Is Africa’s Increasing Attractiveness a Signal of Guaranteed Success?

TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA / AFP

By Timothy Karikari in Beijing and Julie Frimpong-Ansah in Accra

A month ago, more than twenty African leaders including the continent’s largest economies Nigeria and South Africa were guests of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for the 7th Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD) summit. Analogous to other global conferences on Africa, the theme for the 7th TICAD was “Advancing Africa’s Development through People, Technology and Innovation”. Whereas we believe African leaders responded to the invitation for obvious reasons such as trade and cooperation, Prime Minister Abe and the leadership of Japan certainly had their objectives as well.

  • Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis.
  • Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations.
  • Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South.

China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening.

Subscribe today for unlimited access.

OR

Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More
by Timothy Karikari

Most Read

1
Developing Countries’ Debt Servicing Costs to China Are Significant, but Nowhere Near as Much as Other Creditors
2 Chinese Military Fans Discuss Why Indonesia Bought Rafale Instead of J-10C
3
Chinese Cargo Planes Secretly Ferrying Supplies to Iran, Claim Online Sleuths
4
Indonesia Goes Nuclear, Taps China and Russia for Modular Reactors
5
Thailand in Last-Minute U.S. Talks as 36% Tariff Looms
6 Trump’s Contradictory Iran Strategy Leaves U.S. Weaker After War’s End, Says Chinese Commentator

You Might Like

So the UK Now Wants to Compete With China in Africa. Here’s What They’ll Need to Do

15 African heads of state were in London yesterday for the inaugural UK-Africa Investment Summit that was hosted by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Prince Harry. Like so many other “Africa Summits” in ...

How China Stands to Gain if the U.S.’ Summit of the Americas Becomes the Debacle Everyone Expects

The Summit of the Americas will get underway on Monday in Los Angeles and, remarkably, less than 24 hours before the event begins no one’s really sure precisely how many leaders will actually attend. The ...

U.S. Seems to Think Same Low-Grade Agreement Unveiled in Asia is Going to Roll Back Chinese Economic Gains in LatAm

President Joe Biden’s latest effort to get the United States re-engaged in the Global South fell flat when Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced he would boycott the Summit of the Americas that ...

Pass the Dictionary: Understanding the Various Forms of China’s Economic Engagement

By Lucas Engel and Oyintarelado Moses  The debt challenges among China’s borrowers, as well as China’s shifting approach to lending and investment abroad, are feeding an appetite for data on Chinese financial flows.  However, without a ...

What is The China-Global South Project?

Independent

The China-Global South Project is passionately independent, non-partisan and does not advocate for any country, company or culture.

News

A carefully curated selection of the day’s most important China-Global South stories. Updated 24 hours a day by human editors. No bots, no algorithms.

Analysis

Diverse, often unconventional insights from scholars, analysts, journalists and a variety of stakeholders in the China-Global South discourse.

Networking

A unique professional network of China-Africa scholars, analysts, journalists and other practioners from around the world.

More about CGSP