Africa And China: Sweethearts Or Strange Bedfellows?
BY CHRIS ONUORAH.(AFRICAMESSAGE)-With Africa’s socio-political problems mounting daily, the continent could do with some
help, wherever it comes from. Indeed, much help is coming from China these days but with mixed reactions across the continent.
Reports indicate that China’s investments in Africa have surpassed $55 billion in recent years. As they continue to grow, America’s
National Public Radio added that they are expected to double by year 2020, if not earlier.
Sudan has benefited most from China’s direct investments in Africa. The Asian giant’s influence in Africa is coming fast and furious
with inroads into Sudan, Angola, Democratic Congo and Zambia. There is also considerable presence in Niger, Nigeria and
Equatorial Guinea.
It would be impossible to view Africa’s ongoing romance with China without weighing it’s political, social and economic implications
side by side. Politically, it is not the kind of news that would impress Europe and America, Africa’s main and traditional partners.
Europe and America fear that China’s increasing role in Africa is witling down their own influence. Where the United States and
Europe are known promoters of democracy, freedom and free enterprise, there are concerns about China’s preference for
Communism, human rights violations and business under the table. But who cares?
African countries are bogged down by poverty, disease, unemployment, hunger and official corruption among other things. Those
who want these problems addressed immediately could care less. They are the ones cheering the new Afro-Sino initiatives across
the continent.
The Chinese Railway Engineering Company, NPR reported recently, is building a 1,000 mile road across D.R. Congo. This is
unprecedented in a country known mainly in news circles for its endless wars, humanitarian crises, diseases and official corruption.
“The country’s roads were not fixed in the 32 years of Mobutu Sese Seko’s dictatorship,” observed a Congolese border control
officer. Recall that Mobutu was considered a U.S ally in the Cold War struggle against the Soviet Union and its Chinese ally. Now
China is not just fixing impassable roadways. It is building new highways.
The Chinese approach to Africa is quite unlike what the people have known while dealing with Europe and America. The West made
a point of buying Africa’s raw materials for their industries back home. The Chinese are doing the same thing too. Only they are
going a step further by building industries in Africa while developing local infrastructure.
The sweetheart deal between China and the Congolese government of Joseph Kabila is said to be worth $9 billion. As in other
countries, this is a trade-by-barter which gives China control of Congo’s vast mineral resources which include iron and diamonds.
Under Mobutu, the expensive diamonds were mined specifically for the president and his cronies. But the roads were so bad the
precious stones had to be ferried out of the mines by helicopters. They ended up in Belgium where they were refined for the rich
and glamorous. And the ordinary Congolese? Nothing for them but misery and a bleak future.
If the Congolese are pleased to meet the Chinese, so are millions of people on the continent. Thanks to Beijing, spanking new
highways, railroads, schools, hospitals and housing projects are springing up in several countries.
Zambia has large deposits of copper. And because China needs this in large quantities, Zambia is upbeat about a new investment
package that would see China developing extensive infrastructure for Zambians in exchange.
Right now, China has become Africa’s third trade partner. This has set alarm bells ringing in Washington, DC and all across
Europe. Observers believe this prompted a major trip to Africa this year by U.S. President George W. Bush. During the trip, Bush
pledged billions of dollars which he said would go into physical development and the fight against common but devastating
diseases like HIV/AIDS and malaria.
Yet the Chinese presence is seen in more places than one. The Chinese are not making pledges.They are building projects. China
has helped to build oil refineries in Sudan. Beijing has also built dams and roads here in exchange for the country’s oil. Thus,
Khartoum which is under severe U.S. and United Nations-inspired sanctions for alleged human rights violations in Darfur appears
to have found a new lease of life.
A multi-billion dollar oil deal has also been struck between Niger Republic and China. The $5billion oil exploration deal was given to
China’s state oil company in June, the BBC reported recently. China, whose demand for crude oil is very enormous, is said to
account for its 7 billion barrel supply per day in 2006 from Africa among other places.
Beyond these countries, China is also making its presence felt in some of Africa’s main political and economic powerhouses.
Chinese and Nigerian leaders have exchanged visits. Bi-lateral talks focused on increased trade. Even so, China has already
established a foothold in Nigeria in large-scale manufacturing of textile, plastic and other products of daily use.
Strategic partnerships have also been recorded in South Africa. There is even a 200,000 native Chinese population in South Africa
who have tried to entrench themselves into the society. They successfully obtained a recent court ruling that declared them black.
This means that any Chinese person born in South Africa can now qualify for all the benefits that blacks are guaranteed in the
wake of the apartheid-era discrimination that placed wealth in the hands of the white minority.
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