Public Lecture: China and Developing Economies; Examining China-Africa Relations in Post-Covid-19 Africa

Since the 1950s, China has been involved in African affairs. Often considered a south-south affair, the China Africa relation has seen continuous and fast-paced growth over the last decades. This relation bothers, among other interests, on economics, governance and security. The presence of Chines firms and investments, provision of loans in different forms, and China's visible contribution in these countries' infrastructure development have drawn wide attention within and outside the continent. Critics of China-Africa relations often focus on China's economic interests, the on the ground activities of the Chines government and Chinese companies and their socioeconomic impacts in Africa, to describe China's interests as a selfish quest for natural. Others also see China as anti-democratic and destroyer of African governance. Meanwhile, China's presence in Africa has been welcomed by others as practical, accessible, authentic south-south development-driven relation and an alternative to the dominance of western facilities and influence. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, China-Africa relation came under pressure due to the ill-treatment meted out to African students and migrants in China, which attracted harsh condemnation from African leaders. Yet how much this relationship is affected by the Covid-19 crises and the future of this relation in post-Covid times remains open to examination. In this lecture, speakers will reflect on China-Africa relations, past present and future. The lecture will explore the role and impact of China on African countries' economies and Africa's perspective in this relationship. This lecture is hosted in collaboration with the 2020/2021 Development Economics course participants from the Master of Arts in International Social Sciences study programme at Friedensau Adventist University.

Skeakers: Dr Sanne van der Lugt (Research Associate, Clingendael Institute, Netherlands), Dr Divine Fuh (Director Institute for the Institute Humanities in Africa, University of Cape Town, South Africa) und Lidet Tadesse (Policy Officer, Crisis Response and Peacebuilding at European Center for Development Policy Management). The Moderator is Dr Kwaku Arhin-Sam (Director of FIFE).

About the Lecture Series:

The FIFE lecture series are public lectures organized by the Friedensau Institute for Evaluation (FIFE) at Friedensau Adventist University. Topics discussed in these lecture series cuts across different disciplines in the social sciences. These lectures serve as a platform for bringing together academic and practical debates into real-time issues.