ABSTRACT
In the new millennium, perceptions of the African continent changed dramatically as new powerful Asian actors, such as China and India, emerged to alter Africa’s international position. In May 2000, the front page of The Economist ran its famous “hopeless continent” headline, while more than a decade later, in December 2011, it maintained that Africa was the “rising continent”. Findings indicate that African nations have achieved remarkable economic growth. This has been attributed to administrative reforms and institutional development, an improved revenue allocation structure, particularly in favour of infrastructure investments, and economic reforms improving productivity and the business climate. In addition, the reforms have paved the way for a revival of foreign direct investment in Africa’s natural resources industries, with China leading the way. This is now part of a broader economic trend of accelerating investment and trade between African nations and emerging countries, including India, Brazil and the Middle East, profoundly re-ordering global trade and investment patterns (CII-WTO, 2013; UNECA, 2011:1–3).
