scholarly journals Introduction to China–Africa and an Economic Transformation

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arkebe Oqubay ◽  
Justin Yifu Lin
Keyword(s):  
Structural Transformation ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Economic Transformation ◽  
Development Discourse ◽  
Doing Business ◽  
Policy Frameworks ◽  
Catalytic Role ◽  
Economic Ties

This introductory chapter outlines the aims, analytical perspectives, and the organization of the volume. It sets the scene by describing China’s place in the changing dynamics of global economic order, the increasing role of China in Africa’s economic transformation, and the unevenness of the China’s economic footprint in Africa. It introduces the four thematic sections that primarily focus on the progress, foundations, challenges, and future trajectory of China–Africa cooperation. Part I: ‘China’s Rise and the Changing Global Development Discourse’ examines the meanings and global externalities of China’s economic emergence in an era of globalization. Part II: ‘Evolving China–Africa Relations: Context, Perspectives, and Framework’ examines China–Africa ties in their historical context, the institutional and policy frameworks for promoting cooperation. Part III: ‘The Dynamics of China–Africa Economic Ties’ describes the Chinese approach to doing business in Africa, while the last section Part IV: ‘China and Africa’s Economic Transformation’ discusses the conditions under which Chinese engagement in Africa can play a catalytic role in Africa’s industrialization and structural transformation.

scholarly journals Catalysing China–Africa Ties for Africa’s Structural Transformation

2019 ◽  
pp. 282-309
Author(s):  
Fantu Cheru ◽  
Arkebe Oqubay
Keyword(s):  
Structural Transformation ◽  
Catalytic Effect ◽  
Economic Transformation ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Strategic Approach ◽  
African Context ◽  
Economic Partnership ◽  
Economic Ties

Economic cooperation between China and Africa has deepened in scope and scale in recent times, and FOCAC has emerged as the largest South–South economic partnership platform. However, evidence suggests that the catalytic effect of China–Africa engagement on the economic transformation of African countries has been uneven, primarily shaped by the strategic response of the respective African countries. This chapter proposes that China–Africa economic ties should be examined from a structural transformation perspective to adequately evaluate the catalytic effect of Chinese engagement on the economic growth and diversification of African economies, the development of domestic capabilities, and lastly on Africa’s successful insertion into the globalized economy of the twenty-first century. Based on the experience of Ethiopia, the chapter unpacks the pathways to structural transformation in the African context, and the role of the state in guiding the economy through a proactive and strategic approach to economic transformation. The chapter concludes with pathways to the future.

scholarly journals The Future of China–Africa Economic Ties

2019 ◽  
pp. 310-324
Author(s):  
Arkebe Oqubay ◽  
Justin Yifu Lin
Keyword(s):  
Economic Transformation ◽  
Productive Capacity ◽  
Chinese Investment ◽  
Strategic Approach ◽  
International Environment ◽  
Implementation Capacity ◽  
Catalytic Role ◽  
Economic Ties

The chapter pulls together the underlying themes, analytical perspectives, and pathways to Africa’s economic transformation, and the catalytic role of Chinese investment and trade for Africa’s industrialization and long-term growth. It also reviews FOCAC VII (September 2018) as signalling latest directions in China–Africa economic ties for the coming years. Economic ties between China and Africa have made a significant contribution to the economic transformation of Africa; however, the outcomes of these engagements are characterized by unevenness and shifting dynamics across different countries. Hence there is a need for evidence-based productive discourse that puts Africa’s transformation at the heart of the dialogue on China–Africa economic ties in the context of a changing international environment. Variations in proactive strategic approach, policy ownership, and implementation capacity are major drivers of this disparity. This chapter highlights China as a source of learning and argues that deepening the economic ties (Chinese FDI towards building productive capacity, trade imbalances, debt sustainability and alternative mechanisms, and strengthening of FOCAC) can have an important role in the economic transformation of Africa.

Three Sectoral Policies in Ethiopia’s Structural Transformation

2019 ◽  
pp. 872-884
Author(s):  
Carlos Lopes
Keyword(s):  
Structural Transformation ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Development Planning ◽  
Economic Transformation ◽  
Economic Sector ◽  
Success Story ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Development Path ◽  
Development Trajectory

Ethiopia’s stellar growth performance, guided by amicable development planning, has created a common and shared agenda for economic transformation that has fostered better social outcomes in poverty, universal education, child health, and combating AIDS. This chapter attempts to explore the interest and fascination surrounding the Ethiopian development path, beginning with a consideration of the policy innovations that underpin the experience. It identifies the similarities that connect lessons from three disparate sectoral perspectives—industrialization, social protection/food security, and the success story of Ethiopian Airlines—underlining the pivotal role of coherence, ambition, and innovation in Ethiopia’s development trajectory. Central to these characteristics is the notion that structural transformation is an aggregate of socio-economic sector successes and its potential replicability by other African countries.

British Colonial Commonality: East Africa and India

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 344-348
Author(s):  
Ajit Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Community Development ◽  
Rural Development ◽  
East Africa ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Development Programme ◽  
Development Discourse ◽  
East African ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Rural Development Programme

This note examines aspects of colonial commonality between British colonised East Africa and India. Community development as a rural development programme, its presence in academic institutions and its use as an expression in development discourse are some of these commonalities. With the passage of time, British East Africa and India have diverged on some of these commonalities. In India, community development began with great developmental hopes in 1952, but it ended miserably and was soon abandoned as a rural development programme. While it vanished from India’s development lexicon, community development still retains a place in the development discourse of Botswana. It also seems to resonate in the mainstream life of some East African countries unlike in India. But one commonality still continues. Community development finds some place in the halls of academe in both Botswana and India today. To discuss these aspects of colonial commonality, this article moves back-and-forth among Botswana, India and British East Africa. This article needs to be read in the historical context of de-colonisation struggles over developmental ideas in British East Africa and India and the role of the native elites in this process.

Introduction

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Edenberg ◽  
Michael Hannon
Keyword(s):  
Historical Context ◽  
Contemporary Politics ◽  
Political Epistemology

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book. It has three goals. First, it situates the field of political epistemology within its broader historical context and explains why this area of research is especially significant for contemporary politics. Second, this chapter provides an overview of the main themes in the book: the role of truth and knowledge in politics; epistemic problems for democracy; and disagreement and polarization. Third, it provides a summary of each chapter in the book. The introduction concludes by drawing connections across the various topics and chapters in this book.

scholarly journals China-Africa and an Economic Transformation

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Structural Transformation ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Economic Transformation ◽  
Positive Contribution ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
Strategic Approach ◽  
Implementation Capacity ◽  
Economic Ties ◽  
The Impact

Progress in Africa’s economic growth in the new millennium has been uneven across countries, and has not translated into structural transformation. The same can be said about the evolving China–Africa economic relations. Although economic ties between China and Africa have made a positive contribution, the impact of this dynamic engagement has been uneven, shaped by variations in strategic approach, policy ownership, and implementation capacity among African governments. As China undergoes major economic rebalancing to upgrade to an innovation-driven economy, this is bound to affect China–Africa relations, offering both opportunities and challenges. Authored by leading scholars on Africa, China, and China–Africa relations, this volume brings together stimulating and thought-provoking perspectives, and deeper analyses on the evolving China–Africa relations. Focusing on Africa’s economic development, the volume looks at core areas of structural transformation: productive investment and industrialization, international trade, infrastructure development, and financing. China–Africa relations are considered in the context of the global division of labour and power, and the particular role of both China and the continent of Africa in the evolving global hierarchy. This volume seeks to fill the gap in the existing literature, steer policy and scholarly debate on the progress and trajectory of China–Africa cooperation, and analyse China’s development path as a source of learning for Africa.

GOELRO plan is 100 years old

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 4-9
Author(s):  
Pavel A. BUTYRIN ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Efficient Production ◽  
Soviet Republic ◽  
Starting Conditions ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
State Plan

The historical context in which the State Plan for Electrification of Russia (GOELRO) was developed, establishment of the GOELRO Commission, the GOELRO Plan content, the specific features of its implementation, and the role of the plan in the soviet period of Russia’s history are considered. Attention is paid to the electrification plants of other countries and territories of all inhabited continents, and to the participation of states in the electrification of countries and regions with small-scale and agricultural production in the 1920 s. The specific features pertinent to the electrification of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic are pointed out, namely, low starting conditions (in 1923, the energy consumption per capita in Russia was 100 times lower than that in Norway), its being state-owned in nature and revolutionary in its purpose: to get done with the main upheavals in the country and to shift the national economy for fore efficient production. The role of V.I. Lenin and G.M. Krzhizhanovsky, who were the initiators of the electrification of Russia, is analyzed in detail. A conclusion is drawn about the need to study both the GOELRO Plan itself and the specific features and circumstances of its implementation within the framework of training modern specialists in electrical engineering.

The Prophetic Voice of the Church in a Democratic South Africa – A Theological Reflection

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lufuluvhi Maria Mudimeli
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Economic Transformation ◽  
The State ◽  
Black Liberation ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Black Liberation Theology ◽  
Prophetic Voice ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Church

This article is a reflection on the role and contribution of the church in a democratic South Africa. The involvement of the church in the struggle against apartheid is revisited briefly. The church has played a pivotal and prominent role in bringing about democracy by being a prophetic voice that could not be silenced even in the face of death. It is in this time of democracy when real transformation is needed to take its course in a realistic way, where the presence of the church has probably been latent and where it has assumed an observer status. A look is taken at the dilemmas facing the church. The church should not be bound and taken captive by any form of loyalty to any political organisation at the expense of the poor and the voiceless. A need for cooperation and partnership between the church and the state is crucial at this time. This paper strives to address the role of the church as a prophetic voice in a democratic South Africa. Radical economic transformation, inequality, corruption, and moral decadence—all these challenges hold the potential to thwart our young democracy and its ideals. Black liberation theology concepts are employed to explore how the church can become prophetically relevant in democracy. Suggestions are made about how the church and the state can best form partnerships. In avoiding taking only a critical stance, the church could fulfil its mandate “in season and out of season” and continue to be a prophetic voice on behalf of ordinary South Africans.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document