Flexigemony and Force in China's Geoeconomic Strategy in Africa: Sudan and Zambia Compared

Abstract

Abstract : The Chinese government and its companies have dramatically increased their presence in Africa in the last decade. There has been much media interest and commentary on the impacts of China on governance in Africa, as it is often seen to be strengthening authoritarian states such Sudan and Zimbabwe (Arrighi 2007). However, China is also engaging with more democratic states and spaces, such as Zambia. This paper seeks to explore the impacts of China’s increased engagement with Africa on governance through a comparative case study of two contrasting cases: Sudan and Zambia, using the concept of flexigemony. Contrary to popular perception, China has sometimes been a moderating force in Sudan, while provoking violence in Zambia. China’s rapid economic expansion over the past three decades has attracted increasing academic, media and government attention. As China has moved from being an exporter of raw materials and minerals to a large-scale importer, its global resource diplomacy has attracted particular interest; it now consumes one third of global steel output, 40% of cement and 26% of the world’s copper. Crucially, China’s trade with developing countries grew 88% faster than its trade with developed ones from 1999 to 2003 (Eisenman, Heginbotham et al. 2008). However, relatively little critical, analytical and systematic case-study based work has analysed the governance implications of this phenomenon.