As China’s expansion into Africa has been increasing enormously over recent years, Sino-African relations have become a prominent topic in the general media and for observers of both Africa’s and China’s international relations. It is... more
As China’s expansion into Africa has been increasing enormously over recent years, Sino-African relations have become a prominent topic in the general media and for observers of both Africa’s and China’s international relations. It is surprising that relatively little has been written about Chinese migrants in Africa. While China claims their relationship with Africa to be mutually profitable, a high proportion of the available available literature presents Chinese presence on the continent in increasingly negative ways, this literature is mostly of Western authorship. It is timely to attempt to gain greater understanding of the experiences of Chinese migrants workers who come - in increasing numbers - with Chinese aid, trade, business and development projects to the African continent. This small scale study uses existing literature to explore Sino-African cooperation and migration to Africa, and obtained empirical evidence from conducting in-depth interviews with Chinese migrants in various African countries in order to gain understanding of their lives and attitudes. This paper demonstrates that through largely positive encounters and despite language barriers and cultural differences, Chinese migrants are playing a prominent role in Sino-African cooperation.
The resilience of China's investments in African infrastructure has been called into question in the light of its own economic slowdown. The substantial reduction in Chinese demand for African commodities has resulted in a significant... more
The resilience of China's investments in African infrastructure has been called into question in the light of its own economic slowdown. The substantial reduction in Chinese demand for African commodities has resulted in a significant drop in commodity prices, causing an adverse economic outlook in many commodity-dependent African economies and potentially decoupling the African growth story from China's influence and economic engagement. This policy insights paper argues that China's infrastructure-based economic statecraft in Africa has shown and will continue to show resilience in the face of new economic realities in the China–Africa relationship, as these projects fit into China's broader goals of reshaping global norms.
O FOCAC se constitui como a principal plataforma ao diálogo e coordenação China-África no século XXI. A China se compromete com grandes investimentos e outros benefícios aos países africanos em troca da concessão na exploração do petróleo... more
O FOCAC se constitui como a principal plataforma ao diálogo e coordenação China-África no século XXI. A China se compromete com grandes investimentos e outros benefícios aos países africanos em troca da concessão na exploração do petróleo e outras matérias-primas – estratégia oil for infrastructure. O artigo tem como objetivo analisar como o FOCAC tornou-se um mecanismo institucional para a consolidação política-econômica chinesa na África. A nossa hipótese é de que o FOCAC tornou-se uma plataforma multilateral que facilita e fortalece a relação bilateral da RPC com os países africanos frente aos objetivos chineses de garantir a sua segurança em relação aos recursos naturais, abrir a economia para novos mercados e para oportunidades de investimentos. No âmbito político, o Fórum assumiu papel relevante ao reforçar o comprometimento dos países africanos junto à China nas Organizações Internacionais, principalmente na Organização das Nações Unidas (ONU).
FOCAC is constituted as the main platform for dialogue and coordination on China-Africa in the twenty-first century. China is committed to enlarge investments and other benefits to African countries in exchange for granting the exploration of oil and other raw materials – oil infrastructure strategy. The article aims to analyze how the FOCAC has become an institutional mechanism for China’s political and economic consolidation in Africa continent. Our hypothesis is that the FOCAC has become a multilateral platform that facilitates and strengthens the bilateral relationship between PRC and African countries in order to obtain Chinese targets, such as ensure Chinese safety in relation to natural resources, open the economy to new markets and investment opportunities. In the political arena, the Forum took role to reinforce the commitment of African countries in relation to China in International Organizations, especially at the United Nations (UN).
I paesi del grande Continente Nero negli ultimi anni hanno stretto, sempre di più, numerosi contratti commerciali con la Repubblica Popolare Cinese (RPC). Questa unione economica ha suscitato molteplici reazioni, alcune di approvazione... more
I paesi del grande Continente Nero negli ultimi anni hanno stretto, sempre di più, numerosi contratti commerciali con la Repubblica Popolare Cinese (RPC). Questa unione economica ha suscitato molteplici reazioni, alcune di approvazione altre di preoccupazione. Tra chi si preoccupa è facile trovare alcuni paesi occidentali e le organizzazioni internazionali, come la World Bank.[...] D’altra parte gli stati africani e la Cina si sostengono l’un l’altro e hanno creato un forum per la cooperazione, Forum On China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). La loro cooperazione è riconosciuta dai soggetti stessi come win-win, ovvero come un processo economico in cui entrambi gli attori coinvolti alla fine risulteranno vincitori. Ma in questa costellazione d’informazioni e di pareri come è possibile capire se le relazioni tra i paesi africani e i cinesi avvengano veramente in un’ottica Win-Win? Nel presente lavoro si cercherà di delineare gli attori ed i ruoli di questi nelle relazioni economiche.
In the last two decades Africa-China relations in key sectors have deepened. The evidence for this is most compelling in the area of economics.2012 data indicates that the value of trade between Africa and China rose from around... more
In the last two decades Africa-China relations in key sectors have deepened. The evidence for this is most compelling in the area of economics.2012 data indicates that the value of trade between Africa and China rose from around US$100million in 2000 to a staggering US$198.49billion in 2012 reflecting a year-on-year growth of 19.3% over the period.† The volumes of trade are equally telling. Africa-China trade as a volume of Africa’s total trade volume rose from 3.82% in 2000 to 16.13% in 2012. The devil however is in the details. Disaggregation of the impressive data shows for example that in the main Africa has been a source of raw materials for China while the Asian country has been an exporter of manufactures to the continent. Some have taken this and other facts favouring China to postulate an exploitative relationship with Africa reminiscent of that between an imperium and its vassals and proceeded to blame and hold the Chinese government accountable for this.
This brief will argue that beyond the blame narrative( a key part of the copious literature on contemporary Africa-China relations) the time has come for Ghana and Africa to take a deeper, active strategic approach to FOCAC in the pursuit of clear-cut far-reaching transformative goals such as industrialization.
An updated view on China's investment, trade and development aid in Africa, from FDI failure in the 20th century, the emergence and faulure of NEPAD, the success of FOCAC and the outlook on the Belt and Road Initiative.
In the last three decades the concept of global governance has been increasingly adopted as a framework to understand and analyse the new multilateral mechanisms and practices through which a vast array of actors strive to create norms... more
In the last three decades the concept of global governance has been increasingly adopted as a framework to understand and analyse the new multilateral mechanisms and practices through which a vast array of actors strive to create norms and rules in order to solve transnational issues and deliver global public goods. In this context, a player of rapidly growing importance is China, which, under the leadership of Xi Jinping shifted the character of its global engagement to a proactive stance, furthering its involvement both within existing institutions and by crafting new forums for multilateral governance. After exploring the Chinese perspectives regarding the conceptualisation and feasibility of global governance, this piece of writing will argue that China is indeed willing to invest resources in order to play a more crucial role in global governance. Crucially, China seems to be capable of achieving a degree of success in this matter as the analysis of Chinese efforts to create a multilateral governance mechanism to deliver aid to Africa will illustrate. However, Chinese-led initiatives reflect the crucial limitation to China enhanced participation global governance, that is, the failure to engage constructively with the West due to cultural and value differences.
Africa is currently being courted by both China and Japan. Rich in natural resources and a growing market, Africa is important to both East Asian economic giants. They have provided Africa with generous financial and economic development... more
Africa is currently being courted by both China and Japan. Rich in natural resources and a growing market, Africa is important to both East Asian economic giants. They have provided Africa with generous financial and economic development deals totalling over US$90 billion between December, 2015 and August 2016. The most recent move was from Japan. At the Sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) held in Kenya recently (the first time in Africa), Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced a US$30 billion public-private partnership to develop quality infrastructure, health systems and others in Africa.
The FOCAC summit held between 3-5 December 2015 coincided with the launching of China’s second Africa policy paper and became the first time that a FOCAC summit was held on African soil as the others had all been Ministerial gatherings... more
The FOCAC summit held between 3-5 December 2015 coincided with the launching of China’s second Africa policy paper and became the first time that a FOCAC summit was held on African soil as the others had all been Ministerial gatherings following the first summit in Beijing. It came in a watershed year for global development efforts as the year witnessed the Financing for Development meeting in Addis Ababa, the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations, the hosting of the Ministerial meeting of the WTO in Nairobi (for the first time in Africa), and the Conference of the Parties (COP21) held in Paris. Within this broader context, the following policy brief, which arises from a research project between the Institute for Global Dialogue (IGD) and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), seeks to draw linkages between China’s second Africa policy paper and the declarations of the Johannesburg summit. It thus asks what the FOCAC summit managed to achieve before asking what the way forward is in terms of China-Africa relations.
Este artigo analisa o crescente engajamento da China no sector de ensino no continente africano, principalmente depois do estabelecimento, em 2000, do Fórum de Cooperação China-África (FOCAC), que revolucionou drasticamente a cooperação... more
Este artigo analisa o crescente engajamento da China no sector de ensino no continente africano, principalmente depois do estabelecimento, em 2000, do Fórum de Cooperação China-África (FOCAC), que revolucionou drasticamente a cooperação sino-africana. A discussão enaltece o papel da assistência chinesa para o desenvolvimento do continente africano - particularmente na educação, um elemento positivo para o alcance dos Objectivos de Desenvolvimento do Milénio - porém critica a sua direcção, que parece estar a tomar os contornos da velha relação entre o norte e o sul, criando dependência por partes de África.
