African economies are currently experiencing an upsurge in foreign ownership of key parts of their economies. This, however, is not new, and in the wake of independence several African countries pursued indigenisation policies to bring ownership back to their own citizens. Now indigenisation policies thrive again, this time disguised in terms such as ‘empowerment’,...

The current strong foothold of Chinese enterprises on the African continent concerns many Western observers. They fear that the West will lose leverage in Africa and simultaneously postpone development. Paradoxically, the advance of Chinese enterprises in Africa is not only the result of deliberate Chinese policies to gain access to resources and markets, but also ...