Abstract: Engagements of African states with emerging powers through South-South Cooperation (SSC), particularly China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), offers alternative investment and aid packages that are provided on different terms compared to traditional Western investment and aid regimes. SSC stretches back to the Bandung Afro-Asian Conference of 1955 which primarily focused on the political independence of the South from colonialism, however, current relationships are mainly economic. This article considers the case of FOCAC as a vibrant SSC arrangement giving Africa both an alternative and some form of agency. FOCAC is premised on principles of non-interference and mutual benefits as opposed to the traditional Western packages which are sometimes paternalistic in nature. This paper’s main argument, however, is that the majority of African states lack effective strategies to engage China and the rest of the emerging powers from the South, moreover the African Union (AU) lacks an active and effective continental strategy. This may imply that most African states, negotiating singly with these emerging powers, may not get the fairest deals.
Keywords: Africa, South-South Cooperation, FOCAC, Brazil, China.
Title: SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION AND AFRICA’S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: THE CASE OF FOCAC
Author: CHIPAIKE, R, MATARUTSE, K.H.
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
ISSN 2348-3156 (Print), ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
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