ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a comparative analysis between the recent efforts of a redefined economic interaction between the European Union (EU) and countries of Sub-Saharan Africa in the form of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) and the contrasting impact of the growing Chinese economic expansion on the continent. At the beginning of the 21st century the trade department of the European Commission in Brussels initiated negotiations for a re-arrangement of its relations with the countries of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) through EPAs. The declared aim was a post-Cotonou agreement meeting the demands for compatibility under the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The latest concrete architectural monument symbolizing the ever-closer Sino-African ties was the newly built headquarters of the African Union, which was officially inaugurated at the end of January 2012 on occasion of the 18th AU summit in Addis Ababa.
