Announced in 2013 by Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Belt Road Initiative (BRI) is a global development project that extends across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. Most Western scholars and politicians have been highly critical of the BRI, particularly in connection with sub-Saharan Africa, defining the project as neo-imperialistic and arguing that only China would benefit from it in terms of political, economic, and military expansion. This thesis uses Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria as case studies to measure the effectiveness of the BRI in the development of these three countries. On the basis of this analysis, it can be posited that not only China, but also sub-Saharan African countries, specifically continental coastal democracies with access to natural resources that engage with China as business partners within the BRI's context, derive substantial benefits from their partnerships. To different degrees, Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria, are presented with opportunities to improve their infrastructure, enjoy economic growth, and reduce inequality by engaging in the BRI. Key Words:​ ​Sub-Saharan-Africa, China, Belt Road Initiative, development, economics, neo-imperialism, natural resources, infrastructure Title:​ China and Africa: The Dragon in The Lion's Den

The diploma thesis is focused on French neocolonialism towards its former African colonies. French neocolonialism is analysed from 1960 so called Year of Africa until nowadays. There are two case studies concerning recent French military interventions in Mali and Central Africa. The objective of this diploma thesis is to analyse French foreign approach towards the defined territory on the bases of specialized bibliography and primary resources, and to answer the question asked by the author of this diploma thesis in the Introduction of this piece and to reach the evaluation. The diploma thesis is structured into three parts. In the Introduction, there is a short summary of the topic and there is also the hypothesis stating that the French foreign policy towards its former African colonies shows characteristics of neocolonialism. The first chapter defines the basic terms such as colonialism, decolonisation and foreign policy. There is also a detailed description of terms necolonialism and postcolonialism. The second chapter analyses French actions in sub-Saharan Africa from 1960 till nowadays from the political, economic, cultural and military point of view. A special part of this chapter is a period from 1990 till our days. The third chapter is made of two case studies: military interventions in Mali and Central Africa that shows the neocolonial approach appearing in the French foreign policy towards sub-Saharan Africa. A part of this chapter is also a synthesis of both interventions. The conclusion of diploma thesis sums up all the knowledge gained thanks to the studying of specialized bibliography and it confirms the hypothesis set in the Introduction of this work.

Michaela Löfflerová Comparison of China-Angola and China-Nigeria relations in regards to energy security and Chinese investments Abstract The master thesis "Comparison of China-Angola and China-Nigeria relations in regards to energy security and Chinese investment" focuses on the analysis of Chinese activities towards Angola and Nigeria as representatives of Subsaharan oil-rich countries. The thesis aims to test two hypotheses about China's approach to Angola and Nigeria in the period 2000-2007 and 2008-2018. The first hypothesis, based on the concept of energy security, tests whether China's approach to oil-rich countries has changed over the period under review as a result of the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent global trends. The second hypothesis, based on the concept of neocolonialism, tests whether Chinese activities have expanded into other sectors through oil extraction, which in turn has led to a significant dependence of states on China. The diploma thesis aims to focus on economical, security, and political aspects using quantitative and qualitative analyzes. Monitoring China's activities in these countries serve as a case study of the impact of Chinese foreign policy on resource-rich countries in the second and third world. In the last chapters, the thesis will focus on the analysis of the...

The goal of this research is to shed light on the impact of European foreign direct investment and growing Chinese foreign direct investment in Sub-Saharan Africa through lenses of neocolonialism and orientalism. A case study analysis is utilized to grasp the topic appropriately. Two case studies were set - Senegal and Zambia case study. While Senegal serves predominantly as a case study for the impact of EU foreign direct investments, The case study of Zambia helps to understand how Chinese FDI inflow affects Sub-Saharan countries. Therefore, six hypotheses were outlined. This work researches the impact of FDI on the level of democracy represented by the democratic index of The Economist Intelligence Unit, business freedom embodied in The Heritage Foundation's economic freedom index, and stability of state symbolised by the fragile state index studied by The Fund for Peace. All three indexes above are available for free online. The correlation between EU FDI and level of democracy was confirmed while Chinese FDI negatively affects democratic development in studied countries. Next, European FDI positively affects the level of economic freedom in Senegal as well as Zambia. Nevertheless, increased Chinese FDI inflow to the countries deteriorated their economic freedom. Lastly, there is no clear...