2025/07/01 by Obert Hodzi
paper · doi:10.1017/s1049096525000356
Over the past five years, China–Africa engagements have undergone significant changes, mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Padraig Carmody (2021) describes the pandemic’s effect on China’s global engagements as a critical juncture. This is because due to its extended lockdown, China prioritized domestic consumption and sustainability of its economy, buffering it from external pressures. This led to China restructuring its position in the global supply chains, exposing Africa’s dependency on China and other external powers for both financing and manufactured goods. With most African countries’ economies dependent on exports of primary commodities, these shifts in the global supply chain and reorientation of the Chinese economy led to financial depression in Africa, leaving countries unable to finance critical development projects and service their foreign debts.