A core legacy of the New International Economic Order of the 1970s is the rise of the South-South economic cooperation. Since 1980, trade and investment relations between African and Asian states have been growing ever closer. Indeed, the unique ways in which African-Asian economic cooperation manifests has been a defining feature of Africa’s international economic relations since the end of decolonization.
While the analysis of Sino-African and Indo-African relations have been at the forefront of scholarly analysis for understandable reasons, the economic relations of African states go beyond the dominant actors in the Asian region.
African-Asian economic relations have evolved considerably over time, ‘with technical cooperation growing not only in terms of trade volumes and the value of financial assistance and investment flows but also in terms of the geographic reach of countries working together.’ Despite the rise of African-Asian cooperation in the last four decades, African states play a marginal role in the global international economic order producing distinct schools of thought. While the first school of thought, the critiques, argue that Asian-African economic cooperation is immersed in power relations that are akin to that of the West; others embrace the relations for the investment and economic growth opportunities that they create.
We invite authors to author blogs that critically examine the intersection of trade, development, and investment in African-Asian economic relations. We are particularly keen to receive blogs that focus on, but are not limited to:
- historical and contemporary accounts of forms of governance and regulation in African-Asian trade and investment relations;
- the impact of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) in African-Asian relations;
- mechanisms for dispute settlement in trade and investment disputes arising between African and Asian countries;
- the significance and impact of the Belt and Road Initiative from economic, social, cultural and environmental perspectives;
- sustainable development in African-Asian trade and investment agreements;
- the role of inter-national governance in shaping development strategies across African and Asian countries;
- the role of private actors in shaping and influencing governance in bilateral and regional agreements;
- corporate social responsibility;
- investment facilitation and trade facilitation.
Submission Guidelines:
Essays that are submitted as part of this symposium must be analytical and original. Authors must comply with the Afronomicslaw.org blog submission guidelines accessible here. Blogs are to be submitted to afronomicslaw@gmail.com with the title 'African-Asian Relations Blog Submission'.
Deadline:
April 30th, 2021.
Inquiries or clarifications relating to this call should be directed to Olabisi Akinkugbe (Olabisi.akinkugbe@dal.ca) and Clair Gammage (c.gammage@bristol.ac.uk)