Can Chinas economic rise make a difference for the worlds poorest continent?
China and Africa aren’t exactly strangers. Chinese vessels visited the east coast of Africa as far back as the early 15th century. But never before has China had as much potential as it does today in shaping the future of a continent that remains too marginal a player in the global economy. “Africa accounts for less than 2 percent of world trade,” says Peter Lewis, director of the African Studies Program at SAIS. “That’s why the prospect of trading opportunities with and investments by a large economy like China’s is something many African countries see as very, very significant.” China’s growing economic and diplomatic overtures to African nations are not without risks, however. China’s overriding economic interest in the continent is gaining access to energy supplies and raw materials, Lewis says. Africa has traded such resources away before, to Western nations, without finding much in the way of lasting economic benefits. On the political side, the risks may be even greater. China h
