I'm working on a story about Minnesota companies exporting to Africa, and figured out that the state's exports of goods to African countries grew 29 percent in 2013, to $244.6 million.

That's still a small number overall (2013 exports to Canada were $5.8 billion), but the growth prospects in nations like Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana and Morocco are drawing more attention from western companies, including firms in Minnesota.

The rise of the textile industry in North Africa has been a boon to a company in Duluth, and a higher education boom has been a big opportunity for an architecture firm with an office in downtown Minneapolis.

South Africa is by far the largest market for Minnesota products, accounting for $82 million in goods in 2013, but Egypt, Nigeria, Ghana and Lybia have grown a lot in the past five years.

Most projections are for those numbers to continue to grow, thanks to a rising middle class in some of those nations. Here's a snapshot from the Ernst & Young attractiveness survey, which is a good read on the opportunities for foreign investment in Africa: