Ana Cristina Dias Alves is an Assistant Professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. She received her Ph.D. in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2012. She holds a Bachelor’s degree (1996) and a Master’s (2005) in International Relations from the School of Political and Social Sciences (ISCSP, Portuguese acronym) – Technical University of Lisbon (currently University of Lisbon).

Previously, Alves worked as researcher at the Orient Institute (1998-2006) and lecturer at ISCSP (2000-2006), in Lisbon, teaching subjects related to Asia. In 2006, she went to London to pursue her Ph.D. with a scholarship from the Portuguese Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Her dissertation was a comparative study of China’s engagement in the oil industries in Angola and Brazil. In 2010, she moved to Johannesburg as a Senior Researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs, ranked as the top think tank in Sub-Saharan Africa. There, she researched China, Brazil, and other emerging powers’ engagement with the continent. She has published widely on China-Africa relations, including a book co-edited with Marcus Power called China in Angola: A Marriage of Convenience? (Fahamu, 2012).

Last Updated: April 16, 2018

Angola: China’s Risky Gamble in Africa

Eric Olander, Cobus van Staden & more
China has loaned Angola an estimated U.S.$60 billion dollars since the two countries established diplomatic relations back in 1983, making it one of the top destinations for Chinese financing in Africa. Angola is especially attractive for the...