international economic relations

Creating a Conducive International Environment for Africa’s Development : China’s role in Global Governance Reform!

Upphovsperson:	Cheru, Fantu
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Globalization, Trade and Regional Integration | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2010
Ämnesord:	Africa, India, international economic relations, South-south relations, Globalization, Governance, democracy, Social justice, Development theory, Business and economics, Ekonomi

The world is at a critical juncture: there is the opportunity to come together to pursue a common agenda, or it can break into opposing groups based on differences in income, interests, religion or race. Globalisation exacerbates this tension between opportunity and threats. The most keenly felt tension is the sense that globalisation creates greater inequality in an already unequal world. If the world is unequal, then it must be undemocratic as well. As a result, globalisation and democracy come togetheras simultaneous challenges. As far as Africa is concerned, the challenge is how to gain voice in global governance.

A new scramble for Africa? Imperialism, investment and development

Medarbetare:	Southall, Roger | Melber, Henning
Utgivare:	Scottsville, South Africa : Published by the UKZN Press with support from the Nordic Africa Institute
År:	2009
Ämnesord:	international economic relations, Foreign investment, natural resources, resources exploitation, Geopolitics, Imperialism, Economic dependence, Business and economics, Ekonomi

Dramatically escalating prices of raw materials, driven by rapid industrialisation in China and other countries of the global South as well as by looming world shortages, had for the few years preceding the financial meltdown and global recession of 2009 promoted a new scramble for Africa’s natural resources. It signalled a brisk turnaround in prospects for what The Economist had dubbed the ‘hopeless continent’ as recently as 1999. However, while average growth rates across the continent have increased, the implications for Africa’s development were and remain at best dubious. In this important volume, the new scramble for Africa is placed in the historical context of imperialism and the contributors show important continuities with the original nineteenth-century scramble. However, while the previous scramble was between major European powers, today the continent provides a battleground for competition between the US, the European Union, China and other emerging players such as India and South Africa. This book raises significant general questions relating to the nature of emerging global competition between the US and China; the centrality of the struggle for oil and minerals and resulting militarisation; the international battle to capture Africa’s markets; the marginalisation of African capitalism; and the ambiguous benefits that investment and production by multinational companies bring to African communities. Arguing that exploitation of the continent by comprador African elites remains central, the book concludes by raising important questions about the prospects for development in Africa.

Africa-China-EU Cooperation in Africa : Prospects and Pitfalls

Upphovspersoner:	Alden, Chris | Sidiropoulos, Elizabeth
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2009
Ämnesord:	international economic relations, Globalization, North south relations, Economic and social development, Africa, China, European Union, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

Africa-China-EU cooperation is still in its formative stages. It has the express focus of contributing to peace, stability and sustainable development in Africa. The creation of a virtuous circle of growth and development, one which employs the tools of globalisation to Africa’s best advantage, has to be a fundamental aim of any trilateral cooperation. At the same time, the opening up of trilateral dialogue should allow all three partners to give consideration to areas in which conflicting views or interests arise. Indeed, the spectre of a two-way China-EU “donor cartel” emerging from the process continues to negatively influence perceptions of the initiative in some African circles. Thus, the challenge facing Africa, China and the EU is to envisage a mechanism or modality for managing trilateral cooperation in the era of globalisation that addresses the concerns of all participants while maintaining an overarching commitment to African development. This policy note examines the origins of the trilateral dialogue, makes proposals for building on this dialogue, and ends with possible models for this trilateral cooperation.

The African economy and its role in the world economy

Upphovspersoner:	Bigsten, Arne | Durevall, Dick
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2008
Ämnesord:	Economic performance, international economic relations, international trade, Capital movements, Globalization, Structural adjustment, Economic and social development, Policy making, Africa South of Sahara, Sweden, Business and economics, Ekonomi

In a broad survey this issue of Current African Issues presents a multifaceted picture of the current state of the African economy. After a period of falling per capita incomes that started in the 1970s, Africa finally saw a turnaround from about 1995. The last few years have seen average per capita incomes in Africa grow by above 3 per cent per year on average, partly due to the resource boom but also due to improved economic policies. Africa receives more aid per capita than any other major region in the world and there is a significantly positive effect of aid on growth. One of the most notable aspects of the current process of globalisation is the increase in trade between Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, particularly China and India. The authors conclude with a call for policy coherence among donors. The politically most problematic areas for policy change of those discussed in the paper are not aid policy but trade policy and the European Union CAP (Common Agricultural Policy). This is a challenge to EU policy makers, since the latter areas are probably the most important to change if we take our commitment to development seriously.

Africa's development in the 21st century : Reshaping the research agenda

Upphovsperson:	Cheru, Fantu
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2008
Ämnesord:	Economic and social development, Sustainable development, regional integration, Partnership, international economic relations, Globalization, Development strategy, Governance, Democratization, Development research, Africa, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

As Africa enters the 21st century, it faces mounting challenges as well as new opportunities. Unlike in the 1980s and the 1990s, however, the conditions for Africa's sustained growth and development are more favourable today than ever before. As a result of economic reforms the overall growth has been in excess of 4.5 percent annually since the mid 1990s. There is greater consensus among Africans now than at any previous time on what needs to be done to accelerate growth, reduce poverty and promote sustainable development. The positive response of Africa's international partners enhances the prospects for sustaining the progress. Africa is also benefiting from a commodity boom and increased investment in infrastructure and the extractive industry sector. But many questions remain unanswered. The most pressing question is how Africa can best benefit from the rise of the Asian giants, China and India.

South Africa and global apartheid : continental and international policies and politics

Medarbetare:	Bond, Patrick
Utgivare:	Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2004
Ämnesord:	Africa, South Africa, Post apartheid, NEPAD, international economic relations, International politics, Globalisation, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

This study covers a variety of political and economic aspects of Africa's and South Africa's relationships to the world. The author considers the context of global apartheid, in terms of international stagnation, uneven development and African marginalisation, and evaluates the South African setting as a telling site of worsening inequality. Where does then the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) stand on the largest economic and political problems? South Africa's other proposed global reforms are also discussed. Finally, the author records an emerging ideology based not on commodification via globalisation but on decommodification and deglobalisation, and the strategies, tactics and alliances required for African and international progress. CONTENT The context of global apartheid Class apartheid in South Africa NEPAD economics and global apartheid Whose NEPAD? South Africa’s frustrated international reforms Conclusion: African anti-capitalism? Figures and Table

Africa, regional cooperation and the world market : socio-economic strategies in times of global trade regimes

Upphovspersoner:	Brüntrup, Michael | Melber, Henning | Taylor, Ian
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2006
Ämnesord:	Regional cooperation, international trade, Trade liberalization, Globalization, international economic relations, regional integration, agricultural markets, European Union, NEPAD, Senegal, Africa, Business and economics, Ekonomi

Under the regime of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), local and regional policies are increasingly determined by global factors. One example is the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). It stresses an earlier notion of African Renaissance, which includes the emphasis on collective self-reliance, but at the same time seeks closer cooperation with the global trade system and its international agencies. Bi- and multilateral trade relations between external actors and individual African states or regional blocs are becoming ever more decisive. This is also true of the more recently negotiated Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) in the post-Lomé era of EU-African relations. In light of such trends the question of coherence between trade as aid and other areas of development strategy and cooperation remains to be answered. The contributions to this Discussion Paper reflect upon related matters of socio-economically viable strategies seeking to reconcile the global and the regional in an African perspective. They were originally presented to the Panel 'Regional Cooperation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Between Collective Self-Reliance and Global Trade Regimes'” organised by the Nordic Africa Institute within the 11th General Conference of the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) in September 2005 in Bonn.

China in Africa

Upphovspersoner:	Lee, Margaret C. | Melber, Henning
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2007
Ämnesord:	international economic relations, Foreign trade, Economic policy, Access to markets, International cooperation, Partnership, Globalization, case studies, Business and economics, Ekonomi

The contributions to this compilation add in various ways to the ongoing discussion on China’s role in Africa. They offer a blend of general overviews on the new scramble for Africa’s resources, the Chinese expansion into Africa and case studies on Uganda and South Africa. They present reflections on and insights to a current theme, which is widely and controversially debated also within Africa.

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