New Perspectives on China and Africa
November 15, 2024
10:30AM – 2:30PM
The September 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation turned the world’s attention to the strategic connections between China and African nations. This forum, which was held in Beijing, featured 51 African heads of state, indicating the increasing importance of these relations. China is also hoping to expand relations with African states, through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and soft power ambitions. While positive aspirations seem abundant on both sides of the Africa-China links, there are a number of challenges and complicated tensions. Balancing trade and security concerns, developing infrastructure in a way that does not handicap nations with overwhelming debt, and enhancing knowledge and education in a culturally sensitive framework are some of the issues facing China-Africa relations. How these two regions continue to develop in a multipolar global economy will have an enormous impact on the world economy and geopolitical state of affairs. This symposium gathers experts who will discuss the status of Africa-China ties from multiple perspectives. Topics covered include how military engagements may mitigate or enhance security concerns, the effects in African nations of Chinese infrastructure loans, the influence of the African Diaspora in the US on China-Africa relations, environmental risks that Chinese investment brings to some regions of Africa, and how Chinese diplomacy utilizes “relational power” through training African government officials. Through these talks, this symposium hopes to further promote informed discourse on Africa-China connections and the implications of these for global governance and the rest of the world.
Attendees may join in person or via Zoom. Registration required.
Agenda
10:30 Welcome remarks, Prof. Ousman Kobo
Panel One: Power Dynamics: Security, Economics, and Technology in Africa-China Relations
10:40 David Shinn, “China-Africa Security Engagement Since COVID-19”
11:00 Phiwokuhle Mnyandu, “The Evolution of Chinese Soft Power in Africa: Implications for Technology, African Languages and Cultures in Africa and the Diaspora”
11:20 Jyhjong Hwang, “Built Higher, Dug Deeper: The Effect on Chinese Debt Financing on African Infrastructure Coverage”
11:40 Joshua Hill, Response and Q and A
12:15 Lunch
Panel Two: Governance and Civil Society: Soft Power and its Discontents
1:20 Joshua Eisenman, “China’s Relational Power in Africa: Beijing’s ‘New Type of Party-to-Party Relations’”
1:40 Asma Amina Belem, “China in African Environmental Governance and Civil Society: The Case of the Kua Forest in Burkina Faso
2:00 Yoon Jung Park, Response and Q and A
More information at https://easc.osu.edu/china-africa.