I attended the two day Yale Africa-China Conference at the Lagos Business School, on the theme, Africa-China Relations: Balance, Growth and Sustainable Future from March 16 – 17, 2016.
The conference brought together established and rising thought leaders on Africa-China relations, including scholars, experts, entrepreneurs, policy makers, activists and opinion leaders. Rather than reiterating well-known problems, the conferences will move beyond existing debates. The objective was to mobilize novel ideas, arguments and solutions to promote balance, sustainability and growth in Africa-China relations.
In opening the conference, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, a Nigerian scholar and diplomat, emphasized that a sustainable relationship between Africa and China is good for both parties and the world at large. Professor Gambari warned against rhetoric that characterizes the relationship as neocolonial, and stressed that China’s investment in Africa is multidimensional and does not just include natural resources.
The aim of the conference was to integrate African, Chinese and Global Perspectives, discussing and debating on question like: How can African societies benefit from intensified economic and political ties with China? How can China benefit from socially and political sustainable investments into African economies? etc.
For more information about the Africa-China Conferences produced by emc3 Nigera and the full Lagos conference program, visit http://africa-china.yale.edu.
The Africa-China conferences are convened by Yale University, Lagos Business School, and Peking University with corporate and financial support from Cummins Inc. and TigerJade Resources Ltd.; with academic and financial support from Yale Africa Initiative, The Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale, The Stephen and Ruth Hendel ‘73 Fund for Innovation in Africa at Yale University, The Hakeem and Myma Belo-Osagie Forum on Contemporary Africa at Yale University, Council on African Studies at Yale University, and the Council on East Asian Studies at Yale University; with network support from University of Ghana Business School, University of Cape Town, Fudan University School of Management, and Yale School of Management’s Global Network for Advanced Management.
Content culled from Yale University