|
The historical ties between China and Africa have grown particularly strong in recent years. China’s rise in fortune has seen it increase its influence on the continent, thanks to massive investments it has made. Most recently it announced a $60 billion financing package for the continent. This has attracted a fair share of misgivings, with sceptics citing it as yet another example of China’s colonisation of Africa. Yu-Shan Wu, Chris Alden and Cobus van Staden argue that the accusations ignore the fact that African leaders do exercise agency in their relationship with China. On the other hand, Juliet Okoth warns that the flourishing relationship between China and Africa is not without problems.
On the economic front, the World Bank says there’s reason to be optimistic: the globe has reached its “lowest poverty rate in recorded history”. But Alf Gunvald Nilsen cautions about taking this at face value, arguing that the global problem of poverty is far more extensive.
Nigeria has no national airline, which is a source of annoyance and embarrassment for many in the country. A new plan was unveiled to change this, then retracted. As Stephen Onyeiwu explains, there are good reasons why it will probably never be realised.
Meanwhile Gráinne Perkins turns her attention to Kenya’s plan to privatise some of its prisons while in South Africa Mike Rogan wonders why so little is known about the country’s
informal economy.
|
Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo and China’s President Xi Jinping at the 2018 summit in Beijing.
EPA-EFE/Andy Wong (Pool)
Yu-Shan Wu, University of the Witwatersrand; Chris Alden, London School of Economics and Political Science; Cobus van Staden, South African Institute of International Affairs
Not enough credit is given to the agency African governments have in their dealings with China.
|
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Chinese President Xi Jinping prior to a bilateral meeting in Beijing, China.
Etienne Oliveau/EPA/Pool
Juliet Okoth, University of Nairobi
Kenya has a legal framework that protects its citizens from racism but there are challenges with its implementation
|
Business + Economy
|
Alf Gunvald Nilsen, University of Agder
The global poverty plot is thicker than what the World Bank would have us believe.
| |
Stephen Onyeiwu, Allegheny College
Many of the structural and institutional deficiencies that caused the collapse of Nigeria Airways are still present.
|
Mike Rogan, Rhodes University
South Africa needs to rethink the role of the informal economy as it mulls over ideas to beat joblessness.
| |
Gráinne Perkins, University of Cape Town
Turning prisons into a market opportunity could open them up to corruption.
|
|
|
