This book investigates China's emergence as an outside player in SSA over the last several
decades and the current understanding of the impact of Beijing's growing presence on the
continent including several case studies focused on specific SSA countries. China's
accelerating economic and political engagement with sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has gained growing
attention in political and academic circles as a topic of both praise and derision. China has
become the standard bearer of rising powers emerging from the developing world and has begun
to make inroads in its effort to secure strategic natural resources in a region traditionally
dominated by the status quo powers of the West. Publications concerning Sino-African relations
have increased rapidly over the last decade. Instead of asking whether or not China's role in
SSA is a positive for the continent's political economic and social development this book
focuses on often overlooked African publics and how they perceive China's engagement. Moreover
instead of constructing a uniform China meets Africa narrative this work examines China's
presence in sub-Saharan Africa on a country-by-country basis accounting for the intensity of
Chinese engagement the country's domestic political institutions and the way in which
political entrepreneurs within these systems choose to utilize Chinese involvement as an
instrument of political mobilization. It will be of interest to scholars and policy-makers
concerned with Africa and China's development and international relations.
