The Second Cold War Observatory2 Okt 2023

Africa and the Second Cold War: Infrastructure, Corridors, and Critical Minerals with Dr. Tim Zajontz

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Tim Zajontz to discuss growing geopolitical and geoeconomic competition across infrastructure, economic corridors, and resource extraction in Africa, specifically Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia.

Dr. Zajontz is a Lecturer in Global Political Economy at the Dresden University of Technology, Germany. He is also a Research Fellow at the Centre for International and Comparative Politics at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. His research focuses on Africa’s international relations and political economy, particularly Africa-China and Africa-EU relations. Before joining academia, Tim worked in several advisory positions in German and EU politics. He is also the co-founder of a German not-for-profit that collaborates with partners in the social and health sectors in Uganda. Tim currently researches geopolitical developments on the African continent and the political economy of competing connectivity initiatives in Africa and has co-edited a book on Africa’s Railway Renaissance, which was recently published.

Recommended Resources:

Zajontz, T. 2023. The Political Economy of China’s Infrastructure Development in Africa Capital, State Agency, Debt.
Zajontz, T, Pádraig Carmody, Mandira Bagwandeen, Anthony Leysens (editors). 2024. Africa’s Railway Renaissance: The Role and Impact of China.
Zajontz, T. 2022. ‘Win-win’ contested: negotiating the privatisation of Africa's Freedom Railway with the ‘Chinese of today’. The Journal of Modern African Studies.
Zajontz, T. 2022. Debt, distress, dispossession: towards a critical political economy of Africa’s financial dependency. Review of African Political Economy.
Zajontz, T. 2022. Seamless imaginaries, territorialized realities: the regional politics of corridor governance in Southern Africa. Territory, Politics, Governance.

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