Africa’s Economic Transformation: exploring the Role of Chinese Investment

Image: Getty, Per-Anders Pettersson
Image: Getty, Per-Anders Pettersson

You are invited to an event co-hosted by SAIIA and the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) on the opportunities and challenges of China’s engagement on the African continent.

While China’s role used to be relatively narrow, with a strong focus on extractives, it is now active in many sectors of the African economy, from infrastructure provision to investment in Africa’s growing tech and services sectors. The event will provide a chance to reflect on the complexity of this role, while also looking forward. The COVID-19 crisis is putting unprecedented pressure on Africa – it is now not only a health crisis, but also rapidly evolving into a debt and economic crisis too. China is intimately involved in all these areas and can play a key role in Africa’s post-pandemic recovery.

In this webinar, we will focus on how Chinese trade and investment will contribute to a post-COVID-19 Africa and what the continent’s options are in making this interaction more fruitful.

In broad terms, the event will focus on the following questions:

  • How can trade and investment boost a post-COVID-19 recovery?
  • How can African policy increase linkages between African and Chinese firms to boost job creation?
  • How can development be maximised all along value chains, rather than in isolation?
  • How can joint ventures and other longer-term partnerships be supported?
  • How can policy boost virtuous competition while minimising malicious competition?
  • What should African policymakers understand about Chinese investment?

This event is co-hosted by SAIIA and ODI and launches the Development and Economic Growth Research Programme (DEGRP) new report Africa’s Economic Transformation: The Role of Chinese Investment. DEGRP funds world-class scientific research on inclusive economic growth in low-income countries (LICs) and is supported by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and UK Economic and Social Research Council.

Speaker biographies:

Linda Calabrese: Research Fellow in the International Economic Development Group at ODI and the Evidence and Policy Group (EPG) China-Africa lead.

Tang Xiaoyang: Associate Professor in the Department of International Relations at Tsinghua University and Deputy Director at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy. His research interests include political philosophy, China’s engagement in Africa and the modernisation process of the developing countries.

Anzetse Were: Economist at FSD Kenya and is based in Nairobi, Kenya. She has vast experience working in Africa on economic research, analysis and strategy with a focus on macroeconomics, manufacturing, the informal economy and private and financial sector development—and working with African governments, private sector, development finance institutions and non-profit organisations and more.

Lesley Wentworth: Managing Director of Tutwa consulting, She has expertise in managing complex multi-national programmes aimed at enabling collaboration between regional governments, multilateral institutions and the private sector. She has extensive experience in the fields of political risk, international investment and trade facilitation.

Hannah Ryder: Chief Executive Officer at Development Reimagined, a pioneering international development consultancy in China, advising in particular: Chinese businesses on how to invest in Africa sustainably; sustainable African businesses how to enter the Chinese market; and working with governments, UN bodies and NGOs to strengthen their China–Africa policies.

Related material:

Watch the event on YouTube:

Video highlights from the webinar:

12 Nov 2020