Africa, the Arabian Gulf and Asia: Changing Dynamics in Contemporary West Africa's Political Economy The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Akyeampong, Emmanuel K. 2011. "Africa, the Arabian Gulf and Asia: changing dynamics in contemporary west Africa's political economy." Journal of African Development 13 (1): 85-115. Published Version http://www.jadafea.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/ JAD_vol13_ch5complete.pdf Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:14018060 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Open Access Policy Articles, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#OAP Africa, the Arabian Gulf and Asia: Changing Dynamics in Contemporary West Africa’s Political Economy* Emmanuel Akyeampong History Department, Harvard University 1730 Cambridge Street Cambridge, MA 02138 Email:
[email protected] * The author is grateful to Dr. William Baah-Boateng for his assistance with the tables and figures in this paper, and to the two anonymous reviewers of this journal for their invaluable comments. ABSTRACT The last two to three decades have witnessed significant transformation in West Africa’s relations to the Arabian Gulf and Asia. While ties to countries such as Saudi Arabia are historic, economic liberalization since the 1980s has introduced new trading partners and some unexpected developments. The outcome of these recent developments can be startling: so in Ghana, for example, India and China have overtaken the United Kingdom, the former colonial power, in investments and the number of operating companies.