The Contemporary West African Economic Development and its Relations with China

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2012 in the subject Economics - Case Scenarios grade: none Xiamen University (Research School of South-east Asian studies) course: World Economy language: English abstract: The rise of China may well be the most significant trend today redefining the geopolitics of Asia and the world beyond. This reflects in the influx of economic activities from various foreign investors who are attracted to the existence of a market for their products and services in the over 1.3 billion populated country. This also has some connections with the country's investments in other countries such as Sub Saharan Africa. For example Africa supplied 77% of oil 13 % of metalliferous ore 3% of cotton 2% wood 3% pear and precious stones to Chinese economy and on the demand side African economy sourced 5% industrial equipment 7% electrical appliances 8% telecommunication equipment 8% transport vehicles 14% clothing wares and 16% textiles from the Chinese economy. Essentially this significant development about China has been severally linked to its 'open-door policy' which took effect from the 1980sAlthough Sino-Nigerian economic interdependence has grown exponentially over the past few decades the contemporary waves of diplomatic relations appear to a reasonable extent mutually beneficial. Nigeria's quest for development with an aggressive campaign for FDI as one of the motivating forces has opened the economy which China is seen as an ideal business partner. Accordingly this paper through a critical review of the literature examines and evaluates the opportunities and challenges abound in the nascent economic and trade relationships and discusses the future prospects of the deals for the Chinese Nigerian and African socio-economic growth.Key Words: Africa China FDI Economic Nigeria Relations Investments