The Iron Curtain, Bamboo Curtain...

[swaghauler]

Yes, but I don't think bamboo grows in Africa.

Not only does it grow in Africa, but there are also around 7 different varieties that I know of. Ethiopia is the largest exporter of bamboo and you will also find it in Somalia (the south), Kenya, Uganda, The Congo, Nigeria, and anywhere else that the African jungle still thrives.
On another note, I guess you COULD call Somalia a "Banana Republic" because they literally grew them. There are banana plantations all over Southern Somalia (closer to the Southern city of Kismayo than The Moge in the North). Indeed, when driving up and down the Ayoobe(?), the large four-lane dirt "superhighway" that ran along the Eastern spine of Somalia, you would encounter plantations that stretched for miles at a time.