Global China Conversations #33
How (differently) have Chinese Firms invested in and changed Africa?
The Chinese government officially initiated regular dialogues with African countries at the beginning of the 21st century and has since actively encouraged Chinese firms to invest in and do business with Africa. The launch of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013 gave another, and stronger policy boost to Chinese firms’ economic engagement in Africa. Chinese firms with business activities in Africa have, however, often drawn harsh criticism for their allegedly deficient working conditions and severe damage caused to the environment. Who are the Chinese multinationals doing business in Africa? Are they different from their western counterparts and in which aspect are they most differently from each other? How have such differences been further developing over time? What role can policies play here to foster sustainable development in Africa?
Program
The event consists of different impulse lectures followed by a discussion.
The Global China Conversation #33 will be held in English.
Literature
The impulse lectures refer to the following publications:
Speaker
Holger Görg
Prof. Holger Görg, Ph.D. is Director of the Research Center “Trade” at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and Professor of International Economics at the university of Kiel. Since 2016 he has been Managing Director of Kiel Centre for Globalization. He is also a Research Fellow at the Tuborg Centre for Globalisation and Firms at Aarhus University, the Leverhulme Centre for Research on Globalisation and Economic Policy at the University of Nottingham and the IZA in Bonn.
Reginald Yofi Grant
Reginald Yofi Grant is CEO of the Ghana Investment Promotion Center, under the Office of the President of Ghana. He is a council member of the Continental Business Network of the African Union and a board member of the OACP Endowment and Trust Fund. He serves on the Steering Board of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies, representing sub-Saharan Africa. Additionally, he is actively involved in multiple private and public sector boards and committees.
Hong Zhao
Prof. Hong Zhao is an associate professor at Nankai University in China. She serves as a partner expert at UNIDO in 2024. She obtained her Ph.D. from McGill University in Canada in 2017. Her research interests lie in macroeconomics and environmental economics, and she has published articles in leading journals such as the Journal of International Economics, the Journal of Environmental Economics Management, and Energy Economics, among others.
Moderation
Finn Mayer-Kuckuk
Finn Mayer-Kuckuk is a business journalist with a focus on East Asia. He heads the editorial staff of China. Table, the daily professional briefing for experts in business, science, politics and organizations. Mayer-Kuckuk has worked as a Beijing correspondent for the Handelsblatt and the DuMont Group, and later represented a number of media outlets as a business correspondent at the Bundespressekonferenz in Berlin.
Contact
Moritz Haase