April 21-22, 2023   276 Myron Taylor Hall, Cornell Law School

Sponsored by the Clarke Initiative for Law and Development in the Middle East and North Africa; Institute for African Development; and, the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Initiative.  Funded by the Einaudi Center for International Studies Cross-Program Initiative

The symposium will explore investment and development finance which is an important area of policy discussions in Africa and other developing areas of the world, as well as those that will give a brief overview of the scale of both Chinese and Middle Eastern investment in Africa. Additionally, multifaceted and multidisciplinary analytical approaches that will consider the role of Chinese and Gulf State investments in the development of Africa, especially Africa’s efforts to create a free trade area are welcomed. It will also look at the role foreign investment can play in resource mobilization for infrastructure development as well as the links between law, trade, and regional integration. The symposium's overall objective is to discuss and inform policies to pave the way forward for Africa’s response to Gulf States investments.