Competing Hegemons? Chinese versus American Geo-Economic Strategies in Africa

For the first time since the era of the slave trade, African trade is re-orienting from the “Global North” to the “Global East.” Chinese investment and trade with Africa is rising quickly. At the same time, the U.S has increased its strategic engagement with Africa very significantly since the terrorist attacks of 2001. As a consequence of this, the continent has moved centre stage in global oil and security politics. This paper investigates the nature of Chinese and American investment and trade in Africa; the ways in which these governments view the continent, and explores the economic and political impacts of enhanced geoeconomic competition between the West and the East there. It finds that current trends are reworking the colonial trade structure, strengthening authoritarian states, and fuelling conflict. However, there are also progressive dimensions to the current conjuncture which could be built on with more robust international coordination and actio

Trumping Development: Selective Delinking and Coercive Governmentality in US–Africa Relations

Globalization is one of the most important socioeconomic processes of recent decades, but it has elicited a reactionary backlash in some countries, leading to calls for reform. President Trump\u27s rise to power in the United States and his determination to rewrite his country\u27s involvement in globalization have brought substantial changes to foreign policy, including the US–Africa relationship. His administration\u27s policies appear undeveloped, but we can determine distinct trends and tendencies. This article examines the effects of these policies on Africa to argue that they go beyond a return to the benign neglect shown by many US presidents before the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, to include a malign governmental gaze, exemplifying a retreat from US global hegemony through selective delinking in aid, and manifesting economic and security interests in Africa in particularly detrimental ways

Competing Hegemons? Chinese versus American Geo-Economic Strategies in Africa

For the first time since the era of the slave trade, African trade is re-orienting from the “Global North” to the “Global East.” Chinese investment and trade with Africa is rising quickly. At the same time, the U.S has increased its strategic engagement with Africa very significantly since the terrorist attacks of 2001. As a consequence of this, the continent has moved centre stage in global oil and security politics. This paper investigates the nature of Chinese and American investment and trade in Africa; the ways in which these governments view the continent, and explores the economic and political impacts of enhanced geoeconomic competition between the West and the East there. It finds that current trends are reworking the colonial trade structure, strengthening authoritarian states, and fuelling conflict. However, there are also progressive dimensions to the current conjuncture which could be built on with more robust international coordination and actionThis manuscript is an article from Political Geography 26(5)2007: 504-524. doi: 10.1016/j.polgeo.2007.03.005. posted with permission.</p

Meta-trends in Global Value Chains and Development: Interacting Impacts with COVID-19 in Africa

How will the COVID-19 pandemic affect prospects for foreign investment and development in Africa? In part this depends on its interaction with pre-existing meta-trends in the global economy, such as the rise of China and the coming Fourth Industrial Revolution. It will also depend on the nature of revisions to political settlements in African countries arising from the pandemic. This paper explores these issues through an examination of the direct and indirect economic impacts of the pandemic and their likely interaction with continuing meta-trends in the global economy. In particular it argues that while there may still be an important role for foreign investment in African development, the crisis also creates opportunities for more domestically-focussed investment and production