Browsing: china africa relationship

• Africa Rising narrative paints a picture of a continent on the cusp of a major economic and developmental breakthrough.
• This upbeat assessment, however, stands in stark contrast to the realities of many African countries’ political instability, corruption, and threats from autocratic regimes.
• This disharmony between the narrative’s upbeat tone and the facts prompts the question: is there a need for the widespread optimism about Africa’s future, or is it misplaced?

The “Africa Rising” narrative, popularised in recent years, paints a picture of a continent on the cusp of a major economic and developmental breakthrough. This upbeat assessment, however, stands in stark contrast to the realities of many African countries’ political instability, ongoing corruption, and threats from autocratic regimes. The premature or even misplaced optimism of this narrative is called into question by a close analysis of these problems. This discrepancy between the narrative’s upbeat tone and the facts prompts the …

Across the continent to West Africa where we find one of Africa’s largest economies, Nigeria. Here we find another railway deal gone bad, the $500 million Lagos – Ibadan railway.

In a similar manner to Kenya’s SGR debacle with China, which resulted in Kenya sinking heavily into debt that it simply cannot afford to pay and restructure, Nigeria is now finding a similar fate.

According to the country’s Director General for Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO) Patience Oniha, when making a deal with China, ‘…the Chinese determine the cost of projects, give us loans tied to the projects and the projects must be executed by Chinese firms alone.’

It is alleged that not only does China force importation of even the smallest of laborers but also all the equipment and guess where they are imported from? Yes, China.

It is further argued that by so doing, China is using these …