Africa-China Relations and the Issue of South-South Cooperation

Abstract

Africa-China or Sino-African relations continue to grow stronger. Africa sees China as a partner in development in the context of global South-South Cooperation. As a measure of friendship, China constructed the African Union headquarters at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for free. There has been cooperation between China and African countries. Moreover, China’s role in Africa during the independence struggles is well noted and its development assistance to the continent has been phenomenal over the years. As Africa and China relations continue, several bottlenecks continue to mar the relationship. This paper highlights the bottlenecks of Africa-China relations by tracing the historical ties between China and African states. It delves into Africa-China relations in terms of South-South Cooperation and China’s foreign policy of non-interference in internal matters of other states. It uses 2019 data to analyze China-Africa trade, investments and revenues accruing to both partners. The paper contributes to knowledge not just in terms of bilateral and multilateral relations but in terms of infrastructure trade and investment in Sino-African relations. It concludes that there is a need for China African relations to achieve mutual benefits.