Africa: The role of China in Africa

Africa was the subject of unprecedented international political attention in 2005. In March, the Commission for Africa - set up by Tony Blair - published its report, Our Common Future, which provided an extremely detailed analysis of the challenges facing the continent and of the policy responses that might better help to tackle them. However, international policy makers have underestimated the extent to which China is now a major player in Africa. They have failed to fully appreciate the extent to which China’s engagement in Africa has the potential to seriously undermine some of their existing policy initiatives towards the continent.