The African Studies Association India (ASA India), in partnership with the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi, will, on Tuesday, hold an international webinar on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Africa.
This was disclosed in a statement made available to Tribune Online by one of the participants at the conference and the Head, Department of History, University of Ibadan, Professor Olutayo Adesina, on Monday.
The online conference, tagged “COVID 19 and Africa’s Engagement with China: Implications for India and other Major Partners of Africa”, will hold from 3 PM to 530PM (IST), through Webex.
As the theme connotes, the web conference, in its concept, seeks to look at the impacts and implications of the Coronavirus pandemic through its engagement with China, where the virus originated from, and other major African partners.
The two-hour conference will draw renowned scholars and speakers from Nigeria, Hong Kong, South Africa, Russia, India, Germany, France, South Korea and London.
Confirmed speakers at the web conference included Dr Raymond LAU Kwun-Sun, Hong Kong Baptist University;
Professor Siphamandla Zondi, University of Pretoria, South Africa; Professor Adesina, University of Ibadan, Nigeria; and Dr Alexandra Arkhangelskaya, Institute for African Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences.
Others included Dr Karen Vasquez, Fudan University and O.P. Jindal, Global University, Sonepat; Dr Sushmita Rajwar, Faculty, Delhi University & ASA Researcher; Dr Alex Vines, OBE, Chatham House, London and Professor Alexander Stroh-Steckelberg, University of Bayreuth, Germany.
Expected international participants at the open discussion included Dr Jean Regis Ramasamy, historian and journalist, Reunion, France and Professor Y. K. Chang, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS), Seoul, Korea.
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“The world is undergoing a new crisis given by the COVID-19 and each and every nation is trying its best to safeguard itself. In a world after Corona, global order and configuration of power are going to be realigned.
“Institutions of global governance are going to be an important instrument for countries legitimately seeking new roles and positions in crafting this new world order.
“China, as a global power, in the last two decades has emerged as the biggest economic force in Africa. In terms of trade (US$200billion), investment, turnkey projects, strategic BRI works, and its geographical spread in Africa, has left behind all traditional powers in Africa.
“Coronavirus emerging from Wuhan and becoming a global pandemic has raised several challenges for China’s global connect and its relationship with the African Continent.
“After Coronavirus there would be major changes in the relationship between Africa and China. Otherwise, also African countries were already reassessing their relations with China under FOCAC or its bilateral economic assistance.
“African countries would themselves like to recast their global relationship with their existing major partners of Africa both bilaterally and collectively through AU and AfCFTA.
“India, Europe, UK, USA, Brazil, on the other hand, would also like to recalibrate their relationship in this dynamic and changing world order and emerging opportunities in Africa.
“It is from this perspective, it would be pertinent to discuss how Africa and each of these major players look at their engagements with Africa in the context of ‘Before Corona and After Corona’ crisis,” the statement read.
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