Brazil, the land of samba and football.

It’s also a country with close ties to Africa, through long years of slavery, centuries ago.

It currently has the largest black population outside of Africa.

With the imminent return to power of Luíz Inácio Lula da Silva, popularly known as Lula, some may wonder what his win means for Africa.

When the left wing leader was president from 2003 to 2010, Brazil-Africa relations blossomed.

Trade to Africa ran into the billions of dollars from 2000 to 2008, and much of this came from mining, infrastructure, construction and agriculture.

But then the relationship declined. So what happened? What changed and what lies ahead?

These are some of the questions Ferdinand Omondi got into with Dr. Alex Vines, Managing Director of the Africa Programme at Chatham House, a think tank in the United Kingdom.