A curse or a blessing? The issues in China-Africa cooperation

The end of the Cold War marked a dramatic reduction of interest of Europe and a refreshed interest of China in Africa. It is at the last 2007 World Social Forum, held in Nairobi, Kenya that, the issue of the Chinese presence in Africa and its socio-economic implications has emphatically punctuated the debates on development issues of the continent. By its insatiable appetite for raw materials that has been correlated with its gigantic economic development, is the People's Republic of China devouring Africa as had previously done the Western imperialist powers in the 19th and 20th century? Is China good or bad for Africa? How can we understand the nature of China-Africa relationship? To What extent the Sino-Africa relation differs from the Western model? This book, by exploring the nature of Chinäs political, diplomatic and economic relationship with African, attempts to answer these questions so as to better understand Chinese involvement in Africa. Chinese presence in Africa is likely to emancipate Africa from the Western rigid tutelage of structural adjustments, a real strength jacket which kept the continent in a neo-colonial relationship while making development impossible.