The European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM), an independent think tank, published in September 2024 a study titled "The EU and China in the Global South: Perspectives from African Countries" by Mariella Di Ciommo, Pauline Veron, and Nadia Ashraf.
The study examines how the EU's support is perceived by its partner countries, particularly in comparison to China, with a focus on the Democratic Republic of Congo, Morocco, and South Africa and their national green agendas.
Radio Free Asia published on 3 September 2024 an article titled "EXPLAINED: What Is the China-Africa Summit and Why Does It Matter?" by Luisetta Mudie.
The article discusses the issues that are likely to come up at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit in Beijing that begins on 4 September, China's changing approach to infrastructure financing, and its goal of exporting Chinese-sponsored international norms to African countries.
The South African Institute of International Affairs published on 26 August 2024 a paper titled "China-Africa Energy and Climate Cooperation: Prospects for FOCAC 2024" by Xiang Chen, Alex Benkenstein, and Cobus van Staden.
Climate and energy will be among the central topics of the upcoming Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing as China becomes a pivotal investor in green energy in the Global South.
The Review of African Political Economy posted on 24 July 2024 a commentary titled "Africa and China: Counter-Hegemonic Narratives --An Introduction" by Ying Chen and Corinna Mullin.
This piece is a summary of a symposium that took place in December 2023 at The New School titled "The African Continent and China: Counter-Hegemonic Narratives." It assesses "the reductionist, orientalist and often racist depictions that dominate mainstream media and scholarly spaces on China-Africa relations." It attributes African underdevelopment to "policies imposed by western dominated multilateral institutions like the IMF and World Bank under the neoliberal 'Washington Consensus'."
Comment: Much of the jargon used in the symposium took me back to my African study days in the 1960s and 1970s when Cold War terminology was the predominate rhetoric. The summary suggests that the presentations were quick to praise China's positive activities in Africa and gloss over or even ignore the negative ones. While it is useful to assess accurately China's limited role in Africa's debt crisis, was there any discussion of China's mercantilist trade policy toward the continent where it sells almost entirely finished goods and buys almost exclusively natural resources? And in recent years, China has consistently had a large trade surplus!
After reading this summary, it is all smiles in Beijing, and Moscow.
The World Bank has posted online a study published in 2023 titled "Working Today for a Better Tomorrow in Ethiopia: Jobs for Poor and Vulnerable Households" edited by Emily Weedon Chapman and Margaux Vinez.
The study outlines how Ethiopia can leverage its social safety net programs to help poor and vulnerable workers earn more in today's labor market.
Middle East Monitor published on 5 December 2023 an article titled "Egypt's First Domestically Assembled Satellite Launched into Orbit from China."
China launched Egypt's first domestically assembled satellite, the MisrSat-2, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The satellite will serve Egypt's sustainable development goals by utilizing space technology to enhance vital areas, including agriculture, exploration of mineral resources, identification of surface water sources, and studying the impacts of climate change on the environment.
South Africa's Institute for Security Studies/African Futures published on 20 October 2022 a study titled "The West and China in Africa's Development Future" by Jakkie Cilliers.
The study concludes that for Africa to develop and reduce poverty, it needs China, the EU and the US. It cannot choose one above the other. To avoid a new era of bipolarity, the West and China need to find a way to reset relations.
The Biden administration released its "U.S. Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa" on 8 August 2022. This is the first comprehensive Africa policy statement by the Biden administration. The focus is on the development of democracies, pandemic recovery, economic development, climate adaptation, and improvement of security.
Following release of the Africa policy document, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke about U.S.-Africa policy at the University of Pretoria in South Africa on 8 August 2020. The title of his speech was "Vital Partners, Shared Priorities: The Biden Administration's Sub-Saharan Africa Strategy."
Development Reimagined, an African-led consultancy based in China, published recently a major report titled "From China-Africa to Africa-China: A Blueprint for a Green and Inclusive Continent-wide African Strategy towards China."
The report, intended primarily for African leaders, suggests a comprehensive blueprint (28 recommendations) for a continent-wide strategy for Africa in its interaction with China. The focus is on the economic development relationship and movement of people between Africa and China.
The Daily Maverick published on 26 March 2021 an oped titled "US-China-Africa and the Quest for New Global Due Diligence" by Claude Kabemba, executive director of Southern Africa Resource Watch.
The author concluded that the geostrategic competition between China and the US does not foreclose economic convergence, but such cooperation will have to consider the fact that Africa is not a passive actor. Sustainable cooperation between China and the US will have to respond to Africa's ambitions defined in strategic documents such as Agenda 2063, the Africa Mining Vision, and the Sustainable Development Goals.
China's State Council published in January 2021 a white paper titled "China's International Development Cooperation in the New Era."
This is China's first white paper on foreign aid since the State Council released one in 2014 that covered the years 2010-2012. The newest version covers the years 2013-2018.
Most of the document praises China's global assistance. It contains some useful statistical information. During 2013-2018, Africa received 44.65 percent of China's foreign aid. This compares to 51.8 percent in 2010-2012. In 2013-2018, concessional loans accounted for 48.52 percent of China's global aid, grants for 47.3 percent, and interest free loans for 4.18 percent. In 2010-2012, concessional loans accounted for 55.7 percent of China's global aid, grants for 36.2 percent, and interest free loans for 8.1 percent.
