How Do Asian Powers Operate in Africa? It Is About More Than Just Raw Materials! CAPS Welcomed Africanist Dr. Linda Piknerová

On Monday, 13 April, the Centre for Asia-Pacific Studies (CAPS) held another event in its series of expert debates, this time focusing on the role of Asian powers in Africa. The main guest was Africa specialist Dr. Linda Piknerová.

The lecture offered a pragmatic perspective on the current environment across the African continent, examining the vast scale of Chinese integration, the historical footprint of North Korean architecture, and the strategic opportunities available to both international and Czech investors.

Dr. Piknerová emphasized that, in order to succeed in Africa, Czech exporters must abandon one-size-fits-all approaches and focus on stable countries such as South Africa, Benin, or Morocco. While China is pursuing massive and long-term integration on the continent, including the relocation of entire families and the construction of infrastructure, the Czech Republic, according to the expert, has a unique strategic advantage in the form of a “clean slate,” unburdened by a colonial past. Rather than competing with billion-dollar foreign capital, Czech companies should therefore concentrate on highly specialized technologies, for example in water management, and build on the strong historical reputation of Czechoslovak industry. A crucial condition for success in these markets, where the influence of Middle Eastern states is also set to grow and Russian destabilization will continue, is a lasting physical presence, the cultivation of informal personal relationships on the ground, and support for economic diplomacy.

The event concluded with a Q&A session, during which the discussion focused on the everyday operational obstacles faced by Czech exporters, the key role of state-supported economic diplomacy, and the real socioeconomic impact on local communities.

Jan Vavřík