Economic and Development Issues in Nigeria-China Engagements, 1999-2020: Re-centering the Idea of Economic Diplomacy in Bilateral Relations

Abstract

Africa-China relations have remained one important external window through which African States interact with the outside world especially since the post-colonial period. Nigeria since her independence has in that line found some patterns of relations with China, though the relations were not so much substantial in the early years of post-Independence to compare with the metropolitan countries in the West. However, since the turn of the 1990’s decade, China's presence in Nigeria has hugely increased especially in the area of economy. This study therefore investigates Nigeria-China economic relations in the turn of the first two decades of the twenty first century. It looks at the channels, machineries, organization and outcomes of the relations. It also examines the impact of the relations on Nigeria's development. The paper therefore traces the historical and analytical voyage of this intercourse using written sources arriving at the various events that have taken place between the two nations and the outcome of their relationship in international system.