The pace of Chinese economic and political engagement in Africa shows no sign of slackening. Why has China been so successful at building influence and gaining access to resources on the continent? What concerns do African governments have about Chinese modes of engagement? What opportunities does China offer, and are African states able to take full advantage of them? How might African relations with the United States and international financial institutions change as a result of Chinese policy? What effects do Chinese companies have on African investment climates? This event offers an unfiltered discussion of these important questions by a panel of senior African policy-makers, analysts, and business leaders.

At this AEI event, Patrick Mazimhaka, deputy chairperson of the Commission of the African Union and former minister in Rwanda; Joe Mollo, director of Corporate Diplomats and former ambassador of Lesotho to the UK and South Africa; and Michael Spicer, CEO of Business Leadership South Africa, will make presentations. Deborah Bräutigam, associate professor of international development at American University and a leading expert on the history of Chinese engagement in Africa, and Witney Schneidman, senior advisor at the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation, will place the panelists’ remarks in context. AEI resident fellow Mauro De Lorenzo will moderate the discussion.

The African panelists will also present “Business Principles for a Strong Africa: An African View”, a document prepared by the African delegation to the Africa-China-United States Trilateral Dialogue, which convened on three occasions between August 2006 and September 2007 in Tswalu, South Africa, Beijing, and Washington, D.C., and which was co-sponsored by the Brenthurst Foundation, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation.