Towards intercultural communication effectiveness (congruence) in Sino-African interactions

Within the field of intercultural communication, the position of theorist is adopted, to re-thinkand reframe existing insights by creatively combining them in a more useful and holistic way,towards intercultural communication effectiveness (congruence). More specifically, this paper ispremised on the view that intercultural communication awareness resulting from an understandingof communication cultures of those in interaction can enable development of appropriatestrategies for enhancing intercultural communication effectiveness (ICE). Thus, with referenceto the Sino-African cultural context, a synthesis of literature on culture and communication inWestern, African, and Chinese cultures on the basis of a conceptual framework for interculturalcommunication effectiveness is conducted. The result is a framework reflecting potential synergiesand differences in communication culture and patterns, while also suggesting low culture distancebetween African and Chinese culture. A higher culture distance is reported when African andChinese cultures are compared to Western cultures. Patterns of similarity and difference in Africanand Chinese communication culture are also presented. This paper contributes to the limitedknowledge of intercultural communication in Sino-African interactions by providing insights intoAfrican communication culture and comparing three cultures (Chinese, African, and Western).