Author: Kinfu Adisu, Thomas Sharkey, Sam C. Okoroafo.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the increasingly important economic and business relationship betweenthe People’s Republic of China and the countries of Africa. Our focus is on how this partnership manifests itselfin investments. The research questions are: first, how has the relationship changed over time and second, from anAfrican perspective has this relationship been beneficial? Finally, how has the recent economic downturnaffected their partnership? Our investigation shows that Chinese investment has been motivated by a desire toaccess critical resources (oil, bauxite, etc.). The Chinese approach was been to downplay political issues (e.g.,human rights). Although recipient African nations have received investment inflows, they have come withcertain drawbacks. For instance, they have negatively impacted local trade and commerce. Also, in some casesAfrican labor has not benefited from Chinese investment.