China's Power in Africa: A New Global Order
Abstract
“China’s involvement in Africa has become one of the most discussed topics in contemporary International Relations, with tags such as ‘genuine friendship,’ and ‘new set of brutal colonizers,’ being presented with equal strengths of logic. Against the background of the catalogue of interest generated by the country’s involvement in Africa; this is a most welcome addition to literature by two of Africa’s foremost scholars of International Relations.”
—Abiodun Alao, Professor and Program Director, African Leadership Centre, School of Global Affairs, King’s College, London, UK
“This is truly compelling and scholarly analysis of the interface between China and Africa. Well researched, balanced and penetrating, the volume takes the reader through the economic and political implications of relations between China and Africa. This is a timely, detailed, consistent and competent take on a theme that has become highly strategic in our time.”
—Ezra Chitando, Professor, Global Relations, History and Religion, University of Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe National Defence University, Zimbabwe
This book examines China’s political, economic, and diplomatic engagement in Africa. The rapid increase of China’s economic and political involvement in Africa is the most momentous development on the continent of Africa since the beginning of the twenty-first century. China is now Africa’s largest trading partner and the largest infrastructure financier. Additionally, it is the fastest growing economy and source of foreign direct investment. This monograph seeks to understand the dynamics of the escalating Chinese investments in African economies and the political implications of this development for Africa. This work will interest scholars, students, academics, and policy makers on the fields of Chinese and African politics, development studies, and international political economy.
Olayiwola Abegunrin is Professor of International Relations, African Studies, and Political Economy at Howard University and the University of Maryland, USA.
Charity Manyeruke is Professor of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe.
... China's relations with Africa have grown significantly since the 1960s (Rudolph 2022;Abegunin and Manyeruke, 2020). Under Chairman Mao Zedong, Beijing aimed to raise China's profile; maintain friendly relations with countries with different political systems; and support revolutionary struggles and promote common interests in the people's struggles for liberation from colonial rule on the continent. ...
... China's military involvement in the region is minute compared with traditional western powers such as France, but there is speculation that it could increase in the future due to its increasing reliance on Africa's resources and the continent's perpetual state of conflict (Rudolph, 2022;Abegunin and Manyeruke, 2020). Up to the present, China has sold small arms; developed military alliances with six countries, namely Sudan, Algeria, Nigeria, Angola, Chad, and Egypt; and provided financial, logistical, and defense support to many countries. ...
... Up to the present, China has sold small arms; developed military alliances with six countries, namely Sudan, Algeria, Nigeria, Angola, Chad, and Egypt; and provided financial, logistical, and defense support to many countries. As Abegunin and Manyeruke (2020) note, many African countries cannot finance their own security agenda and a lot of them face significant problems with respect to countering terrorism, piracy, and natural disasters. ...
Seeking to fill a void in the existing scholarship since no scholar has yet to examine the Islamic State Sahel Province’s threat to China, this study utilizes a unique approach to examine two questions, namely does the Islamic State Sahel Province pose a threat to Chinese interests in the Central Sahel, and is it likely to impact Beijing’s relations with Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger?Part one of this study utilizes data from the Armed Conflict and Event Data Location Data (ACLED) and the Global Terrorism Database (GTD) to construct the group’s operational profile. The operational profile covers political violence and strategic developments in each country and across the subregion; the expanse of and shifts in areas of operations; and tactics and targets in each terrorism incident by country and the subregion. Findings from the data analysis are utilized in the second part in conjunction with additional data collected on the economy and China’s economic relations to assess whether the group poses a threat to Chinese interests. The study concludes that in the short-term, the Islamic State Sahel Province does not pose a threat to those interests and recognizes the potential change of the threat in long-term.
... This collaboration has significantly improved trade between China and Africa. Notably, before the formation of FOCAC, trade between China and Africa was approximately $10 billion; following its formation, trade between the two them surged to $220 billion by 2014 (Abegunrin & Manyeruke, 2020). ...
... Furthermore, Beijing promised additional assistance to Africa's economy, which was harmed by COVID-19, and set a target of increasing its imports to $300 billion over the next three years (Foreign Affairs Committee [FAE], 2022). In this sense, China uses 'soft power' to compete in Africa, mostly through development projects and economic collaboration with African countries (Abegunrin & Manyeruke, 2020). However, its capital injection is viewed as both a threat and an opportunity in recent African economic success. ...
... This demonstrates China's 'soft power' engagement with Africa, as evident from the FOCAC relationship (Abegunrin & Manyeruke, 2020). According to Taylor (2010), China's efforts to collaborate with African countries convey a bigger picture of Beijing's long-term ambition to expand its presence to obtain power and influence over its competitors, particularly the United States. ...
This paper examines the changing dynamics of summit-level dialogue between the African Union and the Great Powers, using offensive realism as a theoretical lens. A qualitative approach with an in-depth literature review was developed. The findings indicate that there is a power transition tendency in Africa towards a bipolar arrangement. Moreover, the findings show that the ongoing great power competition in Africa is motivated by a clash of national interests as they all feel that Africa will play an important role in their quest for global primacy. China’s partnership success under the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation compels the United States to consider a foreign policy shift towards Africa, resulting in the US aid syndrome mentality towards Africa being recently replaced by improved trade and investment agreements. The competition, however, favoured Africa, as these great powers embraced the African Union’s claim to join the G20 to avoid losing Africa in their race to global influence. However, some of the summits exposed several African countries to economic difficulties and debt traps because of their inadequate bargaining leverage with lenders, either individually or collectively. From this perspective, one could argue that the ongoing great powers summit under the auspices of the African Union may produce a zero-sum outcome unless the current weak bargaining power is improved, thereby posing a sovereignty threat to many debt-burdened African countries, as some lenders are merciless in dominating key economic sectors if debts are not repaid on time.
... Importantly, Dorninger et al. (2021) further found that China and India are the only two world regions that were not net exporters of all types of embodied resources towards high-income countries between 1990 and 2015. 5 There is also an increasingly large literature, discussing China's presence in the periphery, in particular related to the exploitation of natural resources in those regions (Abegunrin & Manyeruke, 2020;M. Li, 2021;Meng et al., 2018). ...
... In particular, we confirm that China relies heavily on the periphery (particularly Africa, Asia and Latin America) for its natural resources, including land, labour, and materials. These findings are consistent with an increasingly rich literature that has highlighted China's increased economic and political ties with major resource exporting nations throughout the periphery (Abegunrin & Manyeruke, 2020;Diab, 2023;Frame, 2019;Gulley et al., 2019;Wang et al., 2022). ...
The theory of ecologically unequal exchange (EUE) suggests that there exists an asymmetric transfer of biophysical resources from the periphery to the core. Despite ample evidence demonstrating this fact, the theory fails to account for the complex role of the semi-periphery, or how global (inter-country) and domestic (intra-country) environmental inequalities between regions are connected. To fill this gap, we rely on an environmentally extended multi-regional input-output (EEMRIO) model to provide empirical evidence for China's involvement in global (G-EUE) and domestic (D-EUE) ecologically unequal exchange from 1987 to 2017. While being a net exporter of energy to all income groups, we show that China is a net exporter of land, labour, and materials to the core, but a net importer of land, labour, and materials from the periphery and the semi-periphery. On the domestic level, we show that the wealthy East Coast zone is the only net importer of embodied energy and TiVA, while all other economic zones are net exporters of embodied energy to the East Coast zone. While China continues to be exploited by the core, it has fuelled its ascent in the world-system by creating its own peripheries from which it extracts natural resources, as well as by creating extractive peripheries within its borders. Our results suggest the need to move beyond a simple core-periphery dichotomy when studying the world ecological system: EUE arises through a multi-tiered hierarchy that depends on uneven biophysical flows between regions both domestically and globally.
... The bilateral cooperation would see Chinese financial capital and other resources conveyed through Chinese firms and banks flocking to Zimbabwe. For instance, between 2000 and 2004, the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) ratified financing deals with Chinese energy firms that supplied ZESA with affordable solar energy facilities (Abegunrin & Manyeruke, 2020). It was envisaged that in a post-2000 Zimbabwe, characterised by political instability, economic decline, infrastructure deterioration, rising unemployment and poverty, and hyperinflation; the Chinese companies would actualise infrastructure projects financed by China's loans and credit facilities and invest in critical sectors of Zimbabwe's economy (Abegunrin & Manyeruke, 2020). ...
... For instance, between 2000 and 2004, the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) ratified financing deals with Chinese energy firms that supplied ZESA with affordable solar energy facilities (Abegunrin & Manyeruke, 2020). It was envisaged that in a post-2000 Zimbabwe, characterised by political instability, economic decline, infrastructure deterioration, rising unemployment and poverty, and hyperinflation; the Chinese companies would actualise infrastructure projects financed by China's loans and credit facilities and invest in critical sectors of Zimbabwe's economy (Abegunrin & Manyeruke, 2020). With Zimbabwe experiencing sanctions-inflicted hostility from its traditional Western European trading and financing partners (e.g. the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the United States) due to the 2000 Land Reform Programme, renewed China-Zimbabwe relations became the only viable alternative that would help rescue the ailing economy (Dendere, 2022;Musanga, 2022). ...
The quest for economic development in Africa's emerging economies like Zimbabwe is an uphill undertaking that necessitates multi-stakeholder contribution. Since 2000, China and Chinese firms have played a considerable role in contributing to the Zimbabwean economy and community well-being through CSR programmes. However, in the absence of a CSR regulatory framework, it is not clear whether Zimbabwe harnesses the full social-economic potential of CSR arrangements. Existing research on CSR in the country provides sketchy evidence and mainly from a foreign perspective. This paper analyses Chinese corporations’ engagement in promoting the socio-economic progress of communities in a non-mandatory CSR environment and presents a case for a regulatory framework in Zimbabwe. It applies interpretivism to desk review evidence from sources published between 2017 and 2022 and reveals that, despite voluntary CSR arrangements, Chinese firms have contributed to the socio-economic well-being of communities by investing in some development projects. This notwithstanding, a voluntary CSR engagement has provided a leeway for Chinese firms to neglect environmental concerns, violate employee labour rights, and threaten community displacement, especially in mineral-rich areas. The paper concludes that Zimbabwe’s economic hardships push the country to prioritise economic over social and environmental concerns of communities in fear of losing the scarcely available Foreign Direct Investment. However, mandatory CSR arrangements provide mutual benefits to both Zimbabwe and China, thus an opportunity to legislate CSR without jeopardising Sino-Zimbabwe's economic and political relations.
... Literature is also emerging to explain how the media is implicated in China's growing involvement on the African continent (Abegunrin and Manyeruke 2020;Alden 2007;Brautigam 2011;Gagliardone 2019;Umejei 2020). For instance, Alden (2007, 7) examines African media representations of China and concludes that there are three portrayals of China for Africa: as a development partner, as a competitor, and as a hegemonic power. ...
... For instance, Alden (2007, 7) examines African media representations of China and concludes that there are three portrayals of China for Africa: as a development partner, as a competitor, and as a hegemonic power. Others, such as Abegunrin and Manyeruke (2020) analyse the dynamics of the escalating Chinese investments in African economies and the political implications of the growing Chinese presence in Africa. Xin's (2009) study of Xinhua News's intervention in Southern Africa sheds some light on the question of whether the Party-state has an influence ideologically on local politics. ...
China is part of a group of countries rapidly projecting their geopolitical power in an expanded engagement with Africa. The extent to which this is imperialism is debatable among Africans, with some arguing that China is actually Africa's best ally when it comes to trade and development. Using Zimbabwe as a case study of local responses to China's expansionist geopolitics, the article contributes to debates on international development based new forms of imperialism and dependency perpetrated by rising economic powers in the Global South. The article innovatively analyses China's rapidly rising media and soft power in Africa as evidence of a new scramble for the continent and South-South imperialism. This is done in terms of what the Cameroonian anthropologist Francis Nyamnjoh regards as “eating and being eaten”, a form of dog-eat-dog “cannibalism” at the heart of global capitalism that has been evident in past enslavement, extractive colonialism and in today's exploitative neoliberal economic arrangements. The findings from the current Zimbabwean study build on the author's previous research on the media coverage of China in Zimbabwe that showed how for smaller and less powerful states, when dealing with China, there are mixed and complex responses within the emerging Sino-African relations. Using research from 2011–2020, including interviews and findings from the media, the Sino-Zimbabwean relations illustrate acceptance, resistance and negotiation as pragmatic strategies, in an attempt to “eat” whilst trying not be “eaten”. The current study contributes to work on media and geopolitical relations from the theoretical lens of new imperialism and dependency.
... In short, scholars founded the benefits of trilateral development cooperation, but hidden west position (Eurocentrism) may bring cultural misreading and high levels of anxiety tendency of china's international aid in Africa. Abegunrin & Manyeruke still concluded that the behaviour of unconditional help to Africa had threaten the development of democracy, transparency, liberalism and free trade [16]. Uncertainty, China's political influence and security presence in Africa were to expand, the heightened sense of competition between China and Western countries [16], which similarly shows that scepticism and unease still pervade the EU-China-Africa trilateral development cooperation. ...
... Abegunrin & Manyeruke still concluded that the behaviour of unconditional help to Africa had threaten the development of democracy, transparency, liberalism and free trade [16]. Uncertainty, China's political influence and security presence in Africa were to expand, the heightened sense of competition between China and Western countries [16], which similarly shows that scepticism and unease still pervade the EU-China-Africa trilateral development cooperation. In spite of some insightful EU-China-Africa trilateral development cooperation model studies, it remains hidden western position when it comes to the China's international aid in Africa. ...
... Along this trajectory, China has emerged as the foremost challenger to the US-led Liberal International Order (LIO), actively fostering global connectivity, shaping the global political economy, and disseminating its preferred norms (Owen 2021). This presence is particularly notable in the Global South, including SSA, where China's influence is steadily growing, providing various benefits (Abegunrin and Manyeruke 2020;Large 2021). ...
Beijing’s influence in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is enduring and expanding, even amid the present decrease in China’s loans to the region. Three interconnected elements contribute to Beijing’s escalating significance: 1) A strategic emphasis on centrality through connectivity integrates African nations into the Beijing sphere, solidifying its pivotal role in the regional production network, extending economic and geopolitical reach, and securing vital resources while building political support; 2) Establishing institutional arrangements that are largely accepted by many African governments enhances Beijing’s appeal as an attractive partner; 3) Power asymmetry positions China as a pervasive actor in the African political economy, wielding tools like debt, financial, and trade dependencies, once exclusive to Western powers (Lendzoumbou 2024). These mechanisms synergistically sustain China’s influence in SSA amid the current cascade of crises.
... Notionally, it is a private company, but in reality the vast majority of voting rights are held by a CCPaffiliated trade union (Wen, 2020). It has been implicated in hacking scandals in the African Union and in spying on opposition politicians in Zambia and Uganda, for example (Abegunrin & Manyeruke, 2019). ...
The changing geopolitical landscape in Africa, as influenced by global and regional trends.
... al., 2021;Shinn, 2023. This requires greater transparency in Chinese investments, stronger regulatory frameworks to protect digital rights, and support for independent media outlets and journalists who are committed to upholding journalistic integrity and accountability (Abegunrin, & Manyeruke, 2020;Wekesa, 2021). By addressing these challenges, African countries can ensure that their media landscapes remain diverse, vibrant, and resilient in the face of external pressures and influence. ...
This study explores China's influence on Zambian media, revealing a paradoxical decline in coverage despite increased Chinese investment. Analyzing data from 2012 to 2022 across media sectors, we note a rise until 2017 followed by a decline, notably in government and private outlets. Surprisingly, community and religious media maintain consistency. Additionally, negative story coverage decreases across all sectors, with government and private media reporting none. Amidst this, social media exposes labor abuses in Chinese-owned companies. The absence of critical reporting raises concerns about misinformation. The study prompts questions about media engagement with grassroots issues amidst Chinese influence.
... The Chinese presence on the African continent, found in initiatives such as FOCAC, in technical cooperation, increased trade, and high investments, is indeed part of a process marked by the greater insertion of emerging powers in Africa (Carmody 2011;Abegunrin and Manyeruke 2020). A reflection of this process can be found in the Indian case, whose initiatives are related not only to trade, but also to cooperation in areas such as education, technology, and food security. ...
... Research on Sino-African development cooperation which focuses more on the role of the state's norms is yet to be explored. For example, some of them discussed political roles played or discoursed by Chinese or African counterparts (Chanaka, 2022;Elnor, 2022;Serem, 2022;Elbadri, 2022;Wang & Elliot, 2014), while others explicate each counterpart's agency/capacity to conduct and institutionalise their pertinent policies/practices (Huang J., 2018;Iyabo, 2018;Abegunrin & Manyeruke, 2020;Huang, Xu, & Mao, 2019;Alden & Hughes, 2009). Other studies situated Sino-African development cooperation in the African regionalism context, showing a trend of China's multilateral approach to development cooperation with the continent (Gazibo & Mbabia, 2012;Shelton, 2016;Wu, 2020). ...
This article discusses China's foreign policy toward African countries by examining Sino-Tanzanian South-South Cooperation (SSC). By utilising a modified, state-centric social constructivism, this study identifies domestic and international realms of China's normative structure responsible for shaping China's identities within the international community. It also explains how China can reconcile its competing identities between a Global South and rising great power statuses, which gives China the ability to combine its normative interest (i.e., Global South solidarity) and material interest (i.e., the geopolitical-geoeconomic strategy) into a diverse project of SSC with positive and proactive perception from Tanzania. This study contributes toward the theorisation of China's SSC, China's geopolitics-geoeconomy, and China's foreign policy toward Africa at once. This study has shown that social constructivism can explain a reconciliation between a state's normative obligation and material desire within the international community.
... The Chinese presence on the African continent, found in initiatives such as FOCAC, in technical cooperation, increased trade, and high investments, is indeed part of a process marked by the greater insertion of emerging powers in Africa (Carmody 2011;Abegunrin and Manyeruke 2020). A reflection of this process can be found in the Indian case, whose initiatives are related not only to trade, but also to cooperation in areas such as education, technology, and food security. ...
The present work discusses the evolution of the development and international insertion strategies adopted by nations in the African continent since the mid-20th century, period during which they began to achieve formal independence. In this context, supported by a literature review and official documents issued by African international organisations, the aim of this analysis is to understand the meaning and the importance of Agenda 2063 for this issue. Based on this analysis, the article proposes to demonstrate that such an agenda represents the inauguration of a new development and international insertion strategy in the continent, a hybrid one, that reconciles elements of two of the previously adopted approaches: the strategies of contestation and of mutual and shared responsibility.
... Doğal kaynak zengini Afrika ülkeleri, hammadde konusunda tamamen dışa bağımlı bir hale gelen Çin'in odağına yerleşti ve özellikle petrol ve değerli maden zengini kıta ülkelerine hacimli krediler verildi. Krediler karşılığında mega altyapı yatırımları yapan Çin, kısa sürede tarihsel olarak kıtada ekonomik üstünlüğü olan ABD ve diğer Batılı ülkelerin yerine geçerek, Afrika ülkelerinin ilk sıradaki ticari partneri oldu (Abegunrin & Manyeruke, 2019). Afrika'ya muazzam miktarlarda kredi sağlayan Çin, içişlerine karışmama ilkesi doğrultusunda kredilere politik koşullar iliştirmiyordu (Po & Sims, 2022). ...
Bu makalede, Çin'in 1955'ten itibaren Afrika'da uyguladığı askeri ve güvenlik politikalarının içişlerine karışmama ilkesi bağlamında nasıl bir dönüşüm geçirdiği incelenmektedir. 2013'te Xi Jinping'in Çin Devlet Başkanı olmasıyla birlikte, bu ilkenin tamamen terk edildiği yeni bir savunma ve güvenlik anlayışı benimsenmiştir. Elinizdeki çalışmada, 1955'ten günümü-ze kadarki süreçte, Çin'in Afrika'da benimsediği askeri ve güvenlik politikalarında içişlerine müdahale etmeme ilkesinin uygulanmasında radikal bir kopuş veya dönüşüm gerçekleşmediği öne sürülmektedir. İçişlerine müdahale etmeme ilkesi, Çin dış politikasındaki en önemli dip-lomatik araçlardan biri olarak kullanılmasına rağmen, uygulamada hiçbir zaman öncelik taşımamıştır. Dolayısıyla, Çin'in Afrika'daki savunma ve güvenlik anlayışı idealist bir biçim-de tanımlanmasına karşın, tamamen pragmatik bir biçimde belirlenmektedir. Bu makale, Çin'in askeri politikalarındaki pragmatik yaklaşımı göstermek üzere, 1955'ten bugüne kadar, bu ilkenin hangi amaçlarla kullanıldığını ve uygulamaya yansıyan farklılıkları ele almakta-dır. Son olarak da, Xi liderliğinde daha hırslı küresel siyasi hedeflerle ortaya konan Yeni İpek Yolu Projesi ve Çin Rüyası vizyonu doğrultusunda Afrika'ya yönelik yeni savunma anlayışı incelenmektedir. Bu bağlamda, 2013'ten itibaren ikili askeri diplomasi ve Çin donanmasının Afrika kıyılarında artan varlığı, askeri üs kurulması, BM operasyonlarına yönelik değişen yaklaşım ve son olarak Afrika bölgesel örgütlerinin askeri kapasite oluşturmalarına destek verilmesi gibi politikalar ele alınmaktadır.
... The interaction and friendship between the Ethiopian and Chinese people can be traced back to ancient times from about 100 B.C., when the Han dynasty of China and the Axumite Empire of Ethiopia had trade exchanges [1]. However, the relationship between China & Africa started on the parts of the Red Sea borders of the continent around the first Millennium A.D. and both are very aware of their ancient civilizations and their long histories [2]. ...
The aim of this study is to examine the influence of Ethiopia and China's socioeconomic relations. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative approaches to analysis. The integrated research approach allows the situations to be analyzed and understood by combining both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The study used fifteen years (2004-2019) data for all the necessary analysis and interpretations. Based on secondary details, the analysis was carried out. Secondary data sources taken from various books, journals, research journals and official documents analytically used for a general overview of the consequences of Ethio-China socioeconomic relations. This study investigated the effects of the socioeconomic relationship between Ethiopia and China by taking into account dependent variable effective socioeconomic relationship and independent variables social, economic, cultural and political relations. Comprehensive economic, social, political and cultural cooperation is established by this partnership. Among these relations, economic cooperation, which essentially relies on mutual advantages, is the dominant one. The two countries have close political connections, in addition to economic links. Ethiopia has high values for Chinese cooperation and Chinese investment, which are politically free and without hegemonic preconditions, because of good political stability, innovative leadership, and very good strategy, rich in natural and human resources and strategic geographical position.
... The relationship between China and Africa on the continent's parts of the Red Sea borders during the first millennium A.D. was very ancient [1]. Ethiopia and China thus began socio-economic ties around 100 B.C, dating back to China's Han dynasty and Ethiopia's Aksumite Empire [2]. When they opened embassies in their respective capitals beginning in 1972, the two countries established official relations. ...
The objective of this study is to analyze the cultural challenges and opportunities presented by corporate investment from Ethio-China for China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The study employed both a descriptive and an explanatory approach to science. The data is collected from secondary data sources. By using both qualitative and quantitative statistical indicators, the interpretation of the research assisted the consideration of significant variables. This study analyzes the patterns and variables of Ethio-China corporate investment over the last two decades, starting from 1992 to 2019. The study used six predictor variables to what degree the dependent variable affects productive corporate investment in the Belt and road initiative. Trade rate, foreign direct investments, infrastructure, socio-cultural cooperation, business culture, and cultural barriers are the indicator variables. The study's review and finding results therefore indicate that China's corporate investment in the Belt and Road Initiative has a positive and important effect on the economy of Ethiopia in growing trade volume, expanding foreign direct investment, investing in infrastructure, socio-cultural cooperation, and cultural business. In addition, Corporate investment in the Ethio-China Belt and Road Initiative is affected by severe difficulties due to lack of energy, investment option disparities, differences in working habits, cultural attitudes, cultural tensions and language barriers, and political uncertainty. For these reasons, Ethiopia does not take advantage of the opportunities to optimize anticipated results from corporate investment in China's Belt and Road Initiative. Chinese companies and investors, however, are productive and play a significant role in Ethiopia's overall economic development and technology transfer. As the analysis and results of the study indicate that bilateral relations has improved by both Ethiopia and China. Nevertheless, China's strong commitment to Ethiopia depends on the economic front, though bilateral ties are imbalanced by low exports and high gaps in imports. Therefore, the prevailing Ethio-China relations, inspired prominently by economic factors rather than political dynamics, are beneficial to the overall influence of China on Ethiopia.
... That is, some of the financiers have been using their financial capabilities to win trade or investment opportunities in exchange for their support of availing monies to vulnerable economies to achieve their infrastructural investment goals. A practical scenario is the case of EXIM Bank of China that is accused of influencing trade in favour of its owner country where those seeking its financing are required to allow the construction of different infrastructure by Chinese contractors (Abegunrin & Manyeruke, 2019). On the same thread, the EXIM Bank of China requires countries in need of monies to attach one or more of its critical public assets as collateral for loans. ...
Countries that pollute mostly are seen as economically more resilient than those that pollute less, and which are also more economically vulnerable and less apt to invest in climate change mitigation programmes. Faced by the impacts of climate change, this lack of financial capacity from less economically resilient countries poses a threat to their urban liveability levels just as much as their urban infrastructures. Due to this, cities turn to international organizations and signed accords to call for global consensus on addressing the climate change phenomenon. This chapter therefore dwells into the various calls from developing countries to address climate change globally, exploring the possible financing pathways and the relationships between climate change mitigation and urban liveability.
... That is, some of the financiers have been using their financial capabilities to win trade or investment opportunities in exchange for their support of availing monies to vulnerable economies to achieve their infrastructural investment goals. A practical scenario is the case of EXIM Bank of China that is accused of influencing trade in favour of its owner country where those seeking its financing are required to allow the construction of different infrastructure by Chinese contractors (Abegunrin & Manyeruke, 2019). On the same thread, the EXIM Bank of China requires countries in need of monies to attach one or more of its critical public assets as collateral for loans. ...
This book explores climate change responsiveness policies for cities and discusses why they have been slow to gain traction despite having been on the international agenda for the last 30 years. The contributing role of cities in accentuating the effects of climate change is increasingly demonstrated in the literature, underscoring the unsustainable models on which urban life has been made to thrive. As these issues become increasingly apparent, there are global calls to adopt more sustainable and equitable models, however doing so will mean the disruption of economies that have historically relied upon pollution-generating industries. In order to address these issues the authors examine them from a cross-disciplinary perspective, bringing in regional, local and urban standpoints to subsequently propose an alternative short-term economic model that could accelerate the adoption of climate change mitigation infrastructures and urban sustainability in urban areas. This book will be of particular value to scholars and students alike in the field of urbanism, sustainability and resilience, as well as practitioners looking at avenues for economically incentivizing sustainable development in various geographical context.
How does Chinese Development Finance influence perceptions of policy space across Sub‐Saharan Africa? This paper employs Grabel's concept of ‘productive incoherence’ to both describe the ‘new development finance landscape’ and to explore its implications for recipient‐country policy space. Drawing on an exploratory survey of elite perceptions and three country case studies (Ethiopia, Malawi and Mozambique), we find that Chinese Development Finance contributes to incremental and context‐specific enhancements in policy space, rather than transformative or wholesale change. Moreover, we contend that the extent of policy space is determined more‐so by the internal dynamics, historical legacies and structural position of recipient countries within the global political economy, and the interplay between these elements, than by changes in the external financing environment.
The rapid emergence of China on the international scene reflects the country's burgeoning economy. Despite the EU's status as the world's leading development donor, Beijing's strengthening ties with Africa have begun to overshadow Europe's influence. The success of Chinese investments and the favorable response from African nations have led to a loss of credibility in Europe's Africa policy. The focus of this chapter is an examination of EU and Chinese development policies in Africa. After decades of European dominance, China has entered the fray. As the world's most populous developing nation, China has pursued a cooperative approach that aims to be mutually beneficial and non-discriminatory. African leaders appear to welcome China's approach, characterized by a lack of conditions and demands, and the offering of economic and commercial prospects. Observations have evidenced this receptivity. This chapter seeks to compare and contrast the strategies and conditionalities of the Chinese and European Union models in Africa.
This chapter delves into China's strategic Digital Silk Road initiative and its impact on Africa's digital transformation. It looks at the impact that Chinese IT giants have had on the African digital environment and how the continent may learn from China's experience. This chapter acts as a guide through the opportunities and problems presented by topics such as data security and digital sovereignty. In-depth case studies of China's digital projects in Africa show the scope and potential of these efforts. Its goal is to help African stakeholders reap the most benefits from and limit any negative consequences of this relationship, so fostering long-term, equitable progress in the digital sphere for all.
China has shifted its strategy towards engaging with Europe in Africa from passive engagement to active encouragement. As China has been promoting third-party market cooperation as a new model of cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, Europe is considered a major partner, especially in African markets. This article examines how Chinese policy thinkers and businesses perceive third-party market cooperation with Europe in Africa. Through firsthand interviews, the authors find a high consensus on the Chinese side regarding the necessity of third-party market cooperation with Europe in Africa. This model is also considered a “Europe-friendly” approach to invite European governments’ participation in the Belt and Road Initiative, and an attractive proposal to European firms looking for access to more financing. Though Chinese companies see working with European companies in the African market as a normal business practice, most have been passive collaborators rather than active engagers. Drawing from secondary resources, we also briefly compare European and African views.
The Horn of Africa region has a special importance in the policies of the major powers that seek to achieve their interests, due to the strategic elements that this region enjoys, whether in relation to its strategic location or the resources and wealth that exist in it. This feature doubled the size of the temptations that attracted the attention of most of the superpowers and made it a fertile field for the exercise of all kinds of influence. The weakness factors that the region suffers from, such as internal conflicts, the spread of corruption, poverty, and the absence of a national identity, allowed for effective external interference in its internal affairs.
One of the major obstacles that disqualifies the relationship between economic growth in Africa and economic development is the fact that, the continent still faces problems of lack of infrastructure, institutional capacity, equitable distribution of income that contribute to social well-being, economic and cultural aspects of its citizens. Such Infrastructures are a strategic factor in promoting the combined development of various sectors of activity of African governments. However, as a way to achieve them at all costs, policies and strategies are designed by African governments to attract investments such as guarantee of technology transfer, technique, employment increase, financing with relatively low interest, and competitive from all African partners. China has recently been an unavoidable partner of Africa, projecting in its business plan, and project “One belt one route,” the connection of several African countries by land, sea, and railway, as a way to achieve easier access of natural resources in scarcity in the Chinese market. Recent evidence shows a continuous Sino-Africa cooperation, in the sense of exchanging African resources for infrastructure construction or Chinese capital for infrastructure in Africa. This model had its tangible and popular impact known as the Angolan model. It is a feasible model for the continent due to its weak ability to return invested capital. However, Africa can lose out in this type of model if the negotiation with China is done individually and not jointly. A vision that would be fatal for the mainland and continually profitable for China.KeywordsInfrastructureNatural resourcesDevelopmentChinaAfrica
This article does not underestimate the development impact of China's Belt and Road Initiative in terms of transportation infrastructures in Africa, nor ignores the potential development role of Japan's Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) Initiative here assessed. The problem is that although both countries initiatives facilitate Africa's defragmentation through greater connectivity via the development of infrastructures if their connectivity is not adequately addressed, disruptive development effects may arise for the countries involved. It is argued that development cooperation through mixed hard-to-soft infrastructures leads to greater defragmentation, hence contributing toward deeper regional integration. Theoretically, it draws on the concept of defragmentation and the new regionalism approach as it best highlights the relationship between globalization and regionalization connectivity approaches. Qualitative analysis is used to compare the gaps between hard and soft aspects of representative infrastructure projects of China and Japan in East Africa. Eventually, better connectivity should result in better trade relations between both sides. It finds that though Japan has a better hard-to-soft approach than China, the latter has better regional connectivity in East Africa than Japan. Finally, both donors showed a similar asymmetric aid and trade pattern with East Africa with a disadvantage to the African side.
China–Africa relations have been a topic of huge interest in international relations, as well as the subject of wide scepticism and criticism. Drummond and Liu (2013) observe that more than half of sub-Saharan African countries have a trade deficit with China and that China remains a dominant actor in China–Africa relations. However, is this so? Are African states mere spectators in China–Africa relations or do they also have a strategy to gain something from the engagement? This study examines the role that African agency plays in Sino-African relations under the FOCAC framework. It highlights the main features of Sino-African relations and specifically assesses why China is important to African states. It examines FOCAC objectives for Africa, FOCAC conferences, the decisions adopted and their impact on Sino-African relations. The paper offers recommendations that will allow African states to better leverage their relations with China.
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a massive Chinese state/capitalist programme of transnational infrastructure construction initiated in 2013. Between 2013 and 2016, Chinese banks extended hundreds of billions of dollars-principally across Asia, but also Europe and Africa-for transportation and energy networks. Recently released statistics, however, suggest that project lending for the BRI collapsed from 2016 onwards. Our paper examines the reasons for this contraction through a case-study of the BRI in Africa. We contend that the lending contraction resulted from political and economic contradictions generated by this form of international interconnection, including the types of debt traps it helped create. This outcome is explained partly by the fact that the BRI is simultaneously a geopolitical and geoeconomic project. Whereas the balance of economic risks is arguably skewed against borrowers (in some cases leading to debt traps), from a geo-political perspective, the Chinese state also seeks to expand influence in Africa and elsewhere in the developing world. This creates counter pressure on further expansion of such financing, which, complemented by domestic economic implications of loan failure, helps to explain the contraction.
The article touches upon India’s policy towards Africa. Since the Roman era Africa has al-ways caught the attention of developed countries, as the continent was an enormous field for exploring, a complete terra incognita. Later a new wave of interest came as Africa possessed abundant resources and had connections to commercial maritime routes: the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean. Today India does its best not only to be-come a trusted trade and political partner for African states, but also to win their sympathies. For example, Indian leaders never tire of reminding that India — just like Africa — fought against colonialism, thereby opposing itself to the former colonial empires and emphasiz-ing its common historical and cultural background with Africa. The author reviews Indian foreign policy, diaspora influence, and Indian military presence on the continent. Meanwhile some countries, for example the U.S. or Japan, remain wary of Chinese wide-spreading influ-ence, especially in Africa, where a new Chinese military base was recently built. In that regard new alliances are forming, the balance of power is shifting. A comparative analysis of Indian, Chinese, and U.S. policy towards Africa was carried out, considering the prospects of interna-tional relations between Africa and its key partners.
The present study identifies investment in Africa’s cultural and creative industries (CCIs) as one of the strategic moves in the right direction for achieving sustainable development across the African continent. Cultural and creative industries (CCIs) offer an alternative approach to development through their wealth creation potential, socioeconomic development, employment opportunities, and promotion of cultural diversity. Nevertheless, CCIs are yet to feature categorically as a development strategy, owing to their many challenges, as indicated by the study. The study submits that partnerships under the Belt and Road Initiatives (BRI) could offer an alternative source of mobilizing support for CCIs, as the BRI is a development framework with robust financing, infrastructure, and human resources development. However, it will require the pragmatic support of policymakers to leverage BRI and boost the expansion of CCIs in Africa.
Afrika yüzyıllardır Büyük Güç rekabeti açısından önemli bir bölge olmuştur. Kıta bu özelliğini 21. yüzyılda da korumaktadır. Çin’in son dönemde Afrika’da artan etkisi kıtada Washington-Pekin rekabetinin yaşanmaya başlanmasına neden olmuştur. Çin ile ABD arasında son yıllarda artarak devam eden Afrika’daki rekabet bu iki Büyük Gücün küresel rekabetinin seyrinde de önemli bir rol oynamaktadır. Ayrıca Afrika’nın sahip olduğu potansiyel dikkate alındığında kıtadaki bu rekabetin seyrinin küresel mücadeleye etkisinin gelecekte daha büyük olacağını söylemek mümkündür. Bu sebeple bu çalışmada iki ülke arasında Afrika’da gerçekleşen rekabetin analiz edilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Bu doğrultuda çalışmada Çin’in 21. yüzyılda Afrika’da gelişen nüfuzu ve ABD’nin buna yönelik politikaları incelenmektedir. Pekin’in Afrika’da artan nüfuzu çok büyük oranda kıta ile kurmuş olduğu ekonomik ilişkilere dayanmaktadır. Hızla büyüyen ticaret hacmi, artan yatırımlar, yardımlar ve borçlar Çin’i kıtadaki en etkili aktörlerden birine dönüştürmüştür. Bununla birlikte Pekin’in son yıllarda Afrika ile güvenlik ilişkilerini geliştirmeye ve kıtadaki askeri varlığını artırmaya yönelik attığı adımların rekabetin seyrinde önemli etkisi olmuştur. Bu doğrultuda Pekin’in Afrika’daki nüfuzu özellikle Obama döneminden itibaren Amerikan çıkarlarına ciddi bir tehdit olarak değerlendirilmeye başlanmıştır. Ancak ABD tarafından Çin’in Afrika’daki varlığına yönelik şikâyetler büyük oranda söylem düzeyinde kalmış ve bu sebeple ciddi sonuçlar elde edilememiştir.
Africa has become a major arena in the so-called "multiplex world." The growing presence of China and other emerging countries on the continent in the last two decades has turned Africa into an area in which there are a large number of different patterns of interaction between state and non-state actors. International debates are polarised over whether these new South-South dynamics generate new dependency relations or whether they provide genuine opportunities for transformation. This article focuses on China's role in the ongoing processes of economic integration in Africa. Far from merely reproducing a neoliberal pattern, this interaction may highlight a certain convergence between the African regional integration projects and China's desire to promote structural transformation strategies, with investment in infrastructure being an example. However, the article concludes that rather than reinforcing African regional integration, this essentially bilateral and highly pragmatic Chinese strategy may have some indirect returns on regional integration but is actually showing some signs of decline.
This book explores China’s and Japan’s currency wars with its trading partners in four Western newsmagazines: Time, The Economist, L’Express, and Der Spiegel. By using critical discourse analysis to examine the Western representation between China and Japan, the similarities and differences in their coverage have been revealed as even more striking, with regards to global politics and the international economy. The findings obtained from the empirical research have revealed that China was not only reported more unfavourably than Japan in terms of depth, but also across a broader range of areas spanning economics, politics, and military affairs. It has also emerged that all the four Western newsmagazines tended to centre their coverage on the United States and China in 2010, and the United States and Japan in 1987, although they did not speak in one collective voice with regard to their coverage of China and Japan.
With the advent of technologies within the urban setup, the concept of smart cities is booming, leading to new possibilities for dwelling into efficiency and performance of cities. However, this is fueling the narrative of fast-paced lifestyles, being a factor of increased urban discontent. While the concept of smart cities is set to gain in popularity, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought urban life to a standstill and called for a re-evaluation of urban models and infrastructural priorities, including the principles and key indicators of smart city models. An emerging model from the global urban discourse on post-pandemic cities is that of the “15-minute city,” piloted by the City of Paris, boasting the merits of denser urban setups; hence, increasing proximity between urban components and providing increased attention to pedestrians over than vehicles. This chapter introduces the concept and explores its sustainability dimensions, aligning with the tenets of the Sustainability Development Goal 11 of the United Nations and the New Urban Agenda of UN HABITAT.
This book explores global order changes from a non-traditional perspective, the periphery instead of the centre. It will be shown that Africa although still remaining at the margins of global politics is making an active contribution to world affairs.
This chapter examines in detail China–Africa relations which has been the primary basis for the commodity boom and growth of the past one and half decades, but argues that there is the need to deploy appropriate regional and national strategies to avert the reproduction of subaltern capitalism in the relationship. The chapter further explores the history of the Chinese engagement with Africa which can be divided into three phases: the pre-colonial phase (howbeit, China had no colonial ambition in Africa), the early independence phase and the contemporary post-Cold War phase. China–Africa relations have grown remarkably since the 1990s with the result that over the past decade, China has been Africa’s largest trading partner, displacing historical and traditional allies like the European Union and the US.
This study analytically examines the structure and characteristics of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and African trade networks by applying network analysis techniques through a critical and in‐depth description of the international trade of Eastern African countries as part of the world trade network. Sixty‐four countries' trade flow data between 2000 and 2018 from the International Monetary Fund, was used, and the network indices indicate that the BRI significantly enhances the trade network's connectivity. The empirical results indicate that density, the degree of centralization, and average node intensity are typically growing, and China is in the central position of the network. Furthermore, East African intra‐regional trade tends to be more densely connected under the BRI. This, in effect, demonstrates that the BRI countries have experienced a rise in intra‐regional trade at different levels of economic development. Therefore, this study recommends that policymakers should consider the BRI's critical role in reforming trade policies to build a resilient and sustainable African economy.
This paper broadly examines the continued nuancing of the practice of democracy in Africa with a focus on how Africa's democratic governance is increasingly getting influenced by new actors in the international system, who are driving the formation of a new world order that challenges the current unipolar liberal global order. The paper traces the origins and rationale of the democratization project in Africa and uses this as a basis to delve into some issues around which many African countries have increasingly been engaging with new actors. These broad aspects include: Africa's international relations, peace and security; civil liberties as well as investments and trade. This paper contends that some states in Africa are charting middle grounds that increasingly, specifically align with their national/ elite interests, and broadly, is in tune with the consolidating discourse on Africa Rising.
Em paralelo ao adensamento da projeção internacional da República Popular da China, está em curso um amplo processo de descentralização decisória e proliferação de atores em sua política externa. Em consequência, a miríade de questões com as quais o país precisa lidar no âmbito global tem acelerado a profissionalização da burocracia especializada, bem como demandado expertise no aconselhamento oficial. O presente artigo tem o objetivo de investigar o papel das universidades e institutos de pesquisa diante desse cenário. Para tanto, o trabalho apresenta, de início, uma breve retrospectiva da política externa chinesa contemporânea e uma visão geral a respeito das tendências recentes envolvendo o processo decisório. Em seguida, buscamos desvendar como funcionam os canais de interlocução entre os diversos think tanks chineses e as lideranças responsáveis pela implementação política de facto, norteando a discussão através de uma perspectiva histórica. Esperamos, assim, prestar uma contribuição aos estudos hodiernos sobre a complexificação da atuação internacional da China e as dificuldades de coordenação que daí emergem.
Ethiopia has very close political, military, and economic relations with China, with some arguing Addis Ababa has become a near client state of China’s as a result of its economic needs, China’s trade, foreign direct investment, loan, and infrastructure offerings, and the allure of the Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI). This chapter offers a discussion of the MSRI in Ethiopia, which demonstrates the MSRI has been progressing relatively smoothly, though it faces genuine challenges. It also shows the perspective that Ethiopia is a client state is overly simplistic. Such a view inter alia ignores Ethiopia’s own political and economic reasons for embracing China and the MSRI and focuses excessively on the economic drivers of Ethiopian policy. Of note, Ethiopia’s participation in the MSRI and its broad and depth economic ties with China also have empowered it vis-à-vis other countries and institutions, not exactly the typical feature of a client state.
This chapter serves as a primer on China’s Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI) and the MSRI in Africa as well as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and the introduction to the edited volume. It begins with background on the history, features, and goals of China’s MSRI, noting various contemporary issues surrounding China’s ambitious scheme. It next gives an overview of Africa and MENA countries’ political and economic relations with China from 1949 to the present, partly to supply historical context, but primarily to highlight the diverse international and domestic political and economic forces that have shaped the attitudes and stances of African and MENA states toward China. Subsequently, it examines various aspects of the MSRI in Africa as well as Africa in MENA, detailing the objectives of both China and African and MENA MSRI participants as well as issues associated with the MSRI—e.g., neocolonialism—in these two important regions. It then summarizes some of the key points in the book’s chapters. The final section of the introduction highlights some of the diverse findings of the introduction and the book’s contributions, describes some of the book’s policy and theoretical implications, and suggests some avenues for future research.
This research extends the research into foreign direct investments (FDIs) from emerging economies by integrating locational advantage perspective and institution-based view to empirically analyze the interactive effect of resource endowment in a host economy and how institutional regulations impact on location choice of investors from emerging economies. Our analysis is based on Chinese outward FDI in 36 Asian and Oceanian economies. Empirical findings indicate that resource endowment is contingent upon regulatory institutions from both home and host country settings. Whereas the political risk bears positive influence over FDI and resource endowment, institutional distance and economic freedom have negative impact, which indicates that resource endowment is more appealing to investments from Chinese firms when institutional distance and economic freedom are low and political risk is high.
Every few years in the West – in the media and in political circles – there is a moral panic about the rise of China. Africa often plays a central role in this: as a supposedly predatory China is counterposed against representations of hapless and powerless African victims. As Deborah Bräutigam notes in her paper, this currently takes the form of the meme of ‘debt-trap diplomacy’, which is largely unjustified. However, intensified relations of dependence are being established between China and Africa, and increasing levels of debt are both a vector and an outcome of this, which in some instance may result in a debt trap. The construction of a debt trap implies intentionality, but while this may not be the case, development outcomes may include excessive overseas borrowing.
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