Aid within the China-Africa Partnership: Emergence of an Alternative to the NEPAD Development Paradigm?

Abstract

This paper analyses the aid aspect within Sino-African relations against the backdrop of the neoliberal development vision behind the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and asks to what extent China-Africa relations, as a model of South-South cooperation, propose an alternative to this development paradigm. It identifies three types of development-related issues that have emerged in this context and that can be seen as characterising the emerging development paradigm within the relation. This paradigm appears shaped by both neo-liberal principles and the mutual benefit concerns proclaimed under the South-South partnership. Not unlike China’s own development model, the paradigm seems to be developed in a pragmatic and gradualist way and lacks a clear theoretical foundation or negotiated consensus. Agency by African countries with regard to creating the right conditions for development will therefore be as important as in their relations with any other partner. (Manuscript received February 29, 2008; accepted for publication July 14, 2008)