African Perceptions of Donor Agencies: emerging developments in Sino-African relations

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that African perceptions of donor agencies such as China may differ from country to country, and are informed by elements such as the country of origin, the knowledge base and orientation towards China. China has been a longstanding partner of Africa since time immemorial through series of trade and cultural exchanges. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches to inquiry, we collect primary data via social survey using google forms with questionnaires administered to participants of ten (10) and six (6) tertiary institutions in Ghana and Togo respectively. This is to give voice to participants from Francophone and Anglophone speaking countries on the subject matter. We give more meaning to the survey data using documentary evidence. Evidence from our frequency distribution of the weighted responses on the various dimension of engagement and that of our phenomenology and narrative tools indicate that there are no singular overarching African perception of China as a donor agent; as the African continent is a 55-state region with diverse conflicting political, economic and socio-cultural proclivities. Africans have embraced China as an emerging force but unlike traditional multilateral bodies, China prefer to deal with Africa on an individual level without going public on matters relating to debt reliefs.