Tens of thousands of independent, small-scale Chinese merchants are “invading” Africa’s informal economy, posing a long term economic risk for the continent according to University of North Carolina professor Margaret C. Lee. Professor Lee joins us this week to talk about the pressure African merchants are facing from these Chinese traders and the dire long term consequences that could arise if African policy makers do not address the issue.
Dr. Lee is an Associate Professor; Director, African Studies Center; Adjunct Associate Professor, Anthropology at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. She just completed a book manuscript on Trading Stories: Africa’s World Markets and International Trade Regimes. The book was commissioned by the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala, Sweden. It will be published by the latter, along with Zed books in London and New York in 2013. Her previous publications include: The Political Economy of Regionalism in Southern Africa (2003); SADCC: The Political Economy of Development in Southern Africa (1989); Unfinished Business: The Land Crisis in Southern Africa, co-editor (2003); and The State and Democracy in Africa, co-editor (1997).
