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China in Africa

Unequal partnership

China in Africa

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To counter China’s growing role in Africa the West must first understand it, say Gady Epstein and John McDermott

KAMPALA, UGANDA - DECEMBER 02: Ugandan and Chinese factory workers inside a SIMI mobile phone factory on December 02, 2019 in Namanve, Uganda. Uganda’s first mobile phone electronics factory has been operating in Namanve, near Kampala, since August 2019. Built by SIMI Mobile, a subsidiary of the Chinese firm ENGO Holdings Ltd, the company makes both analogue and smart phones as well as laptops. When the factory reaches full production, estimated 2021, it will produce 2,000 analogue, 1,500 smart phones and 800 laptops a day employing more than 400 staff. The Ugandan government has recently signed an agreement with the Chinese company to promote the making of ICT electronics. The Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni, recently praised Beijing for supporting Uganda’s economic development. (Photo by Luke Dray/Getty Images)

China in Africa

The Chinese-African relationship is important to both sides, but also unbalanced

If the West wants to counter China’s role in Africa it first must understand it

NAIROBI, KENYA - 2022/04/26: Heavy traffic seen during rush hour at the Mlolongo section of the Nairobi Expressway along the Mombasa road. Final touches continue on the construction of the 27.1km long toll highway, the Nairobi Expressway is scheduled to be completed in June 2022. The Nairobi Expressway is meant to decongest Nairobi city. (Photo by Boniface Muthoni/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Debt and infrastructure

Chinese loans and investment in infrastructure have been huge

An era of big loans and big projects is coming to an end. How did it change Africa?

A worker assists customers as they inspect smartphone handsets at a telecoms store at Jagwal Electronics Market in Maiduguri, Nigeria, on Wednesday, May 1, 2019. Nigeria will propose a supplementary budget later this year to boost capital spending and fund a 67 percent increase in the minimum wage as government revenues improve, Budget Minister Udo Udoma said. Photographer: Jean Chung/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Business and trade

How Chinese firms have changed Africa

Chinese companies have made their mark on the African continent, in ways good and bad

Bright Ackwerh

Political links

The price of friendship

China has much to offer African governments, but it also wants much in return

R9731B Beijing, China. 3rd July, 2018. File photo taken on July 3, 2018 shows China's StarTimes employees installing the satellite television device at the Likii village in the central Kenyan county of Laikipia. In past years, China and African nations have deepened mutual assistance in development and made concerted efforts in building a closer China-Africa community with a shared future. Credit: Jin Zheng/Xinhua/Alamy Live News

The media

China, meet Fourth Estate

China is working hard to shape public opinion in Africa, but its more lasting impact could be on the infrastructure of media itself

This photo taken on August 1, 2017 shows Chinese People's Liberation Army personnel attending the opening ceremony of China's new military base in Djibouti. China has deployed troops to its first overseas naval base in Djibouti, a major step forward for the country's expansion of its military presence abroad. / AFP PHOTO / STR / China OUT (Photo credit should read STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Defence co-operation

Ace of bases

China is on a path to becoming a global military power; that path goes through Africa

A Kenyan worker puts gravel at the construction site of Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) during the Presidential Inspection of the SGR Nairobi-Naivasha Phase 2A project in Nairobi, Kenya, on June 23, 2018. - The SGR phase 2A project is an 120km extensiton of the Monbasa-Nairobi SGR project (Phase 1) with the longest railway bridge in the country, 5.8km Super Major Bridge, constructed across Nairobi National Park. (Photo by Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP) (Photo credit should read YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images)

The future

Countering China in Africa

The West must try harder to offer African countries alternatives to China

China in Africa

Sources and acknowledgments

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Too much to do

Central banks

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Central banks are under attack for failing to stop inflation. That partly reflects being given too many other jobs to do, argues Rachana Shanbhogue

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