Fortune Hogwe

The Role of China in Africa's Development: the Case of Zambia and Zimbabwe Fortune Hogwe

China?s economic involvement in Africa has increased rapidly over the past decade. In order to determine if China is pushed into Africa by its economic pursuits and whether China disregards good governance, the study uses two case studies thus: Zimbabwe and Zambia. Zimbabwe one the one hand represents a pariah state, which is viewed as corrupt and a nation which has a poor record of human rights while Zambia, on the other hand represents illiberal regimes and democratic regimes with commodity based economies. The research discovered that China?s economic involvement in Africa presents both opportunities and challenges for African countries. In some instances, China has aided GDP growth in some African countries while in some instances, it has increased unemployment. In conclusion, the study also discovered that China does not involve itself in African domestic affairs hence it has been criticised for encouraging corruption and abusing of human rights. However, the study notes that these issues are mainly domestic hence Africans are entirely to be blamed for such practices, not China.