Cette étude montre en quoi l'émergence de la Chine dans le domaine économique et son enracinement en Afrique bouleversent les équilibres mondiaux. La quête des matières premières génère en effet une importante concurrence entre la Chine et les autres partenaires des Etats africains. L'auteur propose de démêler l'écheveau des stratégies économiques en Afrique. ©Electre 2024

China in Africa

Competition between China, traditional trade partners of Africa et Bric countries

The reconfiguration of the global economy inaugurates a multipolar world. Recognition of the growing power of major emerging countries places China at the very center of debates on economic globalization and global governance. The economical take-off of Beijing and other Bric countries shakes the global economic map. While the whole world is struggling with recession, China becomes the second largest economy in the world and shows outstanding performances. Other Bric countries (such as India, Russia, Brazil and South Africa) also withstand the crisis and wish to bring diversity into their economies. To develop a sustainable economy, they need, as the old industrial countries, raw material that abounds Africa.

Western countries worry about the upheaval of the global economic order, noticing the massive local implementation of China, with its economic and military power, on the African continent. The raw materials quest has created a great competition between China and other African states partners. In parallel, a power struggle will lead the less dynamic to abandon the race.

This book proposes to disentangle the African partners' économic strategies and to penetrate the mysteries of diplomacy and international business relations. Comparing competition between China and other partners of Africa will bring into light the real stakes of cooperation between states, based on the interests and future of the world from the continent. Western countries such as the United States and France remain major actors, but have lost their dominant situation when the Soviet Union collapsed. The study will focus on the root causes of this loss of influence and on the source of competition between the partners of African countries. It will also examine the strategies of the old and new industrial countries, the diplomatic and socio-economic consequences of Chinese expansion on the continent for Africans, Western countries (particularly American & French) and other Bric countries.