The six-nation East African Community can be a top trade hub. Major powers are vying for a part of the action.
IN recent years, strategic focus has firmly been trained on the South China Sea. It is here that a rising China—and for some, an assertive one—had been pitted against several neighbours, many of them close allies of the United States, making claims and counter-claims on its is lands and reefs in an attempt to establish influence over important sea lanes passing through the Asia-Pacific.
But, thousands of miles away, hectic activities are also on in the eastern seaboard of Africa along the Indian Ocean, where several regional players as well as global majors are jostling for space and influence in an area which China, say experts, is keen to turn into its main continental outpost for its One-Belt-One-Road (OBOR) activities. It has already made heavy investments in its attempt to link small towns in the remote hinterland to big cities of the coastal areas along its mega-Silk Route projects that criss-cross several countries.
Much of the activities are centered on the newly formed East African Community (EAC), projected to be ‘the most economically promising bloc of states in the continent’ with the ultimate goal of turning it into a federation. But even as experts are busy studying its actualisation and impact on Africa and beyond, the bloc has started attracting players from both neighbouring African countries as well as other bigger global players, including the US, the European Union and India, besides China. Each of these countries is now busy positioning themselves in a manner that would yield them the biggest benefits in the days to come.
This story is from the March 13, 2017 edition of Outlook.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 13, 2017 edition of Outlook.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
The Propaganda Files
A recent spate of Hindi films distorts facts and creates imaginary villains. Century-old propaganda cinema has always relied on this tactic
Will Hindutva Survive After 2024?
The idealogy of Hindutva faces a challenge in staying relevant
A Terrific Tragicomedy
Paul Murray's The Bee Sting is a tender and extravagant sketch of apocalypse
Trapped in a Template
In the upcoming election, more than the Congress, the future of the Gandhi family is at stake
IDEOLOGY
Public opinion will never be devoid of ideology: but we shall destroy ourselves without philosophical courage
The Many Kerala Stories
How Kerala responded to the propaganda film The Kerala Story
Movies and a Mirage
Previously portrayed as a peaceful paradise, post-1990s Kashmir in Bollywood has become politicised
Lights, Cinema, Politics
FOR eight months before the 1983 state elections in undivided Andhra Pradesh, a modified green Chevrolet van would travel non-stop, except for the occasional pit stops and food breaks, across the state.
Cut, Copy, Paste
Representation of Muslim characters in Indian cinema has been limited—they are either terrorists or glorified individuals who have no substance other than fixed ideas of patriotism
The Spectre of Eisenstein
Cinema’s real potency to harness the power of enchantment might want to militate against its use as a servile, conformist propaganda vehicle