Roar of the Asian tiger: How China bought up Africa

Ray · 11-01-2006, 17:14 PM

Quote:

Roar of the Asian tiger: How China bought up Africa

More than 40 African nations will be represented at a summit in Beijing this week, a very public indication of the huge investment one of the world's fastest-growing economies has made in the world's poorest continent. Clifford Coonan reports
Published: 01 November 2006

The Sphinx, a herd of elephants and the lions of the Serengeti look down from billboards overhung with construction cranes on to Beijing's ring roads, teeming with cars, cement mixers and other symbols of a booming economy. Sharp-suited African politicians discuss oil, timber and precious metals with equally well-tailored Chinese officials in the lobbies of Beijing's top hotels.

More than 40 African heads of state are in Beijing for this weekend's China-Africa forum to discuss the growing importance of trade between the world's fastest-growing economy and the world's poorest continent. China's trade with Africa is set to exceed £27bn this year and the intense discussions bear out the fact that this is a congress of real import.

The Sino-African summit is the biggest international gathering Beijing has hosted for many years. All told, 48 African countries will send delegations, most of them top leaders, for the ministerial summit which starts on Friday.

The forum marks an astonishing publicity coup for China, and is proof that in this modern-day "scramble for Africa" China is streets ahead when it comes to winning influence in the mineral-rich but often politically unstable continent.

"China is opening itself up to Africa, coming with assistance. We have nothing to lose but our imperialist chains," said Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, who is attending the summit.

The Chinese have cleverly taken advantage of the fact that Africa has not been a diplomatic priority for leaders in Washington or the capitals of Europe for many years now. Beijing has actively wooed African nations to boost its diplomatic muscle on the continent, win contracts for Chinese companies and help to meet its ever-growing energy needs.

Traditionally these meetings are "cultural" events, marked by people wearing traditional dress sitting around banqueting tables discussing poetry in regional dialect. But this summit has an edge as sharp as the delegates' suits.

Africa is rich in oil and other natural resources, while China is the world's second-biggest consumer of oil and petrol after the United States. Its factories need iron ore and copper to keep churning out the industrial goods fuelling the country's economic boom, and China has been unstinting in its efforts to maintain good relations, investing £3bn in Africa this year alone.

The giant billboards welcoming the African delegates are written in English, French and Chinese. One sign seems to feature a tribesman from Papua New Guinea, but let's not quibble about details. Beggars have been taken off the streets, the airport touts offering overpriced taxis are gone, and the schools are being let out early to keep traffic moving. Police leave has been cancelled, and commuters are being told to take the bus instead of driving. Beijing city authorities view the congress as a dry run for hosting the 2008 Olympics.

In many ways, the congress marks the culmination of China's 21st-century quest for influence in Africa, which is reminiscent of the undignified scramble in the 19th century when leading European colonial nations fought for their places on the continent. The current scramble is one in which China has played a strong diplomatic hand, backed by its growing economic clout and its increased political flexibility.

China has been busy in recent years wooing African nations to boost its influence on the continent. But Beijing has been criticised for ignoring human rights and environmental standards and failing to attach demands for transparency and accountability to offers of aid, loans and investment to Africa.

Chairman Mao Zedong always dreamt of China leading a Third World alliance of non-aligned nations in a crusade against the capitalist running dogs. But where the poverty of Maoism failed to deliver that sought-after role, socialism with Chinese characteristics, which translates as Chinese capitalism, may yet deliver this alliance.

Back during the Cold War, when everything was simpler, China and Soviet Russia fought for influence among African states. China has steadily built up its influence in Africa since the 1960s and 1970s when it offered its support to newly independent African states, especially Communist ones, and backed independence movements. Beijing has always operated a "no strings attached" policy of economic aid, unlike Western donors, which demand that African countries pledge to fight corruption and improve human rights.

Its enthusiasm for building economic ties with some of the worst human rights offenders in Africa, such as Sudan, has earned it widespread international criticism. However, increasingly reliant on Africa's resources, China defends its economic links with governments accused of civil rights abuses.

"Chinese investment has promoted economic growth in African countries, increased job opportunities, brought technical applications to African countries and improved living standards for African people," the deputy commerce minister, Wei Jianguo, has said.

China has diplomatic relations with 49 African nations, and in the 10 years between 1995 and 2005 trade between China and Africa has multiplied tenfold, from £2bn to nearly £20bn.

With oil from Nigeria, Angola and Sudan, iron ore and platinum from South Africa, timber from Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville and Gabon, China's shopping list in Africa is a long one.

This week's meeting will focus on trade and economic development rather than more contentious issues such as arms sales to Angola.

"China is the biggest developing country and Africa is a continent where the most developing countries are situated," said He Wenping, an Africa expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. "They need each other."

China has been generous with its aid. Last year the country lent Angola £1bn to repair infrastructure wrecked during the civil war. The following month, China gave Kenya more than £20m in aid to modernise its state-run utilities.

Africa's trade with China accounts for some 10 per cent of its total trade, but the figure is growing as trade with the European Union decreases.

The human rights group Amnesty International says China's secret arms exports to Sudan are fuelling human rights violations and helping to sustain conflict there.

The World Bank president, Paul Wolfowitz, has accused China and its banks of ignoring human rights and environmental standards when lending to developing countries in Africa. He was referring to the Equator Principles, which have been adopted by Western banks in an attempt to ensure lending is ethical, sustainable and in accord with environmental and human rights principles, but which Mr Wolfowitz believes may be disregarded by Chinese banks.

Mr Wei said he had not heard of cases of Chinese firms destroying the environment in Africa, but promised tough action if they do. "We will mete out severe punishment ... and revoke their licence to operate anywhere outside China," he said. "The Chinese government attaches great importance to the responsibility of Chinese enterprises when they operate in Africa. When approving possible projects, we would not agree to those projects which have the potential to have these effects on the environment."

Popular resentment in Africa has been building, with some countries complaining about the flood of cheap manufactured goods from China, which they say is damaging local industry. There has also been unrest over labour standards at Chinese-invested companies. Zambia has been an ally for many years, but China became an issue in the September presidential election, when the opposition candidate questioned the benefit from Chinese investment, prompting a miffed reaction from Beijing. In July, scores of African workers at a Chinese-owned Zambian mine rioted over low wages.

Analysts say that a combination of China's hunger for raw materials and its manufacturing strength could choke efforts by African nations to diversify from being commodity exporters. Chinese clothing and textiles, plastics and electronics are flooding the markets in Africa and local companies have little chance of competing.

Angola overtook Saudi Arabia this year to become China's largest supplier of crude oil, and the Chinese state energy company Sinopec has offered big bonuses for oil exploration and production contracts in Africa.

On a tour of Egypt, Ghana, Congo, Angola, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda earlier this year, the Prime Minister, Wen Jiabao, offered Luanda a £1bn credit line.

China has also come under fire for investing in oil-rich Sudan, whose President, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, was expected to attend the summit. The assistant foreign minister, Zhai Jun, said Mr Bashir and Chinese leaders would discuss the situation in Darfur, where three years of fighting has killed more than 200,000 and forced 2.5 million from their homes. "We believe the humanitarian situation should be improved and we support an active role for the UN in this," Mr Zhai said.

However, he also intoned the long-held Chinese mantra that human rights issues were a domestic problem and not for foreign governments to meddle in. "It is never our view that a country should interfere in another country's internal affairs and human rights," he said.

Many African nations like the Chinese model of single-party rule with a firm grip on key industries and companies.

This summit is all about showcasing Beijing, which has undergone a remarkable transformation in the past few years as it gears up for the Olympics. The world's leading architects have been brought in to help bring about a metamorphosis. Whole swaths of the city have been demolished, with ancient courtyard houses replaced by shiny glass skyscrapers and huge dual carriageways criss-crossing the medieval city.

It is not just about oil and aid. A conference for 1,500 entrepreneurs from both sides will be held on the sidelines, which will examine co-operation on agriculture, water projects, construction, energy, transportation and pharmaceuticals. There will also be an African product exhibition.

China also invited rival Taiwan's diplomatic allies in Africa - Burkina Faso, Swaziland, Malawi, Gambia, and São Tomé and Principe - to attend, although it is not clear whether they have taken up the offer or not.

China has also said it wants to strengthen its ties with Africa by promoting high-level military exchanges between the two sides.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/...cle1945762.ece

China has stolen a march over the world in Africa.

While the whole world has ignored Africa and its potential, China has jumped into the void.

The strategic implications cannot be ignored.

It is time the world realised the import of the Chinese dragon;s foray and consolidation in Africa.

lemontree · 11-01-2006, 23:47 PM

Its a long term view and I am sure it will pay dividends for them.

**Parihaka** · 11-02-2006, 00:26 AM

We'll see what happens when they have to try getting a return on their money after a coup or two. IIRC this was the basic stratagem of the Americans post WWII and now they're going through their latest round of debt forgiveness again.

zraver · 11-02-2006, 00:49 AM

Ya, Africa is a money pit. It is also rpaidly depopulating itself via AIDs

lemontree · 11-02-2006, 01:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by parihaka

We'll see what happens when they have to try getting a return on their money after a coup or two. IIRC this was the basic stratagem of the Americans post WWII and now they're going through their latest round of debt forgiveness again.

True, but China may not want a return on loans, it would take its returns in natural resources, market share or real estate (for strategic purposes).

Ray · 11-02-2006, 04:08 AM

I agree with LT.

Even coups will be carefully orchestrated by the Chinese.

**Parihaka** · 11-02-2006, 06:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lemontree

True, but China may not want a return on loans, it would take its returns in natural resources, market share or real estate (for strategic purposes).

Yes Africa has resources and those in abundance, but in every other way it is a tar baby.
Lend an African money and you will be under his control forever. Do business with him and you will get on famously.
China however simply approaching them with cash and hoping for regional leverage will exit the same as the British, French, Germans, Belgians, Dutch and Americans. Only the Arabs have lasted for any length of time and that only by the sword.

Ray · 11-06-2006, 13:04 PM

Quote:

Sino-African summit ends with swipe at critics

By Richard McGregor in Beijing

Published: November 5 2006 17:32 | Last updated: November 6 2006 04:57

The leaders of China and African nations closed a two-day summit in Beijing on Sunday by announcing a slew of commercial deals, promises of increased aid and a sharp rejoinder to western critics of their growing relationship.

Hu Jintao, China’s president, pledged that Beijing would extend $5bn (€3.9bn, £2.6bn) in soft loans and credits to African nations and double aid overall by 2009.

Chinese companies have also signed agreements with 11 African nations for investments worth $1.9bn in areas such as telecoms and technological equipment, infrastructure, raw materials, banking and insurance, according to Xinhua, the official news agency.

Sino-African trade has grown rapidly in the past five years, primarily because of increased demand from China for raw materials from the resource-rich continent. Beijing has backed investments in resource projects by its state-owned energy companies and extended soft loans for infrastructure projects supporting them.

“The progress and development of China and Africa are making a major contribution to the advancement of human civilisation,” said Mr Hu. “In international affairs, China and Africa enjoy trust and co-operate closely to uphold the legitimate rights and interests of the developing world.”

China’s renewed interest in a continent with which it established close ties in the 1960s has provoked criticism that Beijing is trampling over initiatives to combat corruption in its haste to secure resources.

Ato Seyoum Mesfin, the Ethiopian foreign minister, attacked what he called the western media’s depiction of the meeting as a “summit of despots and dictators finding a new home to escape western pressure and accountability for human rights”.

“Should we be seen in such a dimension? Absolutely not,” Mr Seyoum said. “Is not development also a human right?”

Li Zhaoxing, China’s foreign minister, also rejected criticism of China’s African policy, saying that Beijing was not seeking a monopoly over oil resources. “We do not seek to influence Africa’s co-operation with other countries,” he said. “Our co-operation is entirely consistent with the UN charter.”

Angola overtook Saudi Arabia earlier this year as China’s biggest single oil supplier. About a third of China’s oil imports now come from the continent.

Sino-African two-way trade rose from $10bn in 2000 to an estimated $50bn this year, with Chinese leaders saying at the weekend that it should be expanded to $100bn by the end of the decade.

The summit, the largest ever such meeting in China, seemed designed to add more political ballast to the growing economic partnership and provide a platform for further aid and investment. It concluded with the announcement of an “action plan” detailing everything from political co-operation to social development.

Initiatives announced during the weekend include a commitment by China to train 15,000 African professionals, remove tariffs on a new batch of imports from the continent and establish up to five free-trade zones.

China will also build a new conference centre for the African Union.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/87c3e430-6cf...0779e2340.html

Human rights?

What human rights says China.

All as per the UN charter!

A new interpretation indeed!

-{SpoonmaN}- · 11-06-2006, 18:59 PM

Maybe China throwing money around in Africa like this will pay off in the Human Rights game in the long run. If African nations start to set their minds to supplying China with raw materials in exchange for all this cash, even if their leaders are corrupt as hell, it will at least do something to stabalise their economies through a dependable source of income, which in turn might do somthing to stabalise their societies.
At least it probably won't hurt.

gunnut · 11-06-2006, 19:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by parihaka

tar baby

A politician here used that term and was quickly dubbed as a "racist."

Of course he's a Republican and not with the liberal progressive socialist crowd favored by the media.

**Parihaka** · 11-06-2006, 19:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gunnut

A politician here used that term and was quickly dubbed as a "racist."

Of course he's a Republican and not with the liberal progressive socialist crowd favored by the media.

LOL, the true irony is of course the Br'er Rabbit story, along with the Uncle Remus stories are African American (is that the current PC descriptive?) and as such, those who call it racist are suppressing African American folklore

Ray · 11-07-2006, 03:04 AM

Parihaka,

Soon standing for elections?

lemontree · 11-07-2006, 04:07 AM

One would think that pari has got afflicted by the US mid-term poll news.

**Parihaka** · 11-07-2006, 05:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray

Parihaka,

Soon standing for elections?

Heaven forfend Ray & Lemontree, heaven forfend...

Ray · 11-09-2006, 13:12 PM

Quote:

from the November 09, 2006 edition

Has Africa finally turned a corner?

By Scott Baldauf | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – With a decade of sustained economic growth, increasing demand for African minerals and oil, and a falling number of conflicts, the trend lines for some countries in sub-Saharan Africa are finally starting to look pretty good.

A new World Bank report, issued last week, has gone as far as to say that 2005 may be the year when Africa "turned the corner" from poverty and debt to prosperity and wealth. In a continent that was once almost entirely dependent on foreign aid, there are now 16 countries that have achieved annual growth rates in excess of 4.5 percent for more than a decade.

"Africa today is a continent on the move, making tangible progress on delivering better health, education, growth, trade, and poverty-reduction outcomes," said Gobind Nankani, the World Bank vice president for the Africa region.

The African Development Indicators for 2006 report, of course, doesn't pretend that all of Africa's problems have been solved - from the spread of HIV-AIDS to continued conflicts in Sudan and Somalia to the persistent lack of basic services, such as water, sanitation, and education. But for a continent that has gotten used to hearing glass-half-empty analysis of what has gone wrong, the report has decidedly emphasized what has gone right.

"While economic outcomes are increasingly diverse, Africa has made near uniform progress in social outcomes, notably education and health," explained John Page, the World Bank's Chief Economist for the Africa Region.

It is the very diversity of Africa - with fast-growing oil states like Equatorial Guinea and rapidly-declining states like Zimbabwe - that makes any sweeping statement imprecise at best. Yet here are a few encouraging trend lines that are starting to have repercussions of the positive sort.

• The number of conflicts in Africa has dropped to just five in 2005, from a peak of 16 in 2002.

• During the past two decades, fertility rates have dropped in every African country. The greatest drop in fertility is found in Namibia to 3.8 in 2004 from 5.9 in 1990, followed by Rwanda, to 5.5 (2004) from 7.4 (1990).

• Several African countries, including Senegal, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Uganda, and Ghana are on course to cut the number of people living in poverty by half by 2010. Cutting poverty is one of the Millennium Development Goals agreed to by 189 nations in New York in 2000.

• Enrollment in primary schools has increased continentwide to 93 percent in 2004 from 72 percent in 1990, and literacy rates have consequently risen to 65 percent in 2002 from 50 percent in 1997.

Low incomes, bad roads and ports

Yet amid these positive trends, there are darker clouds as well.

• Almost half of Africa's population still lives below the poverty line, which the World Bank defines as an income of less than $1 a day.

• African economies must grow at about an annual rate of 7 percent - on a par with India and China - in order to meet their target of cutting poverty in half by 2015. Governments must also either invest or encourage investment of at least 5 percent of their gross domestic product in infrastructure in order for their economies to continue growing.

• Inadequate roads, inefficient ports, and power outages have helped make Africa home to six of the 10 countries judged to be the most difficult environments in which to start a business, according to a recent World Bank study. The lack of foreign investment - Africa received just 1.6 percent of all foreign direct investment ($10.1 billion) in 2005 - means fewer jobs to relieve poverty.

Prosperity brings new challenges

Sarah Crowe, spokeswoman for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), says that even economic prosperity can bring its own set of new challenges.

"We're now moving to a world of peri-urban slums and megacities bursting at the seams - such as Kinshasa and Lagos and Nairobi - with people moving to cities to find work," says Ms. Crowe. Such big cities have been unable to keep pace with the population growth, and growing demand for clean drinking water and sanitation facilities. Big cities are also key points for the spread of HIV-AIDS, a disease with devastating economic potential, since it targets primarily those who are in their prime working years.

"Unquestionably, there is a momentum there, but the big challenge for NGOs (non-governmental organizations) will be these gray areas," adds Crowe.

Some in the aid community say that the World Bank's report may have been overzealous in painting a picture of African progress. "Turned a corner?" chortled one American financier with decades of experience in African aid projects. "This is a maze we're in here. There's going to be lots of corners."

Greg Mills, director of the Brenthurst Foundation, a think tank on strengthening African economic performance, argues that the most important trend seen in the World Bank report is showing that Africa can no longer be seen as a single entity.

"What the World Bank report is showing is the growing differentiation in the African continent, and the different problems between countries and regions," he says. "This is contrary to the notion of African Unity."

There are commodity-producing countries like Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sudan, and South Africa, and agricultural powerhouses like Kenya and Tanzania. There are landlocked nations like the Central African Republic, with little access to global markets, and rapidly globalizing countries like South Africa, Mauritius, Tanzania, and Benin.

Finally, there are countries like Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sudan, and the DRC that are so large and diverse that they are difficult to govern as a single entity. While some of these larger countries often have valuable resources, they will still have trouble emerging as winners in the global marketplace unless they start to change their system of governance, Mr. Mills says.

"The critical elementary differences between [African] countries are their regimes and their natural resources," says Mills. "Since they can't change their size and resources, the one thing they can change is the style of their government, and those that are generally performing better are the latter group," which like Rwanda, South Africa, Botswana, and Uganda, have instituted substantial governmental reforms.

Innovate - don't print money

Ross Herbert, head of a research project on governance at the South African Institute for International Affairs in Johannesburg, says that one of the best signs for Africa in the past decade is that fewer African leaders solve their problems today by printing more money.

But Africa's current prosperity - largely the result of global demand for commodities such as natural gas, oil, timber, copper, iron, coal, and cobalt - is a temporary window of opportunity that analysts say should not be wasted.

"Africa has to go out into the world and learn markets," says Herbert. "Chinese companies went to Ghana and studied kinte cloth, and now you can buy Chinese cloth that emulates kinte that is cheaper than the local cloth."

"That is how competitive other countries are," he says. "We have to choose ... to climb the ladder faster than other countries. And no one, other than Zimbabwe, is standing still."

An interesting analysis of the growth of Africa and it move towards self sufficiency and progress.

There is hope, but the path is long and miles to go before anyone can sleep!

11-01-2006, 23:47 PM	#2 (permalink)
lemontree Bandaid *Military Professional* Join Date: 10-04-04 Location: India Posts: 5,918	Its a long term view and I am sure it will pay dividends for them. __________________ Cheers!...on the rocks!!

11-06-2006, 18:59 PM	#9 (permalink)
-{SpoonmaN}- Death, the Destroyer of Worlds... *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 09-08-04 Location: The badlands of West London. Posts: 1,455 Country:	Maybe China throwing money around in Africa like this will pay off in the Human Rights game in the long run. If African nations start to set their minds to supplying China with raw materials in exchange for all this cash, even if their leaders are corrupt as hell, it will at least do something to stabalise their economies through a dependable source of income, which in turn might do somthing to stabalise their societies. At least it probably won't hurt. __________________ "I have this to say to the people of Australia: Kick me, I'm different."

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11-02-2006, 00:26 AM	#3 (permalink)
Parihaka Moderator Join Date: 11-10-04 Location: Te Ika a Maui Posts: 9,738 Country:	We'll see what happens when they have to try getting a return on their money after a coup or two. IIRC this was the basic stratagem of the Americans post WWII and now they're going through their latest round of debt forgiveness again.

11-02-2006, 00:49 AM	#4 (permalink)
zraver Contrary by nature. *Military Professional* Join Date: 10-22-06 Location: Arkansas Posts: 3,134 Country:	Ya, Africa is a money pit. It is also rpaidly depopulating itself via AIDs

11-02-2006, 04:08 AM	#6 (permalink)
Ray Postmaster General *Military Professional* Join Date: 08-20-03 Posts: 27,248 Country:	I agree with LT. Even coups will be carefully orchestrated by the Chinese.

11-07-2006, 03:04 AM	#12 (permalink)
Ray Postmaster General *Military Professional* Join Date: 08-20-03 Posts: 27,248 Country:	Parihaka, Soon standing for elections?

11-07-2006, 04:07 AM	#13 (permalink)
lemontree Bandaid *Military Professional* Join Date: 10-04-04 Location: India Posts: 5,918	One would think that pari has got afflicted by the US mid-term poll news.

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