China's Involvement in Africa
An interesting view, for me at least, about China's growing (and often maligned) role in Africa from Bill Durodie, an associate fellow at The Royal Institute of International Affairs titled China's Helpful Role in the New World Order (China Daily, 23 July 2008).
Durodie argued that China's increasing influence in Africa is "all too often discussed without regard to the new situation there. Africa is an opportunity and Chinese investment there is a consequence of this, not the cause."
After all, countries that have been growing at 5-6 per cent a year for a decade need new roads, power stations and manufactured goods.
Durodie noted that Chinese trade and investment merely mirrors western patterns of activity but on a smaller scale, and in only a handful of African countries.
"Notably, the Swiss and the Belgians operate significant concerns in the Congo too, and the Chinese stake in the copper industry there is one-third the size of that owned by the US giant - Freeport," Durodie wrote.
But clearly, China's involvement in Africa is upsetting not just western governments, but also western NGOs. Because for years, the latter had sought "to teach their domestic audiences that all that is required in Africa is small-scale and sustainable development."
"Oxfam continues to encourage people to buy Africans a goat, some feed, condoms, a toilet, even dung as a fertilizer for Christmas. And of course, all of this comes with a great deal of moral hectoring about aid and the need for population control."
Hence, little surprise that the Chinese, with their no strings attached investment policies have been so welcomed on the continent. Chinese loans come with few demands, benchmark conditions, requirements for risk audits and environmental impact assessments.
Durodie further argued that China's presence in Sudan is a sign of its weakness, rather than its strength. After all, other oil-producing parts of Africa, such as Nigeria, had already been carved up by the US and the EU. Hence, China has been left with markets thought of as too small by western investors.
He also pointed out that China's influence has been beneficial in western terms, as it has brought pressure on the Khartoum government to end the conflict. Beijing has supported UN intervention in Darfur and contributed several hundred engineers to the UN African Union Mission to Darfur.
Of course, as Durodie acknowledged, China's influence on the continent will not be entirely benign.
"There will be problems and elements of exploitation there. But it is a sign of the Western imagination's inability to view Africans as capable of dealing with their own problems and the West's obsession with viewing China as malign - that things are presented the way they are."
Durodie argued that China's increasing influence in Africa is "all too often discussed without regard to the new situation there. Africa is an opportunity and Chinese investment there is a consequence of this, not the cause."
After all, countries that have been growing at 5-6 per cent a year for a decade need new roads, power stations and manufactured goods.
Durodie noted that Chinese trade and investment merely mirrors western patterns of activity but on a smaller scale, and in only a handful of African countries.
"Notably, the Swiss and the Belgians operate significant concerns in the Congo too, and the Chinese stake in the copper industry there is one-third the size of that owned by the US giant - Freeport," Durodie wrote.
But clearly, China's involvement in Africa is upsetting not just western governments, but also western NGOs. Because for years, the latter had sought "to teach their domestic audiences that all that is required in Africa is small-scale and sustainable development."
"Oxfam continues to encourage people to buy Africans a goat, some feed, condoms, a toilet, even dung as a fertilizer for Christmas. And of course, all of this comes with a great deal of moral hectoring about aid and the need for population control."
Hence, little surprise that the Chinese, with their no strings attached investment policies have been so welcomed on the continent. Chinese loans come with few demands, benchmark conditions, requirements for risk audits and environmental impact assessments.
Durodie further argued that China's presence in Sudan is a sign of its weakness, rather than its strength. After all, other oil-producing parts of Africa, such as Nigeria, had already been carved up by the US and the EU. Hence, China has been left with markets thought of as too small by western investors.
He also pointed out that China's influence has been beneficial in western terms, as it has brought pressure on the Khartoum government to end the conflict. Beijing has supported UN intervention in Darfur and contributed several hundred engineers to the UN African Union Mission to Darfur.
Of course, as Durodie acknowledged, China's influence on the continent will not be entirely benign.
"There will be problems and elements of exploitation there. But it is a sign of the Western imagination's inability to view Africans as capable of dealing with their own problems and the West's obsession with viewing China as malign - that things are presented the way they are."
posted by Maria Siow @ 5:30 AM
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