Africa's Shadow Rise

Africa's Shadow Rise PDF Author: Pádraig Carmody
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1786994801
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 240

Book Description
For years economists have spoken of 'Africa rising', and despite the global financial crisis, Africa continues to host some of the fastest growing economies in the world. Africa's Shadow Rise however argues that the continent's apparent economic 'rise' is essentially a mirage, driven by developments elsewhere - most particularly the expansion in China's economy. While many African countries have experienced high rates of growth, much of this growth may prove to be unsustainable, and has contributed to environmental destruction and worsening inequality across the continent. Similarly, new economic relationships have produced new forms of dependency, as African nations increasingly find themselves tied to the fortunes of China and other emerging powers. Drawing on in-depth fieldwork in southern Africa, Africa's Shadow Rise reveals how the shifting balance of global power is transforming Africa's economy and politics, and what this means for the future of development efforts in the region.

Africa and the Formation of the New System of International Relations

Africa and the Formation of the New System of International Relations PDF Author: Alexey M. Vasiliev
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030773361
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Book Description
This book discusses the prospects for the development of the African continent as part of the emerging system of international relations in the twenty-first century. African countries are playing an increasingly important part in the current system of international relations. Nevertheless, even 60 years after gaining their independence, most of them are confronted with regional and global issues that are directly related to their colonial past and its influence. Due to Africa’s wealth of natural and geopolitical resources, the possibility of interference in the internal affairs of African countries on the part of new and traditional global actors remains very real. Leading Africanists, together with international scholars from both international relations and African studies, examine the experience of decolonization, the impact of the emergence of a unipolar world on the African continent, and the growing influence of new international actors on the African continent in the twenty-first century. In addition, the importance of African countries’ foreign policy concepts and ideological attitudes in the post-bipolar period is revealed. “This volume strengthens the intellectual bridge between Russian, African and Western scholars of international relations. Strongly recommended!” Vladimir G. Shubin, Institute for African Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences “This book presents a wide range of prominent global scholars who bring a wealth of knowledge on the subject of Africa and the world.” Gilbert Khadiagala, Jan Smuts Professor of International Relations and Director of the African Centre for the Study of the USA (ACSUS) at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. “As a genuine contribution to the field of international relations and Global South Agency, this book should be in every institution of higher education’s library.” Lembe Tiky, Director of Academic Development, International Studies Association.

Africa’s Railway Renaissance

Africa’s Railway Renaissance PDF Author: Tim Zajontz
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000919242
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 239

Book Description
This book investigates the history, political economy and spatiality of Chinese railway projects in Africa. It examines the financial governance of Sino-African railway projects, their socio-cultural, political and economic effects as well as the regional dimension of Africa’s new railway architecture and its function within China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Leading and emerging scholars from Africa, China, Europe and the Americas offer interpretations through politicoeconomic, historical, geographical and post-colonial conceptual lenses. Case studies on projects in Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zambia offer an empirically rich and cross-disciplinary picture of Sino-African railway developments at the micro-, meso- and macro-levels. Regional analyses on West and East Africa expose persistent obstacles to the regional integration of Africa’s railways. The volume outlines opportunities and challenges related to Africa’s railway renaissance in the post-COVID-19 global political economy and will be of great interest to academics, students and practitioners interested in Africa-China relations and their developmental effects or in the politics of infrastructure, spatial governance and the political economy of transport.

Contesting Africa’s New Green Revolution

Contesting Africa’s New Green Revolution PDF Author: Jacqueline A. Ignatova
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 178699657X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 217

Book Description
Genetically modified crops have become a key element of development strategies across the Global South, despite remaining deeply controversial. Proponents hail them as an example of 'pro-poor' innovation, while critics regard them as a threat to food sovereignty and the environment. The promotion of biotechnology is an integral part of 'new Green Revolution for Africa' interventions and is also intimately linked to the rise of 'philanthrocapitalism,' which advances business solutions to address the problem of poverty. Through interviews with farmers, policymakers and agricultural scientists, Jacqueline Ignatova shows how efforts to transform the seed sector in northern Ghana – one of the key laboratories of this 'new Green Revolution' – may serve to exacerbate the inequality it was notionally intended to address. But she also argues that its effects in Ghana have been far more complex than either side of the debate has acknowledged, with local farmers proving adept at blending traditional and modern agricultural methods that subvert the interests of global agribusiness.

The Political Economy of China’s Infrastructure Development in Africa

The Political Economy of China’s Infrastructure Development in Africa PDF Author: Tim Zajontz
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031444493
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 350

Book Description
This book sheds light on structural drivers that led to the Chinese omnipresence in African infrastructure markets and offers a strategic-relational approach to the study of African agency in Sino-African infrastructure encounters. Case studies cover the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA), Zambia’s road sector as well as Tanzania’s Bagamoyo port and Standard Gauge Railway. It is shown that African (state) agency in the infrastructure sector is contingent upon dynamic state-society relations and distinct political-economic contexts and constraints. The book problematises contradictions related to infrastructure debt, the emergence of Sino-African public-private partnerships and the intensifying geopolitics-cum-geoeconomics of infrastructure across Africa.

Unravelling the Mysteries of Africa's Underdevelopment

Unravelling the Mysteries of Africa's Underdevelopment PDF Author: W. Forje
Publisher: African Books Collective
ISBN: 9956551880
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 592

Book Description
Unravelling the mysteries of Africas underdevelopment presents an Afrocentric ideological understanding of the continents fragmentation; a scientific and objective (Mijadala) discourse as well as an approach of how to move progressively and sustainably Africa forward. The breadth and depth of the book shows the unwavering impoverishment and urgent need for the continent to stand up and take the bull by the horn. It offers an inspiring means of grappling with the continents problems to build the change we want An African Wealth of Nation not the continent of collapsed, failed states under the governance construct of centralised authoritarian regimes It is a thought-provoking discourse that challenges us all to be inherent participants in the reconstruction of a Brave New Africa far beyond the 21st Century.

The Urban Question in Africa

The Urban Question in Africa PDF Author: Padraig R. Carmody
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119833647
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 293

Book Description
Illuminates the path to more generative urban transitions in Africa's cities and developing rural areas Africa is the world's most rapidly urbanizing region. The predominantly rural continent is currently undergoing an “urban revolution” unlike any other, generally taking place without industrialization and often characterized by polarization, poverty, and fragmentation. While many cities have experienced construction booms and real estate speculation, others are marked by expanding informal economies and imploding infrastructures. The Urban Question in Africa: Uneven Geographies of Transition examines the imbalanced and contested nature of the ongoing urban transition of Africa. Edited and authored by leading experts on the subject, this unique volume develops an original theory conceptualizing cities as sociotechnical systems constituted by production, consumption, and infrastructure regimes. Throughout the book, in-depth chapters address the impacts of current meta-trends—global geopolitical shifts, economic changes, the climate crisis, and others—on Africa's cities and the broader development of the continent. Presents a novel framework based on extensive fieldwork in multiple countries and regions of the continent Examines geopolitical and socioeconomic topics such as manufacturing in African cities, the green economy in Africa, and the impact of China on urban Africa Discusses the prospects for generative urbanism to produce and sustain long-term development in Africa Features high-quality maps, illustrations, and photographs The Urban Question in Africa: Uneven Geographies of Transition is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students in geography, urban planning, and African studies, academic researchers, geographers, urban planners, and policymakers.

The Political Economy of Chinese FDI and Spillover Effects in Africa

The Political Economy of Chinese FDI and Spillover Effects in Africa PDF Author: Dominik Kopiński
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031387155
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 284

Book Description
What are the impacts of Chinese investment in Africa? Is it transforming economic development on the continent? This book is different from many other studies of this issue, as it unpacks the ‘black box’ of technological and learning spillover effects from Chinese firms to others. Rather than using econometric tools, which has now become a standard approach and come with their own set of challenges, the authors investigate the interactions between Chinese investors and African firms in terms of the transfer of technology and learning and explain why such interactions are rare. Only by understanding the reasons behind this rarity can approaches be developed to promote spillovers.

Indonesia’s Engagement with Africa

Indonesia’s Engagement with Africa PDF Author: Christophe Dorigné-Thomson
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 9819966515
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 588

Book Description
This book provides a comprehensive study of Indonesia's contemporary foreign policy engagement with Africa, highlighting the archipelago’s recent reawakening to the continent. It explores thoughts on Afro-Asian relations in general and their future in the changing geopolitical context. It provides a vision of Indonesia’s foreign policy and political situation at the highest level of leadership. It places Indonesia in a multi-comparison context, which helps us reconsider Indonesia today and widens our views on Indonesia’s needs to be better known through new perspectives and voices able to better convey the realities of its polity, aspirations, and complexities. It proposes, through the study of Indonesia’s African endeavour, to better grasp the contemporary Indonesian Zeitgeist and Weltanschauung. It also analyses the political power alliance formed by President Jokowi and former General Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, leading a state-led development through state capitalism, mobilising State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). The Bandung Conference host aspires to project its domestic development achievements towards Africa, focusing on Africa for Africa and not merely as part of a sometimes-abstract Afro-Asian discourse. Nonetheless, Afro-Asianism continues to be mobilised to facilitate market penetration and serve domestic interests. The book shows how Indonesia’s foreign policy toward Africa relates to domestic political contestation and consolidation, political legacy and commodity-based industrial policy, and Chinese and “China in Africa” networks and ideational influence, foremost among other networks of influence in the Jokowi era. The book also underlines how Indonesia’s knowledge production and academic deficiencies negatively impact its foreign policy capabilities, notably as a potential robust alternative partner for Africa. It will be beneficial for students, academicians, researchers, and diplomats.

War, Women and Post-conflict Empowerment

War, Women and Post-conflict Empowerment PDF Author: Josephine Beoku-Betts
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1786996960
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Book Description
Since the 1991-2002 civil conflict ended in Sierra Leone, the country has failed to translate the accomplishments of women's involvement in bringing the war to an end into meaningful political empowerment. This is in marked contrast to other post-conflict countries, which have increased the political participation of women in elected and appointed office, increased the representation of women in leadership positions, and enacted constitutional reforms promoting women's rights. Written by Sierra Leonean and Africanist scholars and experts from a broad range of disciplines, this unique volume analyses the historical and contextual factors influencing women's political, economic and social development in the country. In drawing on a diverse array of case studies – from health to education, refugees to international donors – the contradictions, successes and challenges of women's lives in a post-conflict environment are revealed, making this an essential book for anyone involved in women and development.