China's African Empire (the Country That Captured A Continent)

By (author) Kenyon Paul
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China has become a major force in Africa – a successor to the old European empires. This is how they did it.
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''A must read'' Peter Frankopan

From the bestselling author of Dictatorland, this is the long and turbulent history of China’s growing influence over African states.

People are increasingly fascinated by – and terrified of – the role of China in the modern world. In Africa, this role has become something akin to a new colonial power. With unique insight into how China operates overseas, Paul Kenyon charts the country’s extraordinary success in exploiting Africa''s natural resources, consumers, workforce and political institutions.

In the 1950s African states gained independence from one set of colonisers and quickly struck up deals with a new, more insidious kind. Kenyon tells of how Mao and his comrades cultivated new African leaders – Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana, Julius Nyerere in Tanzania and a young Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe – in exchange for lucrative deals and political influence that has never left. Now, Chinese power is built into the very structures of the continent, from roads to jobs to internet access.

Today China''s presence is ubiquitous in Africa, both visibly and invisibly. Whilst Xi Jinping offers huge building projects, joint exploitation of mineral wealth and easy credit to African states still struggling to develop, Chinese tech companies have gained control over the continent’s data, technological infrastructure and social media. This is a terrifying and ever more important story about the new economic and political hierarchies that shape our modern world.

Review quote:
Expansive, provocative and impressively researched. Paul Kenyon tells the long story of China’s engagement with Africa with tremendous energy, asking searching questions about power, dependency and the new forms that empire can take in the modern world. A must-read for those interested in Africa, in China’s expanding global footprint or geopolitics at a time of rapid change.
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Those who think only of European countries when they think of colonialism in Africa will have to change their habits... a fascinating and revelatory study.
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A brilliant panoramic, punchy account of a major geopolitical development.
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Vivid, entertaining, timely, erudite. A deep and unflinching exploration of China’s long and uneasy relationship with Africa.
Biographical note:
Paul Kenyon is a distinguished BBC correspondent and BAFTA award-winning journalist. He has reported from danger-zones around the world for BBC Panorama, pushing the boundaries of investigative journalism. Kenyon is the recipient of an Association of International Broadcasters Award, and three Royal Television Society awards. His recent books are Dictatorland and Children of the Night.
Promotional headline:
China has become a major force in Africa – a successor to the old European empires. This is how they did it.
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Brilliantly ironic historical narrative that spares neither the ruthless Chinese Maoists nor their deluded African collaborators
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China is the major new superpower, and in Africa it has gained an advantage over the West. As the world is riven with confrontation between the USA and China, this book exposes one of the major flashpoints of that rivalry
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Paul Kenyon is a well respected BBC correspondent and a great publiciser of his work. His previous book Dictatorland has sold more than 66,000 copies.
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For fans of When China Rules the World and An African History of Africa