China, architecture and Ghana’s spaces: Concrete Signs of a soft Chinese imperium?

Abstract

Africa’s interaction with China is beginning to be marked tellingly by Chinese architectural inscriptions on the African cityscape which need to be deconstructed. The furore in the African press and academia that greeted the building and handing over by China of the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa makes such an interrogation imperative. This study will attempt to offer some understanding of this nascent phenomenon using the Accra cityscape as an exemplary point of reference. In this regard this work seeks to locate the meaning of fortifications within contemporary global and local discourses on power, architecture, symbols, interests and international relations.