China's African Empire

From the bestselling author of Dictatorland, this is the long and turbulent history of China's growing influence over African states.

People are increasingly fascinated by - and terrified of - the role of China in the modern world. In Africa, this role has become something akin to a new colonial power. With unique insight into how China operates overseas, Paul Kenyon charts the country's extraordinary success in exploiting Africa's natural resources, consumers, workforce and political institutions.

In the 1950s African states gained independence from one set of colonisers and quickly struck up deals with a new, more insidious kind. Kenyon tells of how Mao and his comrades cultivated new African leaders - Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana, Julius Nyerere in Tanzania and a young Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe - in exchange for lucrative deals and political influence that has never left. Now, Chinese power is built into the very structures of the continent, from roads to jobs to internet access.

Today China's presence is ubiquitous in Africa, both visibly and invisibly. Whilst Xi Jinping offers huge building projects, joint exploitation of mineral wealth and easy credit to African states still struggling to develop, Chinese tech companies have gained control over the continent's data, technological infrastructure and social media. This is a terrifying and ever more important story about the new economic and political hierarchies that shape our modern world.

Review

Expansive, provocative and impressively researched. Paul Kenyon tells the long story of China's engagement with Africa with tremendous energy, asking searching questions about power, dependency and the new forms that empire can take in the modern world. A must-read for those interested in Africa, in China's expanding global footprint or geopolitics at a time of rapid change. -- Peter Frankopan

Those who think only of European countries when they think of colonialism in Africa will have to change their habits... a fascinating and revelatory study. -- Adam Hochschild

A brilliant panoramic, punchy account of a major geopolitical development. -- Jonathan Fenby

Vivid, entertaining, timely, erudite. A deep and unflinching exploration of China's long and uneasy relationship with Africa. -- Andrew Harding

About the Author

Paul Kenyon is a distinguished BBC correspondent and BAFTA award-winning journalist and author. He has reported from danger-zones around the world for BBC Panorama, pushing the boundaries of investigative journalism and asking the questions many wouldn't dare - from tackling Gaddafi's son in a cage full of lions, to secretly filming Iran's secret nuclear sites. Kenyon is the recipient of an Association of International Broadcasters Award, three Royal Television Society awards, and is the author of Dictatorland, a Financial Times Book of the Year. He lives in London with his wife, Flavia.