Reclaiming Africa

Scramble and Resistance in the 21st Century

This book presents the findings of research conducted by scholars and activists associated with the Agrarian South Network, based mainly in Africa, Asia and Latina America. The research articulates a Southern perspective on the “new scramble” for Africa, with a view to strengthen tri-continental solidarities. The book explains the significance of the new scramble in terms of the economic structures inherited from the late-nineteenth-century scramble and the subsequent post-independence period. The renewed competition for Africa’s land and natural resources and the resumption of economic growth at the turn of the millennium have revived concerns regarding the continent’s position in the world economy and the prospects for its development in the twenty-first century. In this regard, the book addresses two related issues: the character of the expansion of Southern competitors in relation to the more established Western strategies; and the impact of the renewed influx of investments in land, minerals, and associated infrastructure. The findings are presented with empirical rigor and conceptual clarity, to enable the reader to grasp what really is at stake in the twenty-first century – an epic struggle to reclaim Africa from the monopolies that exercise control over its land, minerals, labour, and destiny.