China’s expansion in Africa and its implications for African language education policy

Abstract

The scale and the speed of Chinese expansion in Africa are unprecedented in Africa’s modern history. In less than fifteen years, China has become one of Africa’s main trading and financial partners: for example, trade between China and Africa jumped nearly sixfold between 1999 and 2004 and there are more than 800 Chinese businesses operating across Africa (Karen, 2008) with investment of more than $US1.25 billion (Naidu, 2007).