The nature of China’s role in development of Africa: the case of Zambia and Zimbabwe

• Main Author: Hogwe, Fortune
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: University of Fort Hare 2013
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1015048

China’s economic involvement in Africa has increased rapidly over the past decade. China’s involvement in Africa has become one of the controversial topics in the development literature. The background of the study is that Sino-African relations can be grouped into two phases thus: past relations and contemporary relations. The study notes that past relations are different from contemporary relations because while the former are mainly characterised by solidarity, the latter are mainly categorized by economic relations. The study is a historical narrative of China’s economic involvement and the impact in Africa over the past decade. The study draws its arguments from the myths which label Chinese resurgence into Africa as neo-colonialism and that China’s reinvigorated interest in Africa is entirely based upon its own economic pursuits since it has developed into an economic powerhouse over the past decade. Additionally, it has been reported that China disregard good governance in Africa by engaging African governments which are corrupt and which possess poor track human rights. In order to determine if China is pushed into Africa by its economic pursuits and whether China disregards good governance, the study uses two case studies thus: Zimbabwe and Zambia. Zimbabwe one the one hand represents a pariah state, which is viewed as corrupt and a nation which has a poor record of human rights while Zambia, on the other hand represents illiberal regimes and democratic regimes with commodity based economies. The research discovered that China’s economic involvement in Africa presents both opportunities and challenges for African countries. In some instances, China has aided GDP growth in some African countries while in some instances, it has increased unemployment. In conclusion, the study also discovered that China does not involve itself in African domestic affairs hence it has been criticised for encouraging corruption and abusing of human rights.However, the study notes that these issues are mainly domestic hence Africans are entirely to be blamed for such practices, not China.