China in Africa: New Growth Engine or Colonialism Redux?

6:30PM Cocktail Reception; 7:00PM Panel Discussion

Moderator: Dinda Elliott

Speakers: Irene Yuan Sun, Deborah Bräutigam

Event Fee: $10 Members, $20 Non-members, $5 Students

 

As Chinese factories mushroom across the African continent and the Chinese government extends its “One Road, One Belt” to Africa with railroads and infrastructure, China’s strategy seems very different from the United States’ historical approach: Instead of seeing Africa as a place in need of aid, China regards Africa as a land full of business opportunities. Will the Chinese way lead Africa into modernization or layers of problems? To find out more, join the insightful panel discussion at the China Institute with Irene Yuan Sun, author of The Next Factory of the World: How Chinese Investment is reshaping Africa, and Professor Deborah Bräutigam, author of The Dragon’s Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa.

 

Speaker Bios:

 

Dr. Deborah Bräutigam has been writing about China, Africa, state-building, governance and foreign aid for almost 30 years. Currently Professor of International Development at American University’s School of International Service, she has also held faculty appointments at Columbia University in New York, Silpakorn University in Thailand, and been a fellow with the Centre for Chinese Studies, Stellenbosch University, South Africa; the Universities of Liberia, Mauritius, and Sierra Leone; and C. Michelsen Institute in Bergen, Norway. Dr. Bräutigam is the author of The Dragon’s Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa. Her other books include Chinese Aid and African Development: Exporting the Green Revolution and Aid Dependence and Governance.

 

Irene Yuan Sun co-leads McKinsey & Company’s research and client work on Africa-China business and economic development. She is a thinker and practitioner focused on understanding developing countries’ experiences in order to remake global development. She is a leading expert on the Africa-China economic relationship. Born in China, raised in the U.S., and working in Africa, Irene brings a global perspective that crosses boundaries of East and West, developing and developed countries. Ms. Sun is the author of The Next Factory of the World: How Chinese Investment is Reshaping Africa.