Monday, December 23, 2013

Being Black in China versus being African in China

Hosts Winslow Robertson and Dr. Nkemjika Kalu once again delve into discussions about race in China, and to help guide them through the discussion is Mr. Marketus Presswood, who is pursuing his PhD in Modern Chinese History and has a broad interest in the experience of African-Americans and the African Diaspora as whole in China. Back in July, he wrote a fantastic article for Tea Leaf Nation/The Atlantic called "A Minority in the Middle Kingdom: My Experience Being Black in China," which, well, talked about being black in China. He also has extensive experience in international education, including bringing African-American students to study abroad in China, where he lived for eight years. We asked him to share his thoughts on being Black in China versus being African in China.

PS We actually did line up an African guest but sadly things did not work out! We are not trying to ignore African voices on the subject!

Recommendations

Sources

A Minority in the Middle Kingdom: My Experience Being Black in China by Marketus Presswood

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

A lesson in Soft Power

Posted on December 17, 2013 by Nkem

On Africa’s earliest interaction and trade with China, Philip Snow in The Star Raft: China’s Encounter with Africa had the following to say:

A Star Raft was an expedition which carried to the exotic lands the star-like radiance of an imperial ambassador, and the object of its voyage was to win for the emperor the allegiance of distant peoples. The exchange of goods was laden in Chinese eyes with a symbolic significance far outweighing the value of the goods themselves. By trading with the fleet, the African coastal states were paying the Ming emperor the homage they owed him as the sovereign of the world (p. 27).
How different all the same these Chinese visitors were from the Europeans who arrived in Africa seventy years later. Travelling in thousands, armed to the teeth, the Chinese were not aggressive. Unlike the Portuguese they stormed no cities and conquered no land. Even if the sixteenth-century novelist was right to describe an initial conflict, he also makes it clear that the Chinese were tactful, anxious to avoid disturbing the small coastal states any more than was necessary to achieve their basic ends. Unlike the Portuguese they refrained from plunder. Instead they coaxed the coastal rulers into trading by presenting them with gifts of coloured silk. They did not burn, as the Portuguese would, with the urge to impose their religious convictions, to lay siege to African souls. All they sought from Africans was a gesture of symbolic acquiescence in the Chinese view of the world. Mogadishu and Brava, for their part, were happy enough with the relationship to send their envoys to Peking three further times while the Chinese Columbus was on the seas. The Chinese accepted, because the Chinese treated a weak and strange people with courtesy and restraint (p.29).
The quotes above are some of my favorite from Snow’s now dated but still relevant tome on early Chinese interaction with Africa. In many ways his observations can be reframed to represent aspect of current permutations of Sino-African relations in today’s increasingly multi-polar world. For instance, Chinese insistence on African acceptance of the One China Policy as the foundation for diplomatic relations is a symbolic acquiescence to the People’s Republic of China’s communist party’s government’s value for sovereignty. Similarly, Chinese courtship and respect, for economically weak and culturally different African states have won them favor and political support in the international political arena. Although early Chinese relations with African freedom fighting efforts sought to support and promote a socialist/communist agenda, recently the Chinese have not urged African states to adhere to any particular political convictions. But it is naive to believe that the Chinese are not following an economic or political agenda in Africa. Just as the Star Rafts brought glory and prestige to the Emperor, Chinese engagement in Africa is in pursuit of domestic Chinese objectives; much like everyone else is in Africa to pursue their own objectives.

The soft approach is also no longer unique to the Chinese as the US, the UK, and Germany are taking a page out of their playbook and reinforcing their diplomatic relations with African states. In today’s world of multi-polarity and increasing options, despite the retention of the US’s hegemonic influence, the use of soft power is at times more effective than the use of hard power. Easy access to information has increased the value of critical discourse. I would argue that there is a need to push this discourse and to continue to examine foreign policy successes and failures for African states engaging with external actors and the reverse to flesh out best practices and reduce redundancy and ineffectiveness.

Easier said than done.

Monday, December 16, 2013

Mandela, Mao, Media, and Memory

Hosts Winslow Robertson and Dr. Nkemjika Kalu ask how Nelson Mandela's recent death is being interpreted in China. Returning to the show is Mr. Bob Wekesa, an expert on African-Chinese media relations who has written a number of articles on the subject. Wekesa is a PhD candidate at Communication University of China and research associate at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Recommendations

Sources

Mandela and the China connection by Bob Wekesa
Mandela's China Connection by Eric Olander and Dr. Cobus van Staden
China's Mandela problem by Phelim Kine

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Who is a terrorist?

Posted on December 8, 2013 by Nkem

There are people in America that want to be sure that you KNOW that Nelson Mandela was a terrorist and they stand by that. I am irritated and frankly quite annoyed at their audacity.

I have read enough tweets, blogs, Facebook status updates and the like reiterating this point and “politely” pointing out that Nelson Mandela our revered hero is not perfect. Let me let you in on a not-so-secret fact that everyone in Africa is already aware of, Nelson Mandela is not perfect. Come a little closer and I’ll tell you the particularly gory reason why… it’s because he is human! He is a hero because of his humanity, because of his imperfections.

I’m not writing to defend Nelson Mandela. I don’t need to. But I will say this, as a child of Africa’s turgid ethnic, religious, racial, socio-economic, violent conflict, Nelson Mandela symbolized an end to seeming endless violence and oppression, Madiba symbolized hope when no solution was in sight. As a young African looking to the future, Mandela modeled responsible leadership, humility and peacemaking, characteristics unfortunately in short supply in most African leaders going back several years. Africa and I say Africa, because Madiba belonged to Africa just as much as he did to South Africa, and in the same token the world, didn’t need perfection, it needed Mandela. A man who greatness is unmatched amongst the faces and celebrities that brand this current generation.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

… And some Congolese perspective on the China-DRC relationship

The Cowries and Rice team of Winslow Robertson and Dr. Nkemjika Kalu were painfully aware that they were discussing the DRC while having no Congolese voices. They were put in touch with Gaïus Kowene, a Congolese freelance journalist, filmmaker, and blogger. He volunteers in media and communication department at the cultural center Yolé!Africa, in Goma, DR Congo. He is also Goma correspondent of Radio Netherlands Worldwide and works with many local and international news agencies. He shared some of his perspectives on the subject in this (very difficult to produce) podcast.

PS Hongxiang Huang was the cohost and he asked some great questions but due to a glitch his contribution could not be uploaded :[

Recommendations

Sources

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Some (limited) Chinese perspective on the China-DRC connection, amongst other things

So what do Chinese people think about China-Democratic Republic of Congo relations? We are not totally sure, so host Winslow Robertson (Dr. Nkemjika Kalu made a prior commitment) asks Africa-China journalist extraordinaire Hongxiang Huang for his thoughts. Though neither Huang or Winslow are DRC experts, they do try to place Hongxiang's experiences within a DRC framework. Does it actually work? Listen and find out!

Recommendations

Sources

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Attending: China and the Chinese in Africa: What do we know?

The great thing about doing Africa-China stuff and living in D.C. is that there are more Sino-Africa events going on here per capita than any other city in the world (Note: I have no way of proving that statement). In that vein, I got a last minute invitation to a talk hosted by the Fletcher Women's Network on November 5: China and the Chinese in Africa: What Do We Know? This talk featured what I like to call the two triangles of the D.C. China-Africa Triforce: Prof. Deborah Brautigam and Dr. Yoon Jung Park! This event was a must-attend: Not only is it a treat to hear Dr. Park wax lyrical about all things China-Africa, I had been trying to meet Prof. Brautigam since March!

Monday, November 11, 2013

What's the deal with Sicomines?

Continuing in their mad attempt to talk about one country for a whole month, hosts Winslow Robertson and Dr. Nkemjika Kalu continue their discussion about the Democratic Republic of the Congo, this time focusing on the famous Sicomines deal between two large Chinese companies and the Congolese government. They have recruited Ms. Johanna Jansson, a PhD candidate at Roskilde University and the most knowledgable researcher about Sicomines, to talk on the show and share her considerable knowledge. Listen as she effortlessly parries Winslow's feeble attempts to get her into a debate! What a scholar! What a pro!

Recommendations

Sources

The Chinese-Congo Sicomine Project: New Analysis by Deborah Brautigam

The Sicomines Agreement: Change and Continuity in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s International Relations by Johanna Jansson

Monday, November 4, 2013

The Chinese as Foreigner in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Join your hosts Winslow Robertson and Dr. Nkemjika Kalu as they bite off more than they could chew and try to talk intelligently about the Democratic Republic of the Congo for an entire month, starting with discussing the idea of the Chinese as foreigner in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This big topic required two guests, and they were lucky to get them: Prof. Laura Seay, Assistant Professor of Government at Colby College and all-around DRC maven; and Jacob Kushner, who just wrote a fantastic book about recent Chinese interaction with the DRC and its peoples.

PS Unsurprisingly, we were hit with some pretty big technical difficulties so we apologize in advance!

Recommendations

Sources

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Attending: A discussion on China's future role in Africa


On Wednesday, I dropped by GWU to check out A Discussion on China's Future Role in Africa, where Lula Chen of the Sino-African Institute of Sister Cities International talked about trilateral partnerships between U.S., African, and Chinese cities.

That is not a typo: trilateral partnerships!

I do not know whether trilateral Africa-U.S.-Chinese cooperation is a holy grail or a cosmic evil (there are a not insubstantial amount of people who hate the very idea of that collaboration), but I do know that it is rare. And by rare, I mean I had never heard of it until that point. So obviously, I was quite curious about the topic.

Chen started out by giving a background on Sister Cities International, a post-World War II American program designed to foster citizen diplomacy (ever notice that a lot of U.S. sister cities are in Germany and Japan? I did not until I went to this talk). Then she explained how there were quite a few African cities that wanted more collaboration with the Chinese, and that Sister Cities worked to facilitate that. Also, American cities wanted to attract Chinese investment and used the program as a bridge (hopefully) for future projects.

How did a project work? First, an American city had to initiate it, such as Denver. They would reach out to their Chinese counterparts in Kunming and decide on which sectors they would engage. They would then meet with their African sister-city counterparts in Nairobi and discuss whether there were any possibilities for collaboration within their sectors. Since all three cities are high-altitude cities that deal with water conservation issues, they decided to hold a water-expert exchange as well as renovate a school, fixing up the sanitation system. There are other partnerships between Zomba, Urbana, and Guangzhou; and Osogbo, Asheville/Raleigh, and Xiangyang. All the projects were small in scale and emphasized the specialties of their respective cities (such as composting in Urbana).

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

The Westgate Attack and China

Join your hosts Winslow Robertson and Dr. Nkemjika Kalu  as they look at what the tragic September 21 Westgate attack in Nairobi meant for Chinese-Kenyan relations. Helping them is Mr. Bob Wekesa, a Kenyan PhD candidate (who just defended his proposal) at Communication University of China and visiting researcher at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. An expert on domestic China-Africa media, we asked him to give his thoughts on how the attack was reported in China versus Kenya and what the affect was, if any, on the broader relationship.

PS The podcast gods did not allow a solid internet connection, so please excuse the poor quality of the recording!

Recommendations

Sources

China media: Kenya siege by BBC News China

Monday, September 30, 2013

The newbie's guide to Africa-China research


Join your hosts Winslow Robertson and Dr. Nkemjika Kalu as they try and determine some of the major indicators of high-quality China-Africa research. They asked Dr. Yoon Jung Park, the convener/coordinator of the (world-famous) Chinese in Africa/Africans in China (CA/AC) Research Network, to be a guest on the podcast. Dr. Park is currently a freelance researcher. She has affiliations as Senior Research Associate of the Sociology Department at Rhodes University and just finished a Visiting Professorship in the African Studies Department of Howard University. If you ever wanted to figure out how to read an Africa-China article and/or news story like a pro, please listen to this episode!

PS Please excuse the typing sounds!

Recommendations:



Sources:

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

China's Economic Slowdown and African Employment

Join your hosts Winslow Robertson and Dr. Nkemjika Kalu as they tackle two topics that Winslow is pretty unfamiliar with: Chinese economics and African employment. They asked Merlin Linehan, who has a background working in international development and finance relating to emerging markets, to be a guest on the podcast. He is the head of China in Africa, which provides clients with high quality business intelligence on Chinese companies operating in Africa. If you you ever asked what China's economic downturn means for African employment, please listen to this episode!

PS Please pardon the technical difficulties on my end!

Recommendations:

China needs to create good jobs for Africans by Mark Kapchanga
Will China’s Economic Slowdown Hit Africa Hard? by Dana Sanchez
African growth 'resilient’ to China slowdown, but AfDB wary of QE tapering risks by Terence Creamer
China’s slowdown: the impact on Africa by Andrew Bowman

Sunday, September 22, 2013

China’s Western Built Road to Africa

Originally posted on September 22, 2013 by Nkem
CCECC Chinese Firm construction of a light rail transport system in Abuja, Nigeria. Photo taken by Author 7/25/2011.
In April 2011, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast that the Chinese economy would surpass that of the U.S.A. by 2016. This same Chinese economy increased its foreign direct investments in Africa, by over 73 times the 2003 figure by 2008; quickly becoming one of Africa’s largest trading partners.

The American response the same year was two-pronged. Domestically, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco released a report announcing “goods and services from China accounted for only 2.7% of U.S. personal consumption expenditures in 2010… Chinese imports still make up only a small share of total U.S. consumer spending.” Internationally, high level American governmental officials, as well as their British and German counterparts, namely Hillary Clinton, David Cameron and Angela Merkel, worked hard to establish strategic partnerships with African states, including Nigeria, where I conducted research into growing Sino-African relations.

In the space of a few short years, Chinese investments and trade with Africa has grown exponentially, and Chinese companies are winning contracts away from American and Western competitors. Another scramble for Africa has begun, but this time with different actors.

The failure of the Washington Consensus and structural adjustment programs to improve African economies, shepherded the entrance of the Chinese, for it was these policies that opened African markets. Free trade, macroeconomic stability, and privatization did arguably very little to drive economic growth; they instead opened up African economies to influence, manipulation and exploitation by dominant parties.

Free trade meant that African products could not compete against western competitors which, shielded by subsidies and protectionism, could be offered at lower prices. Privatization served to bring about the ruination of attempts towards industries of scale; young industries in Africa were all too quickly without a safety net, and in the hands of over-eager and inept parties that mismanaged resources.

Industrial and economic progress did more than come to a grinding halt; it regressed. The elite became even more entrenched as strongmen, and together with outside actors, plundered and raped their countries, as the world stood by. This was what China entered into, a continent where most foreigners could be framed as exploiters and thieves. To pretend that China is the savior of Africa is to be naïve, but China is no worse than the rest, and today’s heartbreaking Africa is in part the making of the West.

Africans are increasingly choosing to engage with China and this, I would argue, is not due to Chinese efforts towards infrastructure development, aid or even economic growth. Yes, Chinese efforts to construct roads, railways and hydro-electric power plants are pertinent to African development, as are Chinese aid in agricultural development, healthcare and education. Chinese interests in African commodities have increased market prices, resulting in economic growth, while cheap Chinese imports have increased the buying power of the average African.

China’s greatest contribution to Africa is even more significant than all this. Engagement with China has afforded Africa a new sense of self-determination. Chinese presence as an alternative to the West, has allowed African actors a place at the table, a say in the determination of their future.

To think of the Chinese foray into Africa and increasing influence as a zero-sum game is to lose sight of the real opportunities that engagement with China now affords many African states. The argument can be made that increasing Chinese engagement on the African continent can have a limiting effect on western influence. However, to make such an argument stick, one must dismiss Africa’s history with the West. The West is an international actor that Africa knows, and shares a history—one from which it is not easily removed. The question is then not about East versus West in Africa but rather about Africans’ attempts to decide for themselves, to be active participants in the pursuit of their own best interests.

The entry of the Chinese does not magically herald the dawning of a new day for Africa. There is still much to be done for Africa. A major hindrance to development has been African complacency and dependence on outside actors. So before making the same mistake, note that, 1) China is not the solution to Africa’s developmental challenges and 2) China, like the West, is in Africa to further China’s own interests.

Following the logic of James F. Lincoln’s thoughts on competition, it is clear that the entry of China into Africa has set the stage for competition for African resources and markets. Competition is good for all, the Chinese, the West and Africa. It reinforces the foundations for human development, and ignites the furnace of progress. Competition in Africa means that there will be winners and losers; it portends the disappearance of the lazy and incompetent, leaving behind the skilled and talented.

The development of strategic partnerships between African states and western entities reiterates the fact that the introduction of the Chinese has provided African states with a new leverage, a coming of age, an embracement of their sovereignty. So should western states then be afraid of China in Africa? On the contrary, what should drive policymaking is the development of this new Africa, a self-aware, self-promoting, and self-determined Africa.
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For the record I do not consider myself a dragon-slayer or a panda-hugger, but instead an Africanist motivated by the potential for African growth and development that acknowledges that there are many challenges from internal and external actors and conditions that can and do impede the region.

Monday, September 16, 2013

The Chinese, The Taiwanese, "Fong Kong," and Labor in South Africa

This is a recording of a lecture by Dr. Yoon Jung Park, entitled "The Chinese, The Taiwanese, 'Fong Kong,' and Labor in South Africa" that took place on September 12, 2013 at the Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center. Dr. Park was introduced by the director of the Center, Dr. Harold Scott. Dr. Park's lecture was followed by a question and answer session.

Introduction - 0:32
Lecture - 5:21
Questions and answers - 1:01:17

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the 2013 China-Africa White Paper

Join your hosts Winslow Robertson and Dr. Nkemjika Kalu as they try and understand the recently released Chinese white paper, China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation (2013). If you are listening to this podcast, we are pretty sure you heard about it. Assisting them is Frances Pontemayor, a Chinese development finance specialist with an interest in Africa-China relations who recently received her Masters in Public Policy from Tsinghua University. If you wanted to know what does this document means, why it was written, how accurate the statistics are, and more, please listen to this episode!

Recommendations:

Sources:

Full Text: China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation (2013) by The Information Office of the State Council

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

The (Not Really) Definitive "Is China a Neo-Colonial Power" Discussion

Join your hosts WinslowRobertson and Dr. Nkemjika Kalu as they engage in pseudo-intellectual navel-gazing: whether China is a neo-colonial power or not. However, not content to simply discuss this issue as is, they are adding an extra layer of texture by using former Ghanaian President/famous Pan-Africanist Kwame Nkrumah’s definition of the term "neo-colonialism" from his 1965 book Neo-Colonialism, the Last Stage of imperialism. Enjoy!

PS We love Kenya!

Recommendations:

Sources:

The essence of neo-colonialism is that the State which is subject to it is, in theory, independent and has all the outward trappings of international sovereignty. In reality its economic system and thus its political policy is directed from outside. (Nkrumah, Neo-Colonialism)

The result of neo-colonialism is that foreign capital is used for the exploitation rather than for the development of the less developed parts of the world. Investment under neo-colonialism increases rather than decreases the gap between the rich and the poor countries of the world. (Nkrumah, Neo-Colonialism)
As Africa welcomes more Chinese migrants, a new wariness sets in
Sub-Saharan Africa: Trends in U.S. and Chinese Economic Engagement

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

The Second Best China-Africa Podcast You Ever Heard!



The triumphant debut of the Cowries and Rice Podcast, the second best China-Africa podcast you ever heard!

What are the perceptions of China-Africa relations? What do Africans and Chinese, in particular, think of that relationship? We are glad you asked that! Listen to this episode of the Cowries and Rice podcast as the speakers commit all sorts of cardinal sins about social science research; generalizing based on anecdotes and incomplete data, and making claims that are not exactly reviewed by a scholarly body! Dangerous!

Join host Winslow Robertson with (three possibly permanent) co-hosts: Dr. Nkemjika Kalu who just earned her PhD in Political Science from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, where she studied Nigerian perceptions of engagement with Chinese immigrants; Elle Wang who is pursuing her PhD from George Mason University in Public Policy is studying African migrant communities in Guangzhou and Yiwu; and Andy Liu, a U.S.-based Chinese blogger on China as well as a communications professional in global development, and formerly a CCTV journalist. How do the Africans and Chinese peoples with whom they have interacted felt about the China-Africa relationship? How do our current perceptions of the China-Africa relationship compare with the experiences faced by Chinese migrants in Africa and vice versa? Listen to this week's episode to find out!

Recommendations:

Monday, June 17, 2013

SADC: Tomorrow: U.S. Competitiveness in Africa w/ Members of Congress

On Tuesday there will be a ton of interesting events, I hope to see you at some of them!

Dear Colleagues,

I hope you all had a Happy Father's Day! I sure did, as I participated in Andy's Google+ Hangout, along with Jemila, which was was quite successful! Here is the edited video and summary (we ran into some technical errors), and while we could not get the original panel of guests, Shuang and Andy found a wonderful substitute in Hongxiang Huang. I thought it went really well, though my wife pointed out some of the ways I could have improved my performance (I said "umm" way too much, sadly... next time I will do better, honey!). This week there should be a lot of interesting events going on in the DC area, I hope to meet some of you on Tuesday for the  congressional discussion about US competitiveness in Africa as well as the remarks by the Honorable Raila A. Odinga, who will talk about Sino-African relations and Africa as a whole.
  • Jemila, along with Blogging Ghana, is putting together her own Hangout on Thursday, June 20. The panelists are still being worked out, but there are going to be a lot of them and a few of our members should be participating. And, in the same vein of Andy's Hangout, the participants will all be Chinese or African except for myself (I somehow keep representing the United States in all of these events...). Be sure to check it out!
  • If you have a bit of free time on your hands, I urge you to read through the latestSouth Africa Foreign Policy Initiative Digest, which can be found here. While mostly focused on BRICS issues, there are a number of pieces that are of interest to Sino-Africa watchers, (Thank you Prof. Park)
  • Since no one responded to the potluck idea, it has been dropped.
Enjoy the weather!

Area Events

By: The Office of Ranking Member Karen Bass, House Africa Subcommittee
Date and Time: Tuesday, June 18, 08:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Location: The Member’s Room, Thomas Jefferson Building
Library of Congress

Reaching Across the Pacific: Latin America and Asia in the New Century
By: Woodrow Wilson Center
Date and Time: Tuesday, June 18, 8:45 AM - 1:00 PM
Location: 5th Floor
Woodrow Wilson Center

A Briefing by The Honorable Raila A. Odinga: African Achievements and Challenges: Learning from the Past but Looking Forward
By: Woodrow Wilson Center
Date and Time: Tuesday, June 18, 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Location: 5th Floor
Woodrow Wilson Center

Amadou and Mariam (Thank you Edward)
By: 9:30 Club
Date and Time: Tuesday, June 20, 7:00 PM
Location: 9:30 Club
815 V St NW

Women as Agents of Change: Traditional Practices and Community-Based Social Change in Ethiopia
By: Woodrow Wilson Center
Date and Time: Thursday, June 20, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Location: 6th Floor
Woodrow Wilson Center

Cheick Hamala Diabate (Thank you Edward)
By: Kennedy Center
Date and Time: Thursday, June 20, 6:00 PM
Location: Kennedy Center - Millenium Stage
2700 F St NW

Emmanuel Jal (Thank you Edward)
By: Kennedy Center
Date and Time: Saturday, June 22, 6:00 PM
Location: Kennedy Center - Millenium Stage
2700 F St NW

Miss Africa USA Pageant (Thank you Edward)
By: Miss Africa USA Pageant 2013
Date and Time: Saturday, June 29, 07:00 PM
Location: The Fillmore Silver Spring
8656 Colesville Rd  Silver Spring, MD 20910

Conferences

  1. Asian Studies Association of Australia
  2. International Convention of Asia Scholars 8
  3. Oxford University China Africa Network & Alpha Professional Network Emerging Powers in Africa Forum

Calls for Papers

  1. Call for Papers - International Journal of Human Rights Special Issue: Corporate Power & Human Rights (Thank you Prof. Park)
  2. Call for Papers - Verge: Studies in Global Asias (Thank you Prof. Park)
  3. Call for Papers: State Policy and the Cultural Politics of Heritage-Making in East and Southeast Asia -  International Institute for Asian Studies (Thank you Prof. Park) 
  4. Call for Papers and Panels - Asian Studies Association of Australia (Thank you Prof. Park)
  5. Call for Proposals: China, UK, Low-Income Countries and Agriculture/Food Security - AgriTT (Thank you Prof. Brautigam)
  6. Call for Submissions - Politique Africaine (Thank you Prof. Park)

Opportunities (courtesy of Nina)

  1. Communication Advisor for Tanzania and Burundi - ActionAid
  2. Communication Advisor for Nigeria and Liberia - ActionAid
  3. Communications Coordinator for Africa - Center for International Forestry Research
  4. Convening Officer - Civicus
  5. Finance Analyst - International Finance Corporation
  6. Financial Consultant - Saferworld
  7. Grants Manager - International Organization for Migration
  8. IT Support Officer - Camfed
  9. Logistics Coordinator - QED Group
  10. Phandulwazi nge China Scholarship Programme for visiting scholars from Africa  - Stellenbosch University Centre for Chinese Studies
  11. Photographer - Adeso
  12. Product Manager - Grameen Foundation
  13. Project Coordinator - Invisible Children
  14. Program Manager, Education Programs - IREX
  15. Programme Funding Manager, Sahel - Christian Aid
  16. Program Officer - Freedom House
  17. Project Officer - Adeso
  18. Senior Fellow/Fellow, Africa Growth Initiative - Brookings
  19. Technical Project Manager - Grameen Foundation

Of Interest

Africa: The China-Africa Convergence: Can America Catch Up? - A balanced, nuanced look at how American involvement in Africa is trailing that of the Chinese, why it matters, and what must be done about it. Howard French is also awesome, so always read his stuff.
Anonymous ‘Baba Jukwa’ Facebook Dishes Dirt on Zimbabwe Politics  - Baba Jukwa, an anonymous Facebook poster writing about Zimbabwe politics from an insider's perspective, tells one story (out of many) about a Chinese contractor whose project was built  to support the Zimbabwe government rather than its people. It is not the fault of the Chinese though, they are just doing their job and the author's ire is directed towards the Zim government
Chinese investors look to broaden their African portfolios - If one can get over the "China is the best" tone of the article, there are some really great quotes and anecdotes to be found.
From Gold Mine to Land Mine – The Chinese in Ghana - This fantastic essay gathers social media sources and scholarly monographs and articles to talk about the situation in Ghana, and locates the tension within the context of different labor cultures. The story about Chinese racism and their handling of Ghanaian maids is quite chilling.
Leave Chinese alone - Prostitutes cry out - “'The galamsey [small-scale miners] operators don’t even ask for reduction for our services; they accept whatever prices we give them,' Victoria said. 'The Chinese galamseyers pay well unlike the ordinary Ghanaian who would ask for reduction,' she added." Who says the Chinese do not create jobs in Africa?
Lifan sees Africa as doorway to world - This interview with Yin Minshan, President of the automaker Chongqing Lifan group, talks about his companies plans to expand in Africa. A few of my buddies in China had Lifan motorcycles but I do not really know the company.
Over there: China ponders sending more combat troops on UN peacekeeping missions - A fascinating analysis of what China has to think about as it sends over 500 troops to Mali, some which might be actual soldiers rather than the usual engineers, medical workers, or transport staff.
SA is riding the Chinese dragon into a tempest - A look at how China's economic growth and contractions affect the South African economy. I am not sure the housing market situation in China is as dire as the author contends, though. As someone who predicted a Chinese housing crash back in 2009 for 2012-2013 (and planned to buy property in that crash), I learned to NEVER make predictions about the Chinese housing market, because you will always be wrong.
Save elephants from Chinese ivory trade or we lose them, says researcher - This piece joins the growing chorus of people who track the ivory poaching issue as saying China should do more about it.
Soft Power? China Has Plenty - An interesting overview of Chinese soft-power in Africa through the lens of aid and education, citing both Prof. Brautigam and Prof. Kenneth King. I think that the author oversells the point, and I could have done without the $74 billion aid figure cited, but worth a read regardless.
Taskforce dared to arrest chiefs benefiting from illegal mining - While much of the focus over last week's row over Chinese mining in Africa was directed at illegal Chinese miners, this piece talks about some of the actors who facilitated their actions: local chiefs.
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