Lina Benabdallah is an ABD PhD candidate at the department of Political Science and Center for African Studies at UF. She is an avid follower of China-Africa relations broadly defined and focused her dissertation on the aspect of capacity building and vocational training programs.
Benabdallah’s research (based on fieldwork experience in China and Ethiopia) investigates the role of human resource development programs in Chinese foreign policy in Africa. Her research explores how China builds and projects power in its relations with African states besides its increasing economic leverage. She posits: how do we make sense of China’s increasing investments in human resource development for African states?
Benabdallah’s dissertation argues that China’s power projection in Africa goes beyond material capability and financial prowess and is better accounted for by understanding the role of providing capacity building programs and vocational trainings for Africans of all walks of life (peacekeepers, military officers, medical staff, journalists, civil servants of all ranks, etc.). It finds that expert knowledge productions and skills transfers programs are central to China’s power building mechanisms in Africa. Training African professionals in China provides opportunities for Chinese skills, knowledge, norms, and development model to be marketed as an alternative for African participants.