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Articles on China in Africa

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The reality of Chinese investment in African agriculture has yet to catch up with the hype. Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko

Chinese engagement in African agriculture is not what it seems

Agriculture featured prominently at the 2015 Forum on China-Africa Co-operation, but the reality has yet to catch up to the hype about China’s involvement in African agriculture.
The Chinese and South African governments, led by presidents Xi Jingping and Jacob Zuma, cement ties during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Reuters/Wang Zhao/Pool

South Africa and China: behind the smoke and mirrors

When it comes to the global political economy, no one “talks left and walks right” more than China, a dominant player in global capitalism. South African and Chinese aspirations have much in common.
An example of the restoration of a degraded mountain slope in China. The country has numerous initiatives underway to battle climate change. Anthony Mills

What Africa can learn from China about climate change adaptation

China has many climate issues, but the steps the country is taking to combat these issues is being recognised worldwide.
A maturing relationship. Chinese President Xi Jinping at the opening of the China-Africa summit in Johannesburg. EPA/Elmond Jiyane

China and Africa: there’s strategy but the search for substance goes on

For the grand plans unveiled at the China-Africa summit to succeed, Africa will have to cooperate more extensively. The larger and more successful nations need to become sub-regional leaders.
Shanghai demonstrates how good planning can help Africa to develop successful special economic zones. Shutterstock

What Africa can learn from China’s special economic zones

China’s experience indicates that special economic zones can help countries in Africa attract foreign investors, diversify their economies and promote manufacturing.
Confucius Institutes offer China a chance to teach people around the world about the country’s language and culture. Shutterstock

China’s Confucius Institutes aren’t perfect but have much to offer Africa

China’s Confucius Institutes given foreigners a chance to learn more about the country. Africa must be careful that its universities’ partnerships with Confucius Institutes don’t create dependency.
The Nairobi-Thika highway is being built by China Wuyi, Sinohydro and Shengeli Engineering Construction, and is funded by Kenya, China and the African Development Bank. Reuters/Thomas Mukoya

Chinese investment: why the buck stops with African governments

China offers an alternative to traditional donors and investors in low- and middle-income countries. Adding to its appeal is its focus on infrastructure projects.
Graduation at Fudan University in Shanghai. Education is an important instrument in building China’s global status. Reuters/Aly Song

How China’s education strategy fits into its quest for global influence

In China, education is more than a means to deliver high skilled labour. The country has constructed its education policy to demonstrate its ambition to become a global power.
China’s choice of South Africa to host the China-Africa summit underscores the special relationship between the two countries. Reuters/Petar Kujundzic

China-Africa summit: what to look for beyond the hype and hypocrisy

The Africa-China summit will provide an opportunity to get a feel for how Chinese President Xi Jinping is responding to democratic developments in Africa.
Gabriel Kenny, aged five, gets to grips with Mandarin characters as part of a US school program. Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

Teaching Mandarin in schools is another slap in the face for African languages

There is a new potential coloniser on South Africa’s linguistic block. From 2016, Mandarin will be taught in schools – and this will see African languages bumped even further down the pecking order.
Farmers beat the stalks of sweet wormwood trees to extract the leaves during harvesting in rural China, The plant contains artemisinin, the drug which won the 2015 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. epa/Michael Reynolds

Nobel prize for malaria drug is crucial to control Africa’s epidemic

The drug partly responsible for more than halving the rate of malaria over the last 30 years and which won this year’s Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine has a long history of use.
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir signs a peace agreement in the capital Juba, on August 26, 2015. Reuters/Jok Solomun

Why South Sudanese adversaries signed a peace deal that they do not want

The Sudanese government and its armed opposition are both unhappy with the ceasefire they signed. Senior military officers have also publicly voiced their disapproval of the induced deal.
Africa needs to support small and medium-sized enterprises across the value chain of the agribusiness sector. Reuters/Noor Khamis

What Africa can learn from China about growing its agribusiness sector

Over the past 60 years, China has experimented extensively with policies and programmes to encourage the growth of rural enterprises. Africa could do well by following in these footsteps.
A cleaner walks past a promotional poster at an Africa Development bank meeting in Shanghai. Western perceptions of China’s investments in Africa are off the mark. Reuters/Nir Elias

Shedding fresh light on China’s investment choices in Africa

Contrary to Western views, China is in Africa for business. Between 1998 and 2012, about 2000 Chinese firms invested in 49 countries on the African continent.
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. REUTERS/Diego Azubel/Pool

How to rebalance Africa’s relationship with China

For sub-Saharan Africa to benefit fully from its growing economic ties with China both parties need to change their behaviour and attitude.

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