Abstract

Luke Amadi

Scholars seek to articulate plausible explanations for the current world situation where the vast majority of countries are underdeveloped while a relatively small portion- the Western countries, are rich. From the classical Marxist analysis emerged the neo-Marxists, encompassing the Third World scholars theorizing on the persistence of this division and development alternatives. Their central argument is „development of underdevelopment�?? which forms the main strand of the dependency theory. However with the emergence of Brazil and China as global giants and the pervasive economic in-roads to Africa, a shift on Africa�??s dependency on the global north seems inevitable. Is a “new dependency” emerging or is Africa developing and catching up to rise beyond a new dependency? This paper seeks to engage in the ongoing perennial debate on Africa�??s dependency. It presents a critique of the dependency theory and argues that an inevitable economic growth of China will not only upturn the regional presence of America in Africa but will create a “new” relationship through Chinese soft technology-the new media and globalization. However the crux of the argument is whether this will in turn develop Africa or foster a new dependency within the global South. To interrogate these assumptions, this paper adopts international political economy (IPE) approach as a methodology to examine China/Africa relationship using post colonial tools of analysis.