The Dragon’s Share: How China Is Helping To Transform Africa

Africa’s history is known by all: Africa is a poverty-trapped continent that has been unable to develop regardless of the consistent amount of aid given by Western governments, the World Bank, and the IMF. Indeed, there is much to blame: Civil unrest, corruption, diseases, genocidal dictatorships… but according to Dambisa Moyo, the writer of Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working And How There’s a Better Way For Africa, the true reason to blame is the Western policy of giving aid and treating Africa as if “one rule works for all”, which has consistently failed for the last fifty years.

There has been an aggressive economic battle between the US and China for African resources. Today, China is Africa's largest trading partner, edging the US in 2010. As the Chinese economy and its need for resources grow, the dragon has been investing more and more in Africa. As Moyo says, “China has invested billions in copper and cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia; in iron ore and platinum in South Africa; in timber in Gabon, Cameroon and Congo. It has also acquired mines in Zambia, textile factories in Lesotho, railways in Uganda, timber in the Central African Republic and retails developments across nearly every capital city. However, oil is the gusher. Angola has overtaken Saudi Arabia as China’s biggest single provider of oil. In the first half of 2006, Angola alone supplied almost 20% of oil imports to China.”



Direct Investment vs Aid

The core difference between the Chinese and the American approach to Africa is direct investment versus aid. The Chinese trade relies on direct investment in which China signs a deal with the African government to have access to its minerals while investing in the country’s infrastructure. Adams Bodomo, African Studies director at Hong Kong University, said "In 10 years, China has built a lot more infrastructure than, for example, Britain did in my own country -- Ghana -- for 100 years".
The Western approach to having access to African resources has always been aid driven, and this approach has been proven to not promote any growth for the continent. Aid doesn’t instigate growth; it doesn’t improve a country’s credit rating or increase its amount of savings. The money also never reaches the people that need it the most: the average African. The only economic growth that aid has generated in Africa is to the personal accounts of corrupt leaders and small elites. In the last fifty years, Africa has been given $400 billion in aid, and as Idriss Déby, Chad's President, said, “In what manner has Africa progressed, in what sector?” referring to decades of close ties to the West. “Whatever the good will of Africa’s old friends and the old partners in its development, it has not progressed at all.”

Dambisa Moyo, born and raised in Zambia, has a chapter in her book titled, “The Chinese Are Our Friends”, where she states that while China has benefited from the trade deals made with Africa, Africa has benefited as well, and most importantly, so has the average African. In 2006, more than forty African leaders gathered at the first Sino-African summit in Beijing, and according to the Chinese state media, the trade between China and Africa totaled $200 billion in 2012.

Criticism

Criticism has been made to the Chinese approach in Africa, and some of it was correct. China supports Sudan with investments, some aid, and previously even weapons. Omar Al-Bashir, Sudan’s President, is wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Darfur. China needs to adjust its policy; the country cannot support genocidal governments. The United States hasn’t done any better. The most recent critique is that they have given aid to Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, a country that the U.N. accused of financing rebel groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Headlines such as “Africa told to view China as competitor” from Financial Times, are very misleading, for they should say “Nigeria told to view China as a competitor”. The previous statement was made solely by Lamido Sanusi, the governor of Nigeria’s central bank. Nigeria and South Africa have recently showed some resentment towards China, but these two are the larger economies of sub-Saharan Africa that made many trade deals with China in the past and still do today. They were also the ones influencing countries with a weaker economy before the large amount of Chinese FDI arrived. The June 2007 Pew Report surveyed 10 African countries (Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda), and they found that the opinion regarding China is decidedly positive.

Conclusion

In 2012, Africa had 7 out of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world, and much of this success can be attributed to high commodity prices, but also to the billionaire projects in infrastructure implemented by the Chinese. For Africa to move up in the development curve, it needs to address corruption, disease, poverty, and war more efficiently. China’s direct investment seems to be the best method to give the "push" in this direction. Of course, the future of Africa lies in the hands of the African leaders. They are the ones that must choose to guide their country into market policies.

Sources:
Dambisa Moyo, “Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working And How There’s a Better Way For Africa.”
“China's Xi promises equal trade relations with Africa”
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/25/world/asia/china-africa-xi
“Rwandan minister is leader of Congo rebels, UN says”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/17/rwanda-minister-leader-congo-rebels-kabarebe
“Africa and China: More than minerals”
http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21574012-chinese-trade-africa-keeps-growing-fears-neocolonialism-are-overdone-more
"In Africa, U.S. Watches China's Rise"http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903392904576510271838147248.html
Picture: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/13/world/africa/13chinaafrica.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0