Abstract

Are Africa's world markets really contributing to development across the continent for individuals, nations and regions? This is the key question posed by Margaret Lee in this provocative book, in which she argues that all too often the voices of African traders are obscured amid a blizzard of statistical analysis. However, it is these very voices - from those operating on the ground as formal or informal traders - that must be listened to in order to form a true understanding of the impact trade regimes have on these individuals and their communities. Featuring a wealth of oral histories from across sub-Saharan Africa and beyond, including Africans in China, Africa's World Trade offers a unique insight into how the complexity of international trade agreements can shape the everyday lives of ordinary Africans.
Margaret C. Lee is associate professor in the Department of African, African American, and Diaspora studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is the author of The Political Economy of Regionalism in Southern Africa; SADCC: The Political Economy of Development in Southern Africa; and co-editor of Unfinished Business: The Land Crisis in Southern Africa and The State and Democracy in Africa. Her current research focuses on Africa’s international trade regimes and globalization from above.
'This is a necessary and sobering analysis of Afro-neoliberal capitalism and particularly of the Chinese impact. The in-depth case studies add value to a discourse which is critical of welcoming new actors without a closer examination of the effects they have both on the majority of the people involved and those affected at the receiving end.' Henning Melber, director emeritus of The Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation 'The opening up of Africa to Chinese investment and trade has become a staple of Africanist discourse over the last decade. However, far too little attention has been paid to the role of Africans as agents in this process. Through an intimate and deeply sympathetic study of the triumphs and tribulations of African economic involvements with the Chinese, this important contribution to the literature hugely extends our understanding of a major dimension of South-South relations. It deserves to command the attention all those interested in world trade and development across a range of disciplines.' Roger Southall, professor emeritus, Department of Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand 'Through the stories of the traders, migrants and others who connect Africa with China, Margaret Lee enlightens readers on the human mesh that sustains economic relations between China and Africa. This work is set to inform and influence the varied studies and policy reviews that are being undertaken in this fast developing area.' Francis Botchway, Qatar University