Common Heritage Foundation

Perceptions play a critical role in international affairs. Politicians must be able to consider and forecast both challenges and opportunities. Public opinion has the power to change the course of politics. As the world becomes more interconnected, it’s critical to comprehend how China is perceived and how this affects China’s global effect. Although it only makes up a small part of overall Chinese OFDI, this investment class has recently drawn interest because of its sectoral and geographic diversification. Nigeria has been one of China’s top 40 trading partners for more than five decades. For some time, it has been the leading African investment destination for Chinese investment in the continent. The pursuit of multilateral agreements has a significant effect on how countries engage in the political and economic realm. This study used both quantitative and qualitative methods. The study adopted simple random sampling techniques to allow for equal and unbiased respondents’ participation in the primary data collection. The response scale was base on a 1 - 5 points Likert scale. Secondary data was sourced from archival materials, published books or scholarly works, the internet, international organization official documents, journals, press releases, newspapers. The overall research accepts the study’s alternative hypothesis, which shows that perhaps the ten outlined perceptions of Nigerians towards Chinese FDIs and its acceptability are heavily influenced by the success of FDI by Chinese investors and businesses in Nigeria’s market climate. The importance and positive outcomes of such FDI are heavily reliant on Nigerian perceptions of Chinese FDI and their acceptability and the investment target region.

In most African countries, the district sphere of governance is a colonial creation for harnessing resources from the communities that are located far away from the centre with the assistance of minimally skilled personnel who are subordinate to the central authority with respect to decision-making and initiative. Unfortunately, postcolonial reforms of district governance have retained the hierarchical structure of the local government. Anchored to such a district arrangement, the (district) health system (DHS) is too weak and impoverished to function in spite of enormous knowledge and natural resources for a seamless implementation of universal health coverage (UHC). Sadly, the quick-fix projects of the 1990s with the laudable intention to reduce the burden of disease within a specified time-point dealt the fatal blow on the DHS administration by diminishing it to a stop-post and a warehouse for commodities (such as bednets and vaccines) destined for the communities. We reviewed the situation of the district in sub-Saharan African countries and identified five attributes that are critical for developing a UHC-friendly DHS. In this analytical paper, we discuss decision-making authority, coordination, resource control, development initiative and management skills as critical factors. We highlight the required strategic shifts and recommend a dialogue for charting an African regional course for a reformed DHS for UHC. Further examination of these factors and perhaps other ancillary criteria will be useful for developing a checklist for assessing the suitability of a DHS for the UHC that Africa deserves.