Background
Since the turn of Twenty-First century, China has increased its engagement with African countries, and today it is the largest trading partner and one of the major providers of foreign aid. The highlight of the engagement is usually high-diplomatic fanfares and financial support of infrastructure projects. During the 2018 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, President Xi Jinping pledged $ 60 billion for the next three years. As China has increased its engagement in Africa, its neighboring countries, especially Japan and India, have also responded by seeking new partnership with African countries. Following the launch of China's Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, Japan and India launched the Asia-Africa Growth Corridor economic cooperation agreement with multiple African countries. Observers see the invisible hand of the United States in attempts to counter-balance the influence of China in Africa. Undoubtedly, this engagement has significant implication for the implementation of Africa's Agenda 2063, thus requiring comprehensive understanding of the dynamics between China and African countries.
RATIONALE
Although the vibrant China-Africa literature has framed the debate around the questions of China's quest for natural resources; to what extent China- Africa engagement re? ects neo-colonial tendencies; to what extent is the rise of China likely to threaten the existing status quo in international relations and more recently how are African states negotiating China's engagement, the interactive dynamics beyond state to state engagement can be understood better beyond through a multi-disciplinary perspective. There remain several unanswered questions that require a common forum. This conference therefore welcomes conceptual, theoretical and empirical papers that will advance our appreciation of these dynamics. Co-authorship and partnership across the disciplines is highly encouraged.
SUB-THEMES
The Sub themes for this conference include but are not limited to the
following:
- Africa-China Cultural Interactions
- Africa-China Engagements and the future of Democracy in Africa
- Africa-China Relations in Historical Perspective
- African Agency within Africa-China Engagement
- China and Governance in Africa
- China and the Humanitarian Crisis in Africa
- China and Tourism in Africa
- China Engagement and Human Rights Discourse in Africa
- China, Wildlife and Poaching
- China's Soft Power in Africa
- China versus the West
- China-Africa Development and Security Nexus
- Chinese Agency within Africa-China Engagement
- Chinese Ethics and African Systems
- Chinese Language and Culture in African Context
- Chinese Media in Africa
- Chinese Movies
- Chinese in Africa
- Cold History and China's Role in Africa
- Confucianism
- Confucius Institutes in African Universities
- Environmental Conservation
- Environmental Conservation
- Geopolitics
- India, Brazil, Russia Response to China's Engagement in Africa? Indian Ocean Region
- Labour Relations in Chinese Firms
- Maritime Security and Blue Economy
- Memories of Afro-Asian Solidarity
- Mining
- Diplomacy
- The Belt and Road Initiative and Implications for African Countries
- The Chinese Foreign Capital and Africa's Quest for Development
- Urbanization
Abstract Submission
Submit all abstracts to otele@uonbi.ac.ke cc:otelemeywa@yahoo.com