a close, all eyes in the industry move to Brazil. In this article, we briefly consider the advantages of using either the Fédération Internationale des Ingénieurs-Conseils (FIDIC) Red Book, and the New Engineering Contract (NEC3) Engineering and Construction Contract.

Historical ties between Africa and Brazil date back many centuries, through the years of the African Diaspora and the Atlantic slave trade. From the 16th century, slaves were spirited away from Central and Western Africa across to North and South America to work as unpaid labour on sugar, coffee, cocoa and cotton plantations, as well as gold and silver mines.

The commodities boom of the 2000s was an unprecedented event in the history of global economics; driven by the rising demand from emerging markets such as the BRIC nations - Brazil, Russia, India and China have since firmly laid claim to their portion of the global economy. As the astronomical rise of these economies seems unstoppable, this unique development story has fascinated financial and media institutions across the world.

Africa's growth has been underwritten by China and China's growth has become increasingly dependent on Africa's ability to supply it with resources. It is not colonialism; we should really call it foreign direct investment.