When the East Goes South: China in Africa – a Reassessment

ASIA FORUM with Dr. Henning Melber

Senior Adviser (Director emeritus) at The Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation

Wednesday, March 27, 2013, 10:00-11:30

 

In recent years the Chinese presence in the economic relations and political affairs of African states south of the Sahara has increased drastically. This has given rise to a fair amount of commentary – and to some concern. Opinions are divided. Undeniably, however, the visible expansion of the so-called emerging economies into what were hitherto Western spheres of influence and interaction testifies to the emergence of a new multi-polar global order. China is only the most prominent example of this phenomenon.

 

This lecture reviews the trends and the recent views on the impact of the relations between African countries and the outside world. It seeks to balance the arguments from a perspective that advocates the interests of the majority of people on the continent.

 

Concurrent with the lecture, Dr. Melber’s paper ‘Europe and China in Africa: Common Interests and/or Different Approaches?’ (ISDP Asia Paper, March 2013) will be issued. It can be downloaded from the ISDP website.

 

 

 

Dr. Henning Melber is Senior Adviser (Director emeritus) of The Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation in Uppsala. He was Research Director of The Nordic Africa Institute (2000-2006) and Director of the Namibian Economic Policy Research Unit in Windhoek (1992-2000). He is Extraordinary Professor at the Department of Political Sciences/University of Pretoria and Research Associate with the Centre for Africa Studies at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein.

 

 

 

To attend, RSVP by March 26, 2013 to Mr. Robert Nilsson at rnilsson@isdp.eu