Growing Asian influence in Africa under discussion

Addis Ababa, 9 October – ECA, together with the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), is holding a two-day meeting to discuss the growing importance of Asian countries for sub-Saharan Africa.

Participants meeting at ECA headquarters in Addis Ababa are debating the increasing engagement of China and India – the “Asian drivers”- with the continent. Their involvement in Africa is fast changing the dynamics of the continent’s relationship with the rest of the world. For example, China’s trade with Africa has grown from $10 billion five years ago, to a staggering $40 billion today. It has pledged to boost trade with Africa to $100 billion within the next five years. And India has been active for some time in several African countries due to its historical ties. More recently, India’s activities in Africa in the areas of information technology and the pharmaceutical industry have been growing.

The arrival of the two countries on the world stage and their activities in agriculture and forestry, manufacturing (especially textiles), mining, infrastructure, international politics and governance are becoming very significant in more and more African countries. The main areas of interaction include trade, investment and aid.

The debate on the emergence of these two countries as important actors on the African scene has been ongoing in other parts of the world - largely from their own perspectives. This two day meeting (9-10 October) brings together leading African researchers and high level government policymakers to discuss the opportunities, threats and challenges presented by these two emerging global giants. The aim of the meeting is to agree on a research agenda whose findings will contribute to a more informed response within Africa to the possibilities presented by China and India.

The meeting has added importance as it follows the just-concluded AU Expert meeting on Strategic Partnership with China, India and Brazil, and precedes the Sino-African Summit in Beijing next month.

The meeting will be followed by a conference on Poverty, Inequality and Labour Markets which will disseminate the results of a recent AERC research program on those topics and ECA’s ongoing work on Poverty and the Millennium Development Goals.

(The African Economic Research Consortium AERC), is a public not-for-profit organization devoted to advanced policy research and training in economics. Its objective is to strengthen local capacity for conducting independent, rigorous inquiries into the management of economies in sub-Saharan Africa.)

For additional information, please contact:
1. Prof. Olu Ajakaiye, Director of Research, AERC, Mebank Towers, 3rd Floor, Milimani Road, P.O. Box 62882-00200, Nairobi, Kenya. Tel: 254-20-2734150/7 e-mail: olu.ajakaiye@aercafrica.org

2. Kasirim Nwuke, Chief, MDGs/Poverty Analysis and Monitoring Section, African Centre for Gender and Social Development, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Tel 251-11-5443375 E-mail: knwuke@uneca.org