Africans Beware of Both Western and Chinese Development Models

The China Global South Project published on 21 February 2025 a commentary titled "Beware False Idols: The Pitfalls of Copy-Paste Development Models" by Felix Brender, project associate at LSE Ideas.   

The author concluded: "If Western economic prescriptions failed Africa, perhaps China's State-led model is the answer.  Hardly. China's rise was predicated on conditions unlikely to be replicated elsewhere: a vast, disciplined labor force, an authoritarian state able to impose sweeping economic reforms, and, crucially, an era in which globalization was expanding, not faltering." 

Exporting the Chinese Model

Project Syndicate published on 12 January 2016 a commentary titled "Exporting the Chinese Model" by Francis Fukuyama, a senior fellow at Stanford University.

Fukuyama argues that One Belt, One Road represents a striking departure in Chinese policy whereby China is trying to export its development model to other countries.  It is seeking to shift its heavy industry to less developed countries, making them richer and encouraging demand for Chinese products.  At the same time, there are important reasons to question whether One Belt, One Road will succeed.  This new model has important implications for Africa.

South Africa's Love Affair with China

The China-Africa project hosted a radio discussion on 8 September 2015 titled "Inside South Africa's Inexplicable Love Affair with China."  The discussion concludes that both the government of South Africa and the ruling African National Congress have seemingly found their geopolitical soul mate in China. 

China as Development Aid Actor in Africa

Oxford University's China Africa Network (OUCAN) hosted a symposium on 14 March 2012 titled "China as a Development Aid Actor: Rethinking Development Assistance and its Implications for Africa and the West."

Harry Verhoeven and Marian Urbina-Ferretjans wrote a summary symposium report that noted several speakers and participants expressed doubts about the existence of a Chinese development model. Chinese speakers at the symposium highlighted the pragmatic nature of China's foreign policy and its learning by doing approach to development. There was an intense debate around the political implications of China's "Go-Out" strategy. While Chinese speakers stressed the continued importance of sovereignty, non-interference and multipolarism, more skeptical voices questioned China's ostensibly "apolitical" operations in Africa.

Richard Schiere, an economist at the African Development Bank, presented a power point titled China and Africa: An Emerging Partnership for Development?