View Full Version : China's Expanding Role in Africa
SWJED
11-03-2006, 01:32 PM
Some recent news items on China and Africa:
China Courts Africa, Angling for Strategic Gains (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/03/world/asia/03china.html?) - New York Times
China Woos African Trade (http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1103/p01s04-woap.html) - Christian Science Monitor
African, Chinese Leaders Urge New Investment Ties (http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-11-02-voa36.cfm) - Voice of America
China Turns on Charm for Summit with African Nations (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-summit2nov02,1,4484469.story?coll=la-headlines-world) - Los Angeles Times
Chinese Flood in With Cheap Goods and New Jobs (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2433008,00.html) - London Times
African Leaders, China to Meet on Investment (http://www.washtimes.com/world/20061101-115934-5178r.htm) - Washington Times
West Could Learn From Straightforward Approach (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2433009,00.html) - London Times Commentary
Bill Moore
11-04-2006, 06:05 AM
The Chinese are implementing a practical long term strategy to facilitate their national interests. On the other hand we're waging an ideologically based war (trying to democratize the Middle East) at the expense of ignoring, or worse compromising, our more important interests such as access to a reliable supply of oil, and lesser but still important access to stable markets. Terrorism and extremism is not an imaginary threat, but it is not a threat to our national survival unless we stupidly give the enemy a victory by over reacting. If it comes down to an armed conflict for access to oil, we'll need a large conventional army to secure it, not a few guys with armed UAVs.
Jedburgh
02-09-2007, 02:45 PM
China’s Expanding Role in Africa: Implications for the United States (http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/chinainafrica.pdf), A Report of the CSIS Delegation to China on China-Africa-U.S. Relations November 28–December 1, 2006
...While China’s more ambitious and complex Africa policy of today may in due course bring financial and political payoffs, alter the playing field in Africa, and create pressures for changes in U.S. policy approaches, multiple risks also attend China’s strategy. In particular, Beijing faces nine core challenges in translating its vision of a strategic partnership with Africa into a sustainable reality:
1. China will need to work assiduously to overcome obstacles tied to language, culture, religion, and racial bias.
2. Although the FOCAC Beijing Action Plan calls for increased exchanges between African and Chinese media, and for the two sides to facilitate the placement of resident correspondents in China and in African countries, Chinese media and popular culture have only very limited entry into African markets thus far. Knowledge and expertise about Africa in China’s policy advisory and think tank communities is thin and lacking in up-to-date, on-the-ground experience.
3. Evolving African popular opinion—the “African street”—is not currently factored systematically into Beijing’s thinking.
4. The Chinese approach is neither familiar nor well equipped to engage with the emergent and increasingly vocal and influential nongovernmental groups in Africa.
5. Adhering to a formal policy of noninterference and putting it into consistent practice will be difficult and likely clash over time with deepening Chinese interests.
6. In the future, China will be under increasing pressure to define how it will direct and coordinate internally the complex bundle of ambitious policy and programmatic initiatives it is advancing.
7. The Chinese diaspora business community poses special “reputational risks” related to bribery and counterfeiting, among other controversial practices.
8. Pressures will mount for China to do more to harmonize its donor activity in Africa with ongoing international assistance, especially with respect to debt.
9. Pressures will mount on Beijing to manage its relations better with its most important bilateral partner, the United States, vis-à-vis Africa....
Rob Thornton
02-09-2007, 06:24 PM
There is a great book called When China Ruled the Sea: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne (1405 -1433) by Louise Levathes.
It discusses a period in Chinese history when it was very involved with discovery and trade. A period where it was very ambitious in diplomacy and very interested in the world.
Regards, Rob
goesh
02-09-2007, 06:51 PM
I heard/read somwhere about a month ago that China was going to budget 5 billion for road projects. I wonder how long it will be until they fully project force into the sea lanes. They've been in space already.
tequila
02-09-2007, 07:13 PM
I find it instructive whenever people warn of an impending China threat to compare defense budgets (http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=5148). China is, even if you triple their official budget, less than $100 bn. The latest U.S. defense budget request comes in at $481.4 bn (http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=2970)--- and this completely excludes the cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns at $140 bn.
Frankly we should welcome China attempting to compete with us as a conventional peer. They will never match us and will end up wasting enormous resources trying to. Unfortunately I doubt they're that stupid.
Tom Odom
02-09-2007, 07:21 PM
I will look at this more but the tone of the Executive Summary strikes me as hyped when it comes to expansion. What I have read so far reads more like a glossy sales brochure than an assessment.
China has long been in Africa and in many ways was more effective at it than the US or the USSR because the Chinese tended toward a low-tech, man power intensive model. In contrast, the US talks low tech and adaptable project models that better meet local needs but in securing funding we often get driven toward high (or higher than the Chinese) tech solutions.
Cuturally Communist Chinese models for communal agriculture in many cases better matched cultural tendencies even when they failed dramatically in execution.
And even during the height of the Cold War, U.S. "allies" like Mobutu were more than willing to drag their skirts in front of the Chinese to prompt renewed fervor among their Western suitors. Witness this paragraph:
Moreover, Beijing believes this history compares very favorably with the poor political and security legacy left to Africa by the U.S.-Soviet superpower rivalry of the Cold War era that stoked wars in places like Angola, Mozambique, and Ethiopia and created alliances with corrupt strongmen like Zaire’s President Mobutu and Somalia’s President Barre.
The PRC was also a player in those arenas as well as in others.
Overall I am not impressed. CSIS is usually much better.
Tom
goesh
02-09-2007, 07:36 PM
Another past reference cited it would produce 9 times the output of Hoover Dam when fully functional. That's alot of juice and it won't all go to commercial factories for consumer goods - some of the benefit has to go to China's military and naval expansion to my way of thinking seems the logical choice, but that's an aside from the Africa issue at hand. I can't see them wasting resources on look-good-feel-good PR like money for AIDS, but I could be wrong on that too. Where I was at in W. AFrica they had built a soccer stadium that was never used and they quickly saw there wasn't any benefit from being much involved with that small nation.
Jedburgh
02-09-2007, 11:12 PM
The Jamestown Foundation's China Brief, 7 Feb 07:
Beijing’s Great Leap Outward: Power Projection with Chinese Characteristics (http://jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=422&issue_id=3997&article_id=2371884)
...Western reports of Hu’s on-going eight-nation African tour have focused on China’s anxiety to secure a long-term, reliable supply of oil and other strategic commodities; African crude already accounts for nearly a third of China’s total oil imports. The Chinese leadership has inked new deals on oil and other minerals with several countries, including Cameroon, Sudan, Zambia and South Africa. Equally important, however, has been Beijing’s eagerness to demonstrate the impressive sway of Chinese economic and diplomatic prowess. During the FOCAC as well as the current trip, Beijing has written off hundreds of millions of dollars of debt owed by 33 African nations. China’s direct investment in 49 African countries is close to $7 billion. While meeting Zambian leaders earlier this week, Hu vigorously defended his country’s assertive strategy toward Africa against charges of “Chinese-style neo-colonialism.” “China is eagerly expanding imports from Africa,” the president said, adding that tariffs for African products had been drastically curtailed. Hu declared that Chinese aid and investment in areas ranging from infrastructure and mining to hospitals and schools would be increased. The Africans and the Chinese, Hu said, would always remain “good friends, good partners and good brothers”.
It is true that an increasing number of African politicians—particularly those in the opposition—have protested against China’s “exploitation” of Africa’s resources and the ill-treatment of local laborers by the Chinese owners of African-based firms. Hu and his foreign policy advisers, however, are convinced that as far as the “mainstream elite”—particularly the authoritarian rulers and businessmen in several countries—are concerned, China has already displaced the United States as Africa’s big brother. Indeed, one of the main purposes of Hu’s trip is to demonstrate that China’s African policy is on par with Western norms. Thus in Liberia, the president inspected Chinese peacekeeping forces billeted there under the auspices of the United Nations. In Sudan, where China has been accused of supplying arms to government forces committing atrocities in Darfur, Hu urged President Omar al-Bashir to do more to permit a UN-sponsored initiative aimed at halting the genocide in Darfur. Western diplomatic sources in Beijing noted that a key reason behind Beijing’s newfound eagerness to participate in UN-organized peacekeeping missions is to demonstrate China’s rising clout, particularly when juxtaposed against the declining influence of the United States in Africa and the Middle East....
bismark17
02-10-2007, 05:24 AM
Poole's latest book, The Terrorist Trail, goes into into detail about a Jihadist/African/China nexus that has been developing for a period of time that I find to be very interesting and credible.
Of course, being a Poole book, it veers totally off into another vein and now I am reading a study of the Southern African conflicts starting with the Zulu warriors, the Boer campaigns, the Selous Scouts and that totally hooah SADF strategic recon unit and how they operated.
I really love his books but just wonder if they might be better broken into seperate policy papers or smaller more focused individual books...Don't get me wrong, I love his books, and would love to meet the guy but they just seem to be oddly packaged...I digress... sorry! :eek:
Jedburgh
06-18-2007, 10:17 PM
TWQ, Summer 07, The Tenuous Hold of China Inc. in Africa (http://www.twq.com/07summer/docs/07summer_gill_reilly.pdf)
...China’s “corporate engagement” strategy in Africa consists of several elements. Top Chinese leaders and diplomats create a favorable environment for Chinese investment in Africa through a mixture of prestige diplomacy, economic assistance, and diplomatic support for African leaders. At home, China’s economic bureaucratic agencies encourage Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to increase their investment and trade with Africa. China’s SOEs implement Beijing’s aid projects, extract strategic natural resources for export back to China or for profit in the international marketplace, and expand their manufacturing bases in China. Chinese workers staff Chinese projects efficiently and at low cost, and Chinese migrants build trade networks and supply chains linking China and Africa. At least, that is the idea.....
MountainRunner
06-19-2007, 05:39 AM
Check out Josh Kurlantzick's new book Charm Offensive (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0300117035?ie=UTF8&tag=mountainrunne-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=0300117035) for a good read on China's use of diplomacy, trade incentives, cultural exchange, and various assistance packages to change its image and win friends in Africa and elsewhere.
Not that published policy and actual policy match, but if you haven't seen China's 2006 Africa Policy (http://www.gov.cn/misc/2006-01/12/content_156490.htm), it's worth skimming. The policy is in six parts:
1. Africa's Position and Role
2. China's Relations with Africa
3. China's African Policy
4. Enhancing All-round Cooperation Between China and Africa
5. Forum on China-Africa Cooperation And Its Follow-up Actions
6. China's Relations with African Regional Organizations
Also noteworthy is China's intentional use of peacekeeping missions to up regional and global profile.
Firestaller
06-20-2007, 02:24 AM
Frankly we should welcome China attempting to compete with us as a conventional peer. They will never match us and will end up wasting enormous resources trying to. Unfortunately I doubt they're that stupid.
If America is having trouble managing 26 million Iraqis, imagine how difficult it would be to deal with 1.3 billion people ... especially since China has never welcomed an occupation.
As far as China never coming close to American millitary ... that all depends. China is eager to buy arms and technology from Europe and Europe is eager to sell it to them.
Should be interesting how this current conflict between the central and the local government (where most of the human rights abuse occurs) turns out. After years of trying to do something about it, the central government is using the media to expose local government abuses to make sure the populace is on their side.
Now the central government has to step in and control those areas. This is going to be a real test to their validity and if things don't improve in the rural areas under thier control, they might face a peasant uprising in the coming years.
Jedburgh
06-29-2007, 03:33 AM
CS Monitor, 27 Jun 07: Young Chinese idealists vie to join their 'peace corps' in Africa (http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0627/p12s01-woaf.html)
Across the border from South Sudan, in the small Ethiopian village of Asossa, Sun Yingtao, a young agriculture student from Hebei Province in China, is teaching subsistence farmers – many of them refugees from war-torn Sudan – techniques for getting good yields out of their meager lands.
Seconded to the Ethiopian Department of Rural Development, Mr. Sun spends his days trying to identify various vegetable diseases, discussing possible alternative water usage, and debating the pros and cons of sowing onions and peppers in rows or in a scattered fashion.
Sun, who has been here for six months, is a civilian volunteer – one of a group of 50 young men and women who have been sent by the Chinese government as part of a new, experimental "peace corps" project in the country. This is the program's second year, and there are small volunteer groups in three locations: Ethiopia, the Seychelles, and Zimbabwe – three countries of limited economic importance for China....
Mooks
07-04-2007, 06:08 PM
What goes up...
Christian Science Monitor - In Sudan, China focuses on oil wells, not local needs (http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0625/p11s01-woaf.htm4http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0625/p11s01-woaf.htm) June 26th
Mostly covers the growing backlash to Chinese assistance in Africa.
MCMasterChef
07-04-2007, 11:21 PM
For more in the same vein you might scan this article in Der Spiegel (http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,484603,00.html) (focusing mainly on Zambia).
Firestaller
07-06-2007, 12:01 AM
According to a recent Pew Research Report (http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=256):
In general, Africans are more positive than Latin Americans about the growing influence of both China and the U.S. on their countries. But in both regions, somewhat greater percentages say China's influence is a good thing than say that about U.S. influence.
Across Africa, favorable views of China outnumber critical judgments by two-to-one or more in every country except South Africa, where opinion is divided. In both Mali and Ivory Coast more than nine in ten (92%) have a favorable view of China, and positive opinions also overwhelm critical judgments in Senegal and Kenya, where 81% view China favorably.
Three-quarters hold a favorable view in Ghana and Nigeria, as do two-thirds of Ethiopians. Even in Uganda where a third of the population does not know enough about China to express an opinion – twice as many have a favorable view as view China unfavorably (45% to 23%). The survey provides a trend only for Nigeria, where favorable attitudes toward China are sharply up, rising 16 percentage points in just the past year from 59% to 75%.
tequila
07-06-2007, 07:37 AM
Having just returned from a 2 1/2-week sojourn to Senegal, I can say that some of the Dakar natives I came into contact with told me that they were definitely noticing an influx of Chinese migrants incoming to Senegal. Opinions were split on whether this was a good thing or not.
Jedburgh
09-05-2007, 06:53 PM
The current issue (Summer 07) of China Security (http://www.wsichina.org) is focused on China's role in Africa:
Assessming China's Growing Influence in Africa (http://www.wsichina.org/cs7_1.pdf)
The Balancing Act of China's Africa Policy (http://www.wsichina.org/cs7_2.pdf)
The Fact and Fiction of Sino-African Energy Relations (http://www.wsichina.org/cs7_3.pdf)
China and Africa: Policies and Challenges (http://www.wsichina.org/cs7_4.pdf)
Mark O'Neill
09-06-2007, 12:21 AM
Having read the posts in this thread I thought that an opinion piece that I had published in one of our two national daily newspapers might be of interest.
The link to Australian Business interests was necessary to get it published - it reflects the interests of the paper's readers (it is kind of an Australian equivalent of the Wall Street Journal). The bottom line message about China's changing role still comes through clearly,
regards,
Mark
Time is ripe for investment in Africa
Mark O'Neill
The Australian Financial Review, 16 May 2007 , P. 63
The Ogaden Region in Ethiopia has attracted little attention in the West since a bloody border conflict between Ethiopia and Somalia over 20 years ago. It is a place of nomads, unmarked minefields, bandits and camel thorn. And now, Chinese workers.
A rebel attack last week on an oil field in the Ogaden resulted in the deaths of nine Chinese nationals. The presence of Chinese workers in Eastern Ethiopia underlines a profound change in the nature of Beijing’s engagement with Africa. During transition from the colonial era and the Cold War, China’s involvement was largely ideology and arms. Now, it is resource development and trade. This changed pattern reflects events across the continent.
A scramble for African resources is taking place. Exploration is occurring at a rate not seen since the early European colonial era. Australian companies are part of this rush. Woodside Petroleum and BHP Billiton are seeking developments in places as diverse as Libya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. But, the scale of investment by Asian powers dwarfs all Australian enterprises.
China and India have emerged as major players in developing African resources. They are seeking to feed their ongoing economic booms. A recent World Bank Report, Africa’s Silk Road: China and India’s New Economic Frontier, illuminates the scale of this effort.
The World Bank has estimated that Chinese direct foreign investment in Africa was over $US 1.18 billion by mid-2006. Angola is now China’s largest source of imported oil. The Council on Foreign Relations estimates Chinese investment in Sudan at over $US10 billion. Chinese corporations control 40% of Sudanese oil production. They have invested over $US150 million in Zambian copper during the last eight years.
India is not that far behind China. The East African littoral has had a significant Indian diaspora for centuries. Recent energy deals with Libya, Sudan and the Ivory Coast, have further widened Indian influence.
The environmental, labour and governance records of many of the new Asian mining and raw materials ventures are generally poor, but Africa’s desire for new investment is great. Emerging Asian economic influence in Africa is challenges stability in three ways.
First, African nations remain extremely sensitive to ideas of colonialism and exploitation. There is growing concern that many developing nations in Africa are engaged in a ‘race to the bottom’ for investment. Beijing’s large role in the Zambian copper industry was a bitterly contested issue in that country’s recent presidential elections. The World Bank has noted that African exports to China and India, less those involving raw resources, face high tariff barriers. Many African states are not resilient. Internal dissatisfaction or agitation over perceptions of economic neo-colonialism could prove destabilising.
Second, China’s public diplomacy position of ‘non-interference’ in sovereign nations plays out in Africa as ‘values free’ engagement. The number of unconditional financial deals it has with nations afflicted by severe human rights and internal security issues highlights this. One example is Zimbabwe, where China is sustaining the Mugabe regime as that nation’s top foreign ‘investor’. Similarly, analysts have identified Chinese support for the Sudanese Government as a factor in the longevity of the conflict in Darfur. Economic support to such states prolongs instability.
Finally, it may be wrong to assume that Africa has seen the last of the proxy conflicts that characterised its experience during the Cold War. These conflicts may be replicated by economic battles between China and India as competition develops, or if Africa‘s old source of investment, Europe, seeks to reassert itself. The recent announcement by the Bush Administration of the creation of a US ‘Africa Command’ points to the possibility of future strategic competition between divergent US and Chinese interests.
The situation in Africa suggests risk and opportunity for Australian business. The key risks are instability for operations, and the development of African competition in our traditional markets. The key to mitigating these risks lies in Australia grasping the opportunities at hand.
The environmental, labour and governance record of Australian firms is a key point of differentiation when contrasted with many Asian firms. It suggests a marketable comparative advantage. Australian ability in the provision of services for the resources sector is another opportunity for promotion. Australia must stop viewing Africa as an object of charity or curiosity. It is time to pursue a strategy of business engagement and development.
Mark O’Neill is a Fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy
Rob Thornton
09-06-2007, 12:34 AM
Mark,
Superb Post - the figures, who is doing the investing, how they are investing, where they are investing and the result of the investments all provide perspective.
Based on what you wrote, do you think the attention is good or bad for Africa?
Thanks, Rob
Mark O'Neill
09-06-2007, 01:16 AM
Mark,
Superb Post - the figures, who is doing the investing, how they are investing, where they are investing and the result of the investments all provide perspective.
Based on what you wrote, do you think the attention is good or bad for Africa?
Thanks, Rob
G'Day Rob,
Frankly, I think that a good or bad outcome is in the balance. In the best case scenario (ie everyone plays 'nice' and acts in accordance with their rhetoric on the issue), things should be relatively 'ok'.
I say relatively because my experience in Africa tells me that that even the 'good' can often work out in a way that we might see as 'not quite right' but at the same time be 'quite acceptable' from a local standpoint.
The worst case scenario is a nightmare that would make us and the Africans look back at the proxy wars of the Cold War as the 'good old days'. Any number of issues - Strategic competition between US/ China / Europe; the growth of Islam (or radicalisation) on the Eastern Littoral (or Nigeria) ; HIV AIDS; heightened trade imbalances post Doha, Environmental issues (deforestation/ drought/ global warming) to name but a few, could act singularly or in some unfortunate concert to really shake things up.
Which way you think it will go can often come down to whether you are feeling like the glass is half full or half empty on any given day.
I believe that a key factor to mitigate against the worst case situation occurring is developing true understanding of the likely issues in the West. In that way informed decisions can be made about what it all means, and what needs to be done. AFRICOM might offer some hope of helping the US with that, only time will tell.
Cheers
Mark
Here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/7000480.stm), from the BBC, is a great new idea for winning friends and influencing people that the Chinese have discovered.
Zambia to have Chinese-built stadium
Teams might train in the stadium ahead of the 2010 World Cup
The Zambian and Chinese governments have signed an agreement for the construction of a 40,000-seater stadium in northern Zambia.
Sort of trumps the US "give a kid a soccer ball" initiative that I have heard tell of being used in IZ/AF to help us win hearts and minds.
Tom Odom
09-19-2007, 12:52 PM
Here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/7000480.stm), from the BBC, is a great new idea for winning friends and influencing people that the Chinese have discovered.
Sort of trumps the US "give a kid a soccer ball" initiative that I have heard tell of being used in IZ/AF to help us win hearts and minds.
Not new WM
They built one in Zaire (now the Congo) in the 1980s that made a great tropical planter when I was there in the 1990s.
The Chinese have been doing this all over Africa for decades. They are especially good at roads--I drove on them in Sudan, Rwanda, Uganda, and all over southern Africa--except South Africa although that relationship has changed dramatically since the 90s.
Best
Tom
tequila
09-19-2007, 01:00 PM
Part of the old Sino vs. Soviet competition for H&M in Africa during the '70s and '80s. Zambia was always a main Chinese ally on the continent.
The most remarkable part of the new wave of Chinese investment in Africa is the presence of large numbers of Chinese expatriates following Chinese companies. I predict that the Chinese will soon be as well-loved in Africa as they are throughout Southeast Asia (see the history of Africa's Lebanese and Indian populations for additional examples).
PI predict that the Chinese will soon be as well-loved in Africa as they are throughout Southeast Asia (see the history of Africa's Lebanese and Indian populations for additional examples).
I trust there was meant to be sarcasm in this post. I seem to remember reading that the Chinese were in disfavor along the coast of East Africa back when there was still a Sultan in Zanzibar.
Tom Odom
09-19-2007, 05:46 PM
Here is a relevant piece frpm McClatchy news services on China and Zimbabwe:
China draws back from role as 'all-weather friend' to Zimbabwe (http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/19808.html)
BEIJING — China acknowledged Tuesday that it has slowed investment in Zimbabwe, a longtime African ally teetering on economic collapse, in a sign that it may be heeding Western demands that it quit backing regimes considered despotic.
The withdrawal of economic support from Zimbabwe's largest investor and only major global backer is a serious blow to Robert Mugabe, an 83-year-old liberation hero who has clung to power in Zimbabwe for nearly three decades
And in the same piece:
Elsewhere in Africa, China continues its free-spending campaign for resources.
The latest example came Monday in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where news reports say Chinese officials signed deals for $5 billion in loans for construction of railways, highways, universities, housing complexes and investment to extract minerals, such as cobalt, copper, gold and diamonds.
best
Tom
Sounds like we've kind of been on board for at least a year.
The following is a summary of the Africa-China-U.S. Trilateral Dialogue (http://allafrica.com/stories/200709131201.html), co-sponsored by the Brenthurst Foundation, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Leon Sullivan Foundation meetings in South Africa, China, and the United States in August 2006 and March and September 2007.
Over the course of the last thirteen months, delegates from Africa, China and the United States have met three times in an effort to identify strategies of cooperation among their respective nations with the goal of accelerating economic development in Africa. The meetings were held in Tswalu, South Africa in August 2006, in Beijing, in March 2007 and in Washington in September 2007.
The Trilateral Dialogue is a unique initiative. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the discussions which have taken place.
The Trilateral Dialogue process is in no way complete. There are issues that are still under discussion and there are other issues on which we have noted areas of divergence. Nevertheless, there has been a great deal of convergence, and that is what we want to share at this time in the hopes that we might stimulate other initiatives that will benefit Africa.
More at the link...
Looks like WM nailed this one..India is taking lessons from the Chinese ?
From The Times of India: (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Sunday_Specials/Wholl_be_the_Global_Soft_superpower/rssarticleshow/2164125.cms)
China is soaking up resources in Africa and Latin America. And everybody else is eating their hearts out. Or are they? In its desire to lay hands on pretty much every mineral and fuel source it can find, China has laid out the diplomatic red carpet in these two regions. But while China has been totally unstoppable, India is moving in its slow, slightly chaotic way to improve its footprint in Africa and Latin America.
The Chinese model is pretty straightforward - exchange between money and diplomatic influence in return for unfettered access to natural resources. Take Africa.
The Indian model is very different. From India's freedom struggle and subsequent commercial success of the Indian diaspora in Africa, the non-aligned movement etc, India has been a subterranean constant. The difference was, India was more an inspiration than a way to fill coffers.
But China forced India to think differently.
Then there's a sweet post on the Chinese Embassy website in South Africa.
China's ties with Africa (http://www.chinese-embassy.org.za/eng/zt/thirdeye/t266680.htm) also provide a buffer from international criticism: its policy paper says its relationships with many African countries are based on "independence, equality, mutual respect and noninterference in each other's internal affairs".
This creates a quid pro quo relationship when China is investing in countries such as Zimbabwe or Sudan, in which neither side is questioned about human rights.
In Angola, China's $2bn soft loan enabled the government to resist pressure from the International Monetary Fund to improve the transparency of its oil sector and to tackle corruption.
African leaders have largely embraced China, with its anticolonial approach and ability to "get the job done".
chaudc
09-20-2007, 05:09 AM
I agree with many of the posts made earlier today. I would suggest a somewhat different approach than "soft power," however. For example, see my SSI monograph on PRC influence in Africa here:
http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?pubID=766
Tom Odom is absolutely correct: Communist China has been on the African continent for decades (since 1955, in fact). My PhD dissertation focused on PRC influence in Africa from 1955 to 1976; I hope to publish it in book format in the future.
The quantity of PRC activities may, in fact, be greater in recent years; but the quality and intent remains the same.
Jedburgh
11-02-2007, 01:41 PM
JFQ, 4th Qtr 07: Dragon with a Heart of Darkness? Countering Chinese Influence in Africa (http://www.ndu.edu/inss/Press/jfq_pages/editions/i47/6.pdf)
While the United States has been preoccupied with global challenges to its security since 2001, China has used what it calls an independent foreign policy (http://www.afpc.org/china-africa.shtml) (a term Beijing uses to denote independence from American power) to achieve diplomatic, military, and economic influence in African nations in exchange for unconditional foreign aid, regardless of the benefiting country’s human rights record or political practices. This foreign policy undermines U.S. objectives intended to promote good governance, market reform, and regional security and stability, while concomitantly diminishing U.S. influence. China’s relationships with Angola, Sudan, and Zimbabwe, for instance, have enabled these countries to ignore international pressure and frustrated efforts to isolate, coerce, or reform them. Left unchecked, China’s growing influence will likely facilitate similar behavior from other African countries, stymieing U.S. efforts and leading to friction, if not outright conflict, between Beijing and Washington.
The United States, therefore, needs a coherent and overarching strategy that coordinates its diplomatic, military, and economic instruments of power to counter China’s growing influence in Africa.....
Poole's latest book, The Terrorist Trail, goes into into detail about a Jihadist/African/China nexus that has been developing for a period of time that I find to be very interesting and credible.
It would seem that the author's new book, Dragon Days (http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Days-H-John-Poole/dp/096386954X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-2286401-4285520?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194927753&sr=1-1), evaluates this relationship in greater detail. From his site (emphasis mine)...
Within Dragon Days are two studies: (1) how a rising superpower may be encouraging Islamic insurgency to screen its own Maoist expansion; and (2) what America must do to curtail either. Ostensibly, that power also provides foreign aid to the affected countries. But, the corporations involved are little more than extensions of its army. Thus, those countries are obviously at risk. The U.S. military is ill-prepared for so subtle a confrontation. Instead of occupying such countries or training their armies, it must start to deploy "foreign aid workers in the law enforcement sector." Then, by the thousands, specially trained squad-sized units could anchor widely dispersed Combined Action Platoons. Their mission would be to help indigenous police and soldiers to reestablish local security. Without that security, there can be no viable counterinsurgency or operating democracy. Part Two of this book shows what U.S. infantrymen must know about criminal investigative procedure. Part Three contains the unconventional warfare (UW) tactical techniques they must practice. The latter are new to the literature and not covered by any U.S. military manual. They should allow tiny contingents of GIs to slip away unhurt whenever they get cut off and surrounded. Without this new kind of training, their only hope would be massive bombardment in, and forceful extraction from, heavily populated areas. Such things do little to win the hearts and minds of a population. This book provides the training and operations blueprint for winning an unconventionally fought world war. It also points to a hidden adversary.
Given the quality of The Last 100 Yards, Tiger's Way, and Gunny Poole's other works, I'm looking forward to reading his thoughts on this subject.
Mark O'Neill
11-13-2007, 09:25 AM
It would seem that the author's new book, Dragon Days (http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Days-H-John-Poole/dp/096386954X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-2286401-4285520?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194927753&sr=1-1), evaluates this relationship in greater detail. From his site (emphasis mine)...
Given the quality of The Last 100 Yards, Tiger's Way, and Gunny Poole's other works, I'm looking forward to reading his thoughts on this subject.
You are joking right? China encouraging Jihadists in Africa? What planet did this idea come from?
I have lived in sub-saharan Africa, operated there, and undertaken years of post grad study on Africa. Some facts that do not sit well with your post:
1. Zimbabwe is not an Islamist nation - over 90 percent of the population are practising Christians, the rest subscribe to 'traditional beliefs'. Chinese influence on the Indian Ocean littoral has nothing to do with Islam and everything to do with trade and access.
2. China is far more worried about the rise of Islamic fundamentalism than the US is - China has significant Muslim ethnic minorities that are actively pursuing seperatist agendas. The idea that China would seek to encourage the spread of Islamic fundamentalism is, frankly, ridiculous. They have more to lose, literally, than many other nations .
3. China's interest in Africa essentially distils down to a couple of compelling imperatives:
a) energy security,
b) sourcing minerals to keep their economic boom 'booming'; and
c)denying Taiwan diplomatic access / recognition.
I would strongly recommend that your paragon spends some time researching some facts before he writes more inaccurate drivel.
Tom Odom
11-13-2007, 01:11 PM
You are joking right? China encouraging Jihadists in Africa? What planet did this idea come from?
I have lived in sub-saharan Africa, operated there, and undertaken years of post grad study on Africa. Some facts that do not sit well with your post:
1. Zimbabwe is not an Islamist nation - over 90 percent of the population are practising Christians, the rest subscribe to 'traditional beliefs'. Chinese influence on the Indian Ocean littoral has nothing to do with Islam and everything to do with trade and access.
2. China is far more worried about the rise of Islamic fundamentalism than the US is - China has significant Muslim ethnic minorities that are actively pursuing seperatist agendas. The idea that China would seek to encourage the spread of Islamic fundamentalism is, frankly, ridiculous. They have more to lose, literally, than many other nations .
3. China's interest in Africa essentially distils down to a couple of compelling imperatives:
a) energy security,
b) sourcing minerals to keep their economic boom 'booming'; and
c)denying Taiwan diplomatic access / recognition.
I would strongly recommend that your paragon spends some time researching some facts before he writes more inaccurate drivel.
In one word, agreed.
Tom
During the time I was in Chad and the DRC, we rarely saw the Chinese. We knew they were around doing many things, but we rarely saw them. The only Chinese I saw were the owners and some staff at Chinese restuarants, and the staff at a Chinese army hospital in Kindu and a Chinese navy base near Bukavu. The army and navy people I never saw outside the confines of their perimeters.
We went to a Chinese restaurant in N'Djamena and the owner and some of the waitress' were Chinese. N'Djamena is pretty close to nowhere, but there they were. I was impressed.
In one word, agreed.
Tom
Sage, welcome aboard and please take a moment here (http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?t=1441&page=34) and here (http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/faq.php?faq=small_wars_council_faq#faq_conduct).
I fully concur with Mark, Tom and Carl...Bogus comes to mind. I'll bet my 10 years in Sub-Sahara (7 countries).
You are joking right? China encouraging Jihadists in Africa? What planet did this idea come from? ...I would strongly recommend that your paragon spends some time researching some facts before he writes more inaccurate drivel.
Ignoring the Aussie frankness in your post as well as the grade school foreign policy lesson, I actually tend to agree with you regarding China's role in Africa and, as I've communicated to the author, am not yet convinced that China is waging a war by proxy there or elsewhere. My main interest in the text is the author's focus on integrating law enforcement skills with traditional soldiering in such regions.
A few points, however:
1. The author, I believe, focuses on northeast Africa. Specifically, the role played by Islamists in Sudan and Somalia, as well as the various factions that have been established in that region since the early 90's. There is no mention of Zimbabwe.
2. Some might make the case that declaring, quite simply, that there is a single demonstrable Chinese foreign policy is about as rational as declaring a single European foreign policy. China's leadership is a motley crew of different interests and organizations, not all of whom are on the same page or working from the same play book. While I'm not yet convinced of its existence, it would be naive to believe that encouraging a proxy war in North Africa is wholly beyond the realm of intellectual possibility. The PLA and CMC, many argue, have entirely different goals than the NPC.
3. The author in question, John Poole, is a well-respected retired NCO whose books are often forwarded by this forum's very own "paragons," including Bill Lind and Bruce Gudmundsson. He is one of the men directly responsible for integrating maneuver warfare theory into Marine Corp doctrine, and his books, The Last 100 Yards and Tiger's Way are considered by many to be the best texts on small unit tactics published in quite some time. None of which makes him an expert on Africa, but it would be disrespectful to describe him as a man given to proffering "inaccurate drivel."
In addition, the man's probably spent more time in the regions discussed than you and I combined, so, while dubious of his assessment of Chinese foreign policy, you'll forgive me if I'm not as comfortable dismissing his analysis so quickly. I'd prefer to read the book first.
Sage, welcome aboard.
Thanks for the welcome, Stan.
tequila
11-13-2007, 05:59 PM
1. The author, I believe, focuses on northeast Africa. Specifically, the role played by Islamists in Sudan and Somalia, as well as the various factions that have been established in that region since the early 90's. There is no mention of Zimbabwe.
I'd like to see any evidence at all of Chinese involvement with jihadist groups in either Sudan or Somalia, unless you want to make the rather questionable leap of identifying the Bashir government as jihadist in orientation (an appellation dubious to most Sudanese groups, but probably better fitting the Darfuri Justice and Equality Movement given its brief alliance with Hassan al-Turabi than the Sudanese government).
With regards to Somalia, I think the Somali Islamists and indeed most Somalis probably look rather askance at the Chinese, given Chicom support and investment (http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/vol20no4/204-china-africa-ties.html)in their archenemy Ethiopia, which has already fomented ethnic Somali backlash in the Ogaden (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-04/24/content_858956.htm).
To call China's policy in the Sudan or in the Horn a "proxy war" or an alliance with the jihadis requires a rather profound leap of the imagination. I respect Gunny Poole's work, but that doesn't mean I buy into all of it (especially those clipart illustrations!). For instance his amalgamation of all of non-Western warfare into a single culturally-based clump reflects the worst generalizing impulses of Victor Davis Hanson and his ilk, just from the opposite vantage point (VDH despises all non-Western warfare, while Poole tends to valorize it --- both oversimplify to the point of uselessness --- but Poole at least has valid tactical concepts and insights).
I'd like to see any evidence at all of Chinese involvement with jihadist groups in either Sudan or Somalia...
So would I.
Most of the "suspicious" relationships presented in the author's Terrorist Trail are extremely subtle and based on both old alliances of ideological convenience (such as China's training of the ANC, FNLA, and others in the 70's) and new alliances of economic convenience (such as the CNPC's interest in Sudanese oil refineries). And I, like you, am inclined to believe that the latter alliances are simply natural by-products of a nation attempting to address future energy needs. However, my experience with the Chinese is not as colorful as the author's, so perhaps he sees something that I do not.
I respect Gunny Poole's work, but that doesn't mean I buy into all of it.
As I thought I made clear, I haven't been convinced of anything. Nor am I taking an apologist position for the "Jihadist/China/Africa nexus" theory. I was simply advising a previous poster, one who expressed interest in Poole's thoughts on said theory, that the author's latest work supposedly deals with the topic in greater detail.
That's why I used the
quote function in my post.
Mark O'Neill
11-14-2007, 12:10 AM
Ignoring the Aussie frankness in your post as well as the grade school foreign policy lesson,
A few points, however:
1. The author, I believe, focuses on northeast Africa. Specifically, the role played by Islamists in Sudan and Somalia, as well as the various factions that have been established in that region since the early 90's. There is no mention of Zimbabwe.
2. Some might make the case that declaring, quite simply, that there is a single demonstrable Chinese foreign policy is about as rational as declaring a single European foreign policy. China's leadership is a motley crew of different interests and organizations, not all of whom are on the same page or working from the same play book. While I'm not yet convinced of its existence, it would be naive to believe that encouraging a proxy war in North Africa is wholly beyond the realm of intellectual possibility. The PLA and CMC, many argue, have entirely different goals than the NPC.
3. The author in question, John Poole, is a well-respected retired NCO whose books are often forwarded by this forum's very own "paragons," including Bill Lind and Bruce Gudmundsson. He is one of the men directly responsible for integrating maneuver warfare theory into Marine Corp doctrine, and his books, The Last 100 Yards and Tiger's Way are considered by many to be the best texts on small unit tactics published in quite some time. None of which makes him an expert on Africa, but it would be disrespectful to describe him as a man given to proffering "inaccurate drivel."
Sage,
In rebuttal, the 'grade school foreign policy lesson' was offered in response to the 'preschool' assertions offered about China in your original post (and, to my mind, continued in your reply). I believe that if you want to stimulate 'graduate level' discussion it is probably best if you start off at that level, so people who do not know you at least have a hint that is the level you wish to discuss things at. Of course, this requires far more factual rigour than the assertions in your post either supplied or implied.....
Secondly, I am unaware of any 'paragon' list at SWJ. I would be grateful if you could illuminate my ignorance and direct me to the appropriate link. I suggest that your sweeping generalisation about whom SWJ members are 'fond' of is wildly inaccurate. My time here has suggested that our membership views are wide and varied. By way of example, I hold no great / positive view about the wide spread application of the works of either the gentlemen you refer to.
Thirdly, the fact that the author you cite is a widely respected former SNCO is neither here nor there with regard to his ability to write with authority or accuracy on wider geo-political issues. What exactly is your point in making this claim? I know literally hundreds of excellent serving and former SNCO, their innate ability as a soldier has no causal relationship with any ability as an international relations analyst. If someone presumes to claim authoritative knowledge of a subject it is reasonable to ask and examine on what basis the claim is made. As a rule, being a respected SNCO does not cut the mustard in establishing expert credibility across any subject you may care to name. This, of course, does not preclude your author from being such an expert - it merely establishes that he is not one simply because of the fact that he was a 'respected SNCO'.
Finally, I find your comment about Aussie 'frankness' stereotypical and inappropriate. I believe that unwillingness to swallow inane assertion or ignorance is not something unique to me or my countrymen. I have found it to be to be a trait that is shared by many of friends from the USA, UK and Africa....
Mark
Jedburgh
02-01-2008, 04:07 PM
The Jamestown Foundation's China Brief, 31 Jan 08:
Feeding the Dragon: China's Quest for African Minerals (http://www.jamestown.org/china_brief/article.php?articleid=2373938)
While much of the attention on China’s emergence onto the global economic stage as an industrial powerhouse has focused on the accumulation of its massive trade surpluses, most Western observers probing Beijing’s interest in Africa’s rich natural resources have concentrated on the Middle Kingdom’s seemingly insatiable appetite for energy resources. Africa currently contributes 12 percent of the world's liquid hydrocarbon (oil) production. In 2013, African oil production is projected to rise to 10.7-11.4 million bpd, and by 2018 to 12.4-14.5 million bpd. In 2007, African oil constituted more than 22 percent of the United States' total usage and 28 percent of China’s—the latter case including approximately 60 percent of the Sudan's oil export—compared to the 2006 figures of 9 percent for China, 33 percent for the United States and 36 percent for Europe.
A less mainstream but perhaps more significant issue for Sino-African relations is China’s growing interest in Africa’s rich mineral resources—where Beijing’s shopping list literally runs the gamut, from aluminum to zirconium. Considering China’s dynamic economy and robust growth, its interest in African minerals may well prove in the long run more strategically important in its grand strategy than African oil—especially if China's deals with Central Asian energy exporters prove successful. The minerals sought by China affect every aspect of its economy, from the minerals like titanium needed for producing military aircraft to the iron ore needed to fuel its export of consumer goods, to its surging diamond trade for the country’s growing appetite for luxury items.....
Jedburgh
02-28-2008, 12:58 PM
Chatham House transcript of 22 Feb 08 remarks of Chinese govt special rep on Darfur, Ambassador Liu Guijin: Darfur and Sino-African Relations (http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/publications/papers/download/-/id/597/file/11105_220208guijin.pdf)
China's historic engagement in Africa has strengthened in recent years and with that the complexity of its relations with African nations has increased. From a focus on Darfur, Ambassador Liu expanded to speak about China's role in Africa. Ambassador Liu presented on China's perspective on Africa, how it views its own position vis-à-vis Africa, and its policy priorities.....
Jedburgh
06-09-2008, 05:57 PM
Three papers from CSIS, 4 Jun 08:
China in Nigeria (http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/080603_utomi_nigeriachina.pdf)
....This paper focuses on how various stakeholders in Nigeria view China’s engagement. The study is based on interviews with a wide array of actors, including Nigerian government officials, businessmen, academics, and residents of Chinese extraction who have lived and operated in Nigeria for many years. Other groups interviewed for the study include Chinese diplomats in Nigeria, Chinese traders and leaders, and Chinese project teams.....
Angola and China: A Pragmatic Partnership (http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/080603_campos_angolachina.pdf)
....With 2008 marking the 25th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations between the two countries, this paper takes a fresh look at the issue of Angola and China’s partnership. The study benefits from fieldwork carried out in Angola in September 2007 and January 2008 and includes numerous interviews with Angolan officials. Chinese embassy personnel in Luanda declined to comment on the report....
Economic Relations Between Kenya and China, 1963-2007 (http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/080603_chege_kenyachina.pdf)
....It begins with the backdrop to contemporary economic relations between China and Kenya by revisiting the hostile relations between the two countries in the Mao Zedong era, over the relevance of a socialist revolution in Kenya. In the wake of Deng Xiaoping’s “four modernizations,” that hostility gradually mutated into a fruitful phase of interaction between China and Kenya. From the evidence presented by this paper, economic interaction between China and Kenya—particularly after 2002—derogate from the received wisdom of a predatory China let loose among hapless Africans (at worst) or a calculatingly benign Beijing out to gain more from the deals than its African partners (at best). It also brings into center stage, the power of agency, demonstrating that African states are indeed capable of making choices that benefit them in the intensified phase of trade and investment in cooperation with China. It concludes that Kenya’s case may not be as exceptional as it seems at first blush.....
AdamG
07-20-2008, 11:22 PM
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23517837-details/How+China%27s+taking+over+Africa,+and+why+the+West +should+be+VERY+worried/article.do
Reminiscent of the West's imperial push in the 18th and 19th centuries - but on a much more dramatic, determined scale - China's rulers believe Africa can become a 'satellite' state, solving its own problems of over-population and shortage of natural resources at a stroke.
With little fanfare, a staggering 750,000 Chinese have settled in Africa over the past decade. More are on the way.
The strategy has been carefully devised by officials in Beijing, where one expert has estimated that China will eventually need to send 300 million people to Africa to solve the problems of over-population and pollution.
The plans appear on track. Across Africa, the red flag of China is flying. Lucrative deals are being struck to buy its commodities - oil, platinum, gold and minerals. New embassies and air routes are opening up. The continent's new Chinese elite can be seen everywhere, shopping at their own expensive boutiques, driving Mercedes and BMW limousines, sending their children to exclusive private schools.
The pot-holed roads are cluttered with Chinese buses, taking people to markets filled with cheap Chinese goods. More than a thousand miles of new Chinese railroads are crisscrossing the continent, carrying billions of tons of illegally-logged timber, diamonds and gold.
The trains are linked to ports dotted around the coast, waiting to carry the goods back to Beijing after unloading cargoes of cheap toys made in China.
Confucius Institutes (state-funded Chinese 'cultural centres') have sprung up throughout Africa, as far afield as the tiny land-locked countries of Burundi and Rwanda, teaching baffled local people how to do business in Mandarin and Cantonese.
Massive dams are being built, flooding nature reserves. The land is scarred with giant Chinese mines, with 'slave' labourers paid less than £1 a day to extract ore and minerals.
Pristine forests are being destroyed, with China taking up to 70 per cent of all timber from Africa.
All over this great continent, the Chinese presence is swelling into a flood. Angola has its own 'Chinatown', as do great African cities such as Dar es Salaam and Nairobi.
Exclusive, gated compounds, serving only Chinese food, and where no blacks are allowed, are being built all over the continent. 'African cloths' sold in markets on the continent are now almost always imported, bearing the legend: 'Made in China'.
From Nigeria in the north, to Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Angola in the west, across Chad and Sudan in the east, and south through Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, China has seized a vice-like grip on a continent which officials have decided is crucial to the superpower's long-term survival.
'The Chinese are all over the place,' says Trevor Ncube, a prominent African businessman with publishing interests around the continent. 'If the British were our masters yesterday, the Chinese have taken their place.'
Jedburgh
01-10-2009, 02:29 AM
JFQ, 1st Qtr 09: China-Africa Relations in the 21st Century (http://www.ndu.edu/inss/Press/jfq_pages/editions/i52/23.pdf)
Over the past decade, while the United States and other Western powers focused on counterterrorism and traditional aid programs in Africa, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) developed a broad, unified strategy toward Africa. This policy spans government ministries and uses all four instruments of national power. China’s African Policy (http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/zxxx/t230615.htm), announced in January 2006, is a bold step for the PRC as it demonstrates a fundamental foreign policy change for a government that once valued noninterference as its highest standard. Although the policy still espouses China’s historic respect for the sovereignty of other countries, the scope of its activities reveals a clear intent to advance Beijing’s involvement in Africa beyond historical levels and build strategic partnerships on the continent that will substantially increase China’s economic, political, and military presence. With U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM) now having full operational capability, it is important for officials to understand the extent of the PRC’s engagement in Africa, where it is going in the future, and the implications for USAFRICOM.....
Jedburgh
11-03-2009, 04:40 PM
IPCS, Oct 09: The Dragon on Safari: China’s Africa Policy (http://www.ipcs.org/pdf_file/issue/SR86-China-Kohli-Final.pdf)
In contrast to the political and military militancy of the 1970s, China’s current engagement with Africa should be viewed within the context of globalization in the aftermath of the Cold War. This new relationship is voluntarily focused on economic and technological cooperation for the sake of development. In fact, the current emphasis of China’s Africa policy is based on the classical foundations of what is described as a tripod of historical legitimacies, namely:
Historical links to liberation movements (historical legitimacy)
A Third World ideological heritage dating back to the Cold War (ideological legitimacy)
An evolving partnership based on principles of non-interference and neutrality (political legitimacy)
Kinshasa's Missing Millions -
Evidence of Grand Corruption Mounts in Beijing's Showcase (http://allafrica.com/stories/201002151711.html) $6 billion Barter Deal with the Kinshasa Government
Over US $23 million in signature bonuses payable on China's $6 billion Sino-Congolaise des Mines (Sicomines) deal with the Kinshasa government have been stolen according to a probe by a commission set up by the National Assembly.
And the final blow
The Congolese shareholders say that they are getting tougher in negotiations. Before, they had to 'close their eyes' to certain details, such as feasibility studies carried out by the same company that would later implement the project, a practice that led to overestimating of costs.
William F. Owen
02-17-2010, 07:26 AM
Wow... what comes around.
The Chinese have been major players in most of central Africa for 40+ years. Odd that is now only receiving the attention it should.
M-A Lagrange
02-17-2010, 08:28 AM
Over US $23 million in signature bonuses payable on China's $6 billion Sino-Congolaise des Mines (Sicomines) deal with the Kinshasa government have been stolen according to a probe by a commission set up by the National Assembly.
The real question with DRC is who is complaining? If it's the chinese: why not. If it's the congolese... I just found the thief: the national assembly commission. :wry:
The Chinese have been major players in most of central Africa for 40+ years. Odd that is now only receiving the attention it should.
Right: Chinese trained nice guys as Bob Mugabe or young Kabila... Their military presence has been quite obvious since more than 40 years.
What has change now is, chineses come to settle in Africa. Algeria is an interresting example. Few month ago there were anti chinese riots in Alger. Today, they are one of the biggest business community and they are the first foreigners community in Algeria...
China involvement into Sudan electoral process is also interresting. They are no more challenging only Western economical interrests in Africa. Soon they will move from their "we do not get involve into your governance" policy to a much more "administrate your country as I said because it belongs to me" policy.
AdamG
06-11-2011, 02:09 AM
LUSAKA (AFP) – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged African countries to lift trade barriers with the United States here Friday and voiced concern about China's aid and investment practices in Africa.
The first US chief diplomat to visit Zambia since 1976, Clinton attended annual talks over a US preferential trade deal at a time when China has overtaken the United States as Africa's top trading partner.
"China's presence in Africa reflects the reality that it has important and growing interests here on the continent," Clinton said during a press conference with Zambian President Rupiah Banda.
"The United States does not see these interests inherently incompatible with our own interests. We do not see China's rise as a zero-sum game. We hope that it will become succesful in its economic efforts," she said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110610/wl_africa_afp/africaustrade_10;_ylt=AtOTGfbLflFi2B6o7h4ool1H2ocA ;_ylu=X3oDMTM1M241aWd2BGFzc2V0A2FmcC8yMDExMDYxMC9h ZnJpY2F1c3RyYWRlBGNjb2RlA3NwZHRvcDUwMHBvb2wEY3Bvcw M1BHBvcwM1BHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDdXMzOWNv bmNlcm5l
Dayuhan
06-20-2011, 01:24 AM
The strategy has been carefully devised by officials in Beijing, where one expert has estimated that China will eventually need to send 300 million people to Africa to solve the problems of over-population and pollution...
...Massive dams are being built, flooding nature reserves. The land is scarred with giant Chinese mines, with 'slave' labourers paid less than £1 a day to extract ore and minerals...
...Exclusive, gated compounds, serving only Chinese food, and where no blacks are allowed, are being built all over the continent...
...'The Chinese are all over the place,' says Trevor Ncube, a prominent African businessman with publishing interests around the continent. 'If the British were our masters yesterday, the Chinese have taken their place.'
I once met an Angolan businessman in Dubai who told me "we didn't know what racism was until we met the Chinese".
I'm not entirely sure that it's "the West" that should be "very worried" over all this, It looks to me like something that could very easily blow up in the faces of the Chinese, especially with Chinese-owned farms worked by Chinese labor setting up. How long before the backlash starts? How long before a government that's cut all kinds of cozy deals with the Chinese is threatened by insurgents who want to nationalize Chinese investments and throw the colonists out, and the Chinese are suddenly debating how to "do FID", "do COIN", and otherwise maintain a friendly government that can't govern in power?
I don't see any reason to suspect that China's colonization of Africa will end any better - or any differently - than Europe's. Let them go ahead and bite off bigger and bigger pieces; not like there's anything we can do to stop them, and sooner or later they'll choke on it.
AdamG
06-20-2011, 01:50 PM
Jabin Jacob, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies in New Delhi, is also skeptical about the string of pearls theory.
He says India's policy planners should be more concerned with the way China is using its military in what are called "military operations other than war," such as anti-piracy patrols off the coast of Somalia.
"How will you deal with a China that is actively crisscrossing the Indian Ocean, and building up relations with other Indian Ocean littoral states where India has traditionally held sway?" he asks.
India needs to involve itself actively with its smaller neighbors and their problems, if it wants to maintain its influence, he says.
http://www.npr.org/2011/06/20/137061379/indians-uneasy-as-china-builds-ports-nearby
M-A Lagrange
06-21-2011, 06:34 AM
Adam,
A very interresting point. India is with China an emerging power in Africa. But also a power which is present since now several centuries. It's always supprising for new comers to see a huge Hindu temple in Kampala, Uganda, in the middle of the African continent.
Also India has been involved since several years in peace keeping operations (in competition with Pakistan) in Central Africa.
I do not know how far Africa is a priority for the Indian authorities but they are every where (Just like the Chinese). And not just to run smal street shops. Indian companies in Cebtral Africa are deeply involvedinto mining activities (just like the Chinese), large scale farming (just like the Chinese), cheap goods import (just like the Chinese)...
India VS China is coming to be the next big struggle in Africa.
Indians in Africa should not be surprising.
They had gone as labour for the British.
They stayed behind and became commercial successes.
I believe of late the Indian Govt is looking at Africa commercially.
I think Indians should do better than the Chinese since they will be able to adjust to the laid back attitude of Africa since they too are laid back in attitude.
KingJaja
11-30-2011, 11:00 AM
The Chinese seem to be getting in on the game. This is exactly the reason why we didn't want noisy announcements and high profile visits by senior AFRICOM officials. We don't want another great power struggle for Africa.
We had one in the run-up to the Berlin conference and another during the Cold War. Africa came out pretty badly after both events: The Berlin conference left us with borders that made no sense and Soviet - American rivalry kept people like Mobutu and Siad Barre in power, murdered Lumumba and made Africa lose at least forty years of constructive engagement with the rest of the World.
Excerpt:
Liang Guanglie, state councilor and minister of national defense of the People's Republic of China (PRC), and his party left Beijing on November 21, 2011 for the Republic of Ghana, the Republic of Uganda and the Republic of Seychelles for an official goodwill visit at the invitation of the ministries of defense of the three countries.
Liang Guanglie’s principal entourage includes Zhu Fuxi, director of the Political Department of the Air Force of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), and Zheng Chuanfu, commander of the PLA Beijing Garrison.
Qian Lihua, director-general of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Ministry of National Defense of the PRC, saw Liang Guanglie and his party off at the airport.
The link: http://eng.mod.gov.cn/DefenseNews/20...nt_4318072.htm
KingJaja
11-30-2011, 04:33 PM
(It was also a news headline in Al Jazeera English today. Saw footage of a sizable contingent of the PLA being received by the Ugandan military).
I think the US should take a long, hard, look at its relationship with Africa and the Middle East. It is too clouded by fear, threats and hysterics for the good of Africa, the Middle East or the US itself.
Like it or not, Africa is fast becoming a Chinese area of influence (just like Central Asia is a Russian area of influence). The US spent the last decade "baiting the bear". Predictably, the Russians retaliated - and when they did (in Georgia), they used your own Iraq rules, and the result wasn't pretty.
We don't want to be caught in the middle of a super power battle for influence.
And don't tell me you only have the best of intentions, the British said the same thing (or so my grandfather would have told me).
KingJaja
11-30-2011, 06:25 PM
I know the Chinese have been in Central Africa for quite some time. They even have a more colourful history in Southern Africa.
I've lived long enough to understand that the best indicator of future proxy wars is the increased profile of public engagements by the future competitors. We saw it with the Soviets and Americans and we are replaying that movie right now.
KingJaja
12-02-2011, 07:12 PM
Very interesting talk given by an expert. Dispel's several myths about the Chinese.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za8euDy9n7w
davidbfpo
12-02-2011, 08:50 PM
A good talk, but at 45 minutes long others may prefer a review of the professor's book:http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-dragons-gift-by-deborah-brautigam-1854588.html
There's also her blogsite:http://www.chinaafricarealstory.com/
KingJaja
12-02-2011, 09:28 PM
I've visited her site, but am yet to read her book. She does make some very interesting points, that are shared by many educated Africans:
1. China sees Africa as an opportunity, the West sees Africa as a charity case. Consequently, many components of Western engagement are not driven by economics, but more to satisfy post-colonial guilt. For example, the US is spending $600 million on aid to Nigeria, but this money is not likely to lead to economic growth (and significant amounts of it are likely to be embezzled or spent as consulting fees).
2. China has had a consistent policy towards Africa - (to create prosperity, build a road). While the West has oscillated from "integrated rural development", to "import substitution", to "industrial development", to "structural adjustment programs" and finally now "Millennium Development Goals".
Another book making the rounds is Dead Aid, by Dambisa Moyo. In that book, there is a chapter titled The Chinese are our friends. The book raised a storm in the development community, but it resonated with most African intellectuals.
This is not to say that the Chinese don't have their faults, but fifty years of Western development policy have not produced many tangible results. True, Governments may be corrupt and institutions may be weak, but are we going to wait for corruption to be eliminated before we build roads and power stations?
There is an economic component to the future security of the African continent, and whether we like it or not, the Chinese have a role to play (probably the most important role after Africans).
davidbfpo
12-15-2011, 11:55 AM
Ten years into the Look East policy, Zimbabwe is showing itself to be a not-so-satisfied customer of Chinese investment.
Link:http://www.opendemocracy.net/andrew-mambondiyani/chinese-companies-under-scrutiny-in-zimbabwe
KingJaja
12-15-2011, 07:21 PM
Chinese involvement in Zimbabwe is neither as significant or as strategic (either to the Chinese or the Zimbabweans) as Western Media would have you believe.
On the other hand, link to a debate on China's role in Africa (organised by intelligence squared).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Dpp6n2QGsQ&feature=BFa&list=SPE7865CD7C141D230&lf=list_related
davidbfpo
12-15-2011, 08:51 PM
KingJaJa,
I don't disagree with your view:
Chinese involvement in Zimbabwe is neither as significant or as strategic
From this armchair I do consider the article illustrates Chinese behaviour and the apparent absence of any response by the Zimbabwean state. Zimbabwe gets far more coverage here than many other sub-Saharan countries, even then it is sparse and the article came via a UK-Zimbabwe group.
AdamG
01-06-2012, 12:22 PM
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi hailed Africa as a "golden ground" for foreign investment, and vowed to work with Chinese firms to ensure they comply with local labour laws.
"Africa is a fertile place for foreign investors and it is a golden ground for Africa to attract foreign investors, especially for infrastructure which is the blood and muscle of a country," Yang said during a visit to Namibia.
http://news.yahoo.com/china-hails-africa-golden-ground-013154535.html;_ylt=Akr32M_rxM9YXzTiY9_63ZvzWed_;_ ylu=X3oDMTRqY2ZkbzVhBGNjb2RlA2dtcHJhd3RvcDEwMDBwb2 9sdXAEbWl0A05ld3MgZm9yIHlvdQRwa2cDOGNjNGZlNDItNWFl Mi0zMGEzLTgyM2ItZTQzYzFmOWRmMDEyBHBvcwM5BHNlYwNuZX dzX2Zvcl95b3UEdmVyAzhjYmI5YjUwLTM4MDYtMTFlMS05ZGZm LTk2ZDVhYjgwYWJmZg--;_ylg=X3oDMTJya2tqYmY5BGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRw c3RhaWQDOTAwMGQ0M2UtNTM4ZC0zZjRkLTljZTktOWU1ZGMyZW E5NDkxBHBzdGNhdAN1cwRwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2UEdGVzdAM-;_ylv=3
KingJaja
02-14-2012, 07:07 AM
The gist is that the Chinese have a better approach to aid than the West.
KAMPALA, Uganda — China last month sent a senior official to symbolically hand over the keys to a nine-story twin tower to house Uganda’s president and prime minister, a gift from Beijing.
The white structures with a sloping roof cost China $27 million to build. But — in a strategy that China is increasingly employing around Africa — Beijing didn’t just deliver the money and let Ugandan officials see the project through. It was built by Chinese workers in what aid watchdogs applaud as a model to help defeat the inefficiencies and cash-pocketing corruption associated with other systems of foreign aid delivery.
China has a growing economic footprint in Uganda and much of the rest of Africa, and some Ugandans natives complain of the rising number of Chinese arriving to set up shop. China’s strategic interest in this East African country has deepened at a time when Uganda hopes to become an oil producer.
But the completion of projects like a modern hospital complex has softened China’s reputation, while Beijing’s efforts to produce turn-key projects are winning fans among Ugandans tired of seeing their officials ripping off foreign aid projects with impunity. Instead of giving cash, the Chinese government prefers to pay Chinese companies to build roads and structures, bypassing local politicians, powerbrokers and construction crews, and to deliver them completed.
The China model is “more effective. It’s less prone to corruption,” said Sven Grimm, the executive director of the Center for Chinese Studies at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. He said the approach also bolsters China’s economy, because “Chinese enterprises ... go out and gain international experience.”
Experts say China’s model of donating buildings and roads might help it cut the risk of aid scandals like the one that rocked the $22.6 billion Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria over the past year. The Geneva-based financier gets donations from wealthy donor nations and private sources like Bill Gates. But donors recoiled after the fund’s internal watchdog documented more than $50 million in losses due to corruption and other misuse and unauthorized spending, affecting much of Africa, including Uganda.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/china-skirting-african-corruption-in-direct-aid-gifts-ugandas-president-gets-a-new-office/2012/02/09/gIQAX7G10Q_story.html
KingJaja
02-14-2012, 07:22 AM
These pix give one a feel for the scale of the Chinese presence in Africa.
http://i.imgur.com/Zvmpr.jpg
Lagos light rail
http://www.home.co.ke/images/traffic/feeds/forestlimuru.jpg?0.8341560048274157?0.769038470830 3896?0.054390438311229805?0.8146645258823151?0.242 75882621039724?0.7543481010121477?0.91349204150374 13?0.7391824296199782?0.6976873050238535?0.9018009 286057279?0.06537850350738661?0.9046075490421184?0 .18522602538086919?0.7611978814012016?0.5567863072 370417?0.051549374642208434?0.25586603503034266?0. 9764979794482208?0.5978403743468701?0.755174964202 511
Nairobi-Thika Road
http://74.54.19.227/news/324/32452902.optim.jpg
Bui Dam - Ghana
http://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/obajanalarge.jpg
Dangote Cement Plant, Obajana - built by Sinochem
This is just the tip of the iceberg and the scale is mind-boggling.
Dayuhan
02-14-2012, 11:47 AM
Instead of giving cash, the Chinese government prefers to pay Chinese companies to build roads and structures, bypassing local politicians, powerbrokers and construction crews, and to deliver them completed.
The China model is “more effective. It’s less prone to corruption,” said Sven Grimm, the executive director of the Center for Chinese Studies at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. He said the approach also bolsters China’s economy, because “Chinese enterprises ... go out and gain international experience.”
This sort of arrangement is neither new nor uniquely Chinese: it's been used by other countries in other places. The deals are often popular until the project is finished and the loan has to be paid (or whatever quid pro quo associated with the project comes due). Then the complaint is that the funding country took money out of one pocket and put it into another, and the local folks end up paying for years thereafter.
It would be interesting to look at how exactly these arrangements are structured, and how the Chinese will be taking in their return on investment. I don't expect they're giving anything away.
What amazes me is that they're able to get away with bringing in Chinese labor to the extent they do... doesn't that get a backlash from the local labor force? It's pretty much accepted here that if the Japanese, Koreans, or Chinese fund a project, the prime contractors will be from those countries and the bulk of the money will be transferred direct from the funding government to those contractors (it's essentially a way for governments to hand money overt to favored firms), but those contractors are expected to hire local labor and there would be a huge and immediate backlash if they tried to bring in workers below the supervisory level.
KingJaja
02-14-2012, 02:20 PM
What amazes me is that they're able to get away with bringing in Chinese labor to the extent they do... doesn't that get a backlash from the local labor force? It's pretty much accepted here that if the Japanese, Koreans, or Chinese fund a project, the prime contractors will be from those countries and the bulk of the money will be transferred direct from the funding government to those contractors (it's essentially a way for governments to hand money overt to favored firms), but those contractors are expected to hire local labor and there would be a huge and immediate backlash if they tried to bring in workers below the supervisory level.
That isn't actually true. The ratio of African to Chinese workers for newly arrived Chinese companies is usually 50:50. For more established companies the ratio is 80:20.
Secondly, the Chinese have introduced a new method of paying for projects "use what you have to get what you want". For example, the Bui dam will be paid for from the proceeds from the export of Cocoa over a 30 year period.
Not all Chinese projects are funded this way, but this method makes it easier for poorer nations to access Chinese infrastructure funding.
(I know the Soviets used a similar method; sugar for industrial goods and the Japanese applied the same principle in dealing with the Chinese, but the West almost never does this sort of thing).
You know the West told us that the Chinese are these evil creatures. We believed the West, until the Chinese started living among us and started getting married to our daughters and sisters.
I have Chinese neighbours.
Dayuhan
02-15-2012, 12:12 AM
That isn't actually true. The ratio of African to Chinese workers for newly arrived Chinese companies is usually 50:50. For more established companies the ratio is 80:20.
That would be unthinkable on a Chinese-funded project anywhere in Asia. The Chinese have funded projects here; of course the contracts go to Chinese companies but they can't import labor... as in none, zero. Management and technical people only.
Is there such a severe shortage of skilled labor in Nigeria that the Chinese have to import their own workers?
Secondly, the Chinese have introduced a new method of paying for projects "use what you have to get what you want". For example, the Bui dam will be paid for from the proceeds from the export of Cocoa over a 30 year period.
Is there a commitment to buy at prevailing market price, or at pre-determined prices? These deals have been done before, and they haven't always turned out well for the recipient country. It feels good when the project is being built with no cash outlay, but 15 years down the line, when a whole bunch of cocoa is being shipped out and no money is coming in... who pays the farmers producing the cocoa? The government? Where does the government get the money? What happens then, especially if nobody bothers to protect the upstream watersheds and the dam silts up and turns into a giant mud puddle?
Obviously that's a worst-case scenario, but they have come to pass. Just pointing out that these ideas are not new or unique, and they haven't always worked out well in the past... 20 years from now we'll look back on these projects an some will have worked, some will have kinda sorta partly worked, and some will be absolute disasters... par for the course on big projects, but even the disasters end up being paid for.
Not all Chinese projects are funded this way, but this method makes it easier for poorer nations to access Chinese infrastructure funding.
Buy now and pay later always seems like a good deal when you're poor... it seems like a good deal now, that is. Doesn't always seem a good deal later.
You know the West told us that the Chinese are these evil creatures. We believed the West, until the Chinese started living among us and started getting married to our daughters and sisters.
Who said that, and when? I've heard a chorus of how evil the west is over the last 40 years, much of it from westerners.
I wouldn't say the Chinese are evil, but they are, like the west, out for their own interests and they will skin you if you let them. That's true of the west as well, and anyone else you do business with. No free lunches or nice guys out there, never were.
KingJaja
02-15-2012, 10:31 AM
That would be unthinkable on a Chinese-funded project anywhere in Asia. The Chinese have funded projects here; of course the contracts go to Chinese companies but they can't import labor... as in none, zero. Management and technical people only.
Is there such a severe shortage of skilled labor in Nigeria that the Chinese have to import their own workers?
I meant 80:20 Africans to Chinese. Sorry for the slip up.
Dayuhan
02-15-2012, 12:45 PM
I was thinking of the 50:50... hard to see how the local labor force wouldn't be up in arms at that, but I guess things are different in different places.
Dayuhan
02-16-2012, 03:01 AM
I've just been looking over some data on the Chinese construction industry collapse, and the signs aren't pretty... steel and cement manufacturers slashing output (China produces 44% of the world's steel and 60% of the world's cement) because user inventories are so high there's no place left to store the stuff, China-bound timber piling up on the docks in Vancouver for the same reason.
The backlogs are running up any number of supply chains... equipment makers are sitting on thousands of units they can't sell, complaining that local governments aren't budgeting for infrastructure. The reason is that for the last decade China's local governments have supported their budgets by land sales to developers, often sweetheart deals where developers borrow from banks to buy land from local governments, and the developers, the bankers and the local governments are very closely connected. Those deals are no longer happening, developers are sitting on hundreds of thousands of units that can't be sold and banks are sitting on billions in loans that can't be paid.
China’s automotive inventory stood at about 4 million units at the end of 2011; 2 million to 2.5 million units is normal. People aren't spending like they used to.
A lot of people wondered why China's economy, seen as largely export-based, was not severely impacted by the downturn in the markets it exports to. It's increasingly clear that this was because China's economy and growth have become increasingly dependent on local industries that are every bit as speculative as the real estate industry in Phoenix, Miami, or Dubai was in 2006.
So how does all that impact China's relations with Africa, and with others? Less resource demand, certainly. Possibly large inventories of basic materials that may be dumped onto other markets, potentially to the detriment of domestic industries in those countries. Also possible that the Chinese will have a large labor force that suddenly needs work, and thus may increase attempts to export labor.
It will be very interesting to see how Chinese engagement in Africa and elsewhere is affected as reality catches up with the domestic economy.
KingJaja
02-18-2012, 12:16 PM
Dayuhan,
If I was an Australian, i'd be worried - most of the iron ore comes from Australia. (China has enough limestone, and cement is a very heavy product, difficult to transport anyway).
I am African and I don't see how this is a bad thing. Chinese investment in copper and other minerals in Africa today (e.g. Congo DRC) is not driven by market conditions today but a long term assessment of demand trends. Demand for oil is still high.
Finally, if China has excess supply of technical expertise in construction, it is a match made in heaven - look forward to smart African governments pushing for good deals on construction. (The Ghanaian government already has done so and others are going to join shortly).
KingJaja
02-18-2012, 12:21 PM
Also need to add that a lot of the growth and a lot of Chinese investment in Africa is based on an assessment of the internal domestic market.
Africa has a gdp of about $1 trillion, that may not be much by Western standards, but it is still significantly more than it was when the IMF/World Bank consensus was dominant.
Walmart is here and so is GE, they are not stupid.
KingJaja
02-23-2012, 01:55 PM
This is very significant. Traditionally, Nigeria obtained financing from the West, the push towards the East may be the sign of things to come...
Beijing — The Federal Government is currently discussing with the Chinese government and its agencies with a view to securing about $3 billion (N480 billion) to complete on-going 'priority projects' across the country.
The $3 billion credit from China, according to the government, was part of the $7.9 billion loan proposal President Goodluck Jonathan took to the National Assembly for approval.
Jonathan had, last week, asked the legislature to approve $7.9 billion credit, proposed to be sourced from the World Bank, African Development Bank, Islamic Bank, China and India.
The proposal, he stated, was part of government's medium-term external borrowing plan for the next three years (2012-2014).
The Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said in Beijing, China, after the first day of the meeting of a high-powered Nigerian delegation with the Chinese government and investors, that it was necessary to seek the $3 billion credit line to "complete some people-oriented projects".
Okonjo-Iweala explained that the approach of sourcing this particular credit was a clear departure from the past, when most of the projects were not determined by the federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) but the Chinese, who negotiated the credits at varied interest rates - mostly unfavourable to Nigeria.
The government, she noted, had now adopted "systematisation" of negotiation for the credits - for priority projects and at beneficial interest rates - rather than leaving it to the whims and caprices of the Chinese companies and agencies.
"Right now, we have noticed a phenomenon where a lot of Chinese companies come to different ministries and agencies with particular projects they are interested in and then when the MDAs say yes, they sometimes go and help negotiate the credit. But we want to change this because this approach does not always take into account our priorities. When I say systematisation, it means that we outline what our priorities are and we try to negotiate the same beneficial rate for all our projects so that we have a systematic approach," she said.
The high-powered delegation led by Okonjo-Iweala included the Bauchi State Governor, Isa Yuguda; Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina; Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed; Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Godsday Orubebe; Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Stella Oduah; Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar; Minister of State for Works, Alhaji Bashir Yugudu; Special Adviser to the President on Project Monitoring and Evaluation, Prof. Sylvester Monye; and Managing Director of Galaxy Backbone, Mr. Gerald Ilukwe.
Okonjo-Iweala disclosed that the $3 billion proposed credit line included $500 million financing for four new terminals in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano and $500 million to complete the Abuja light rail projects.
She added that another $500 million meant for agriculture and $171 million for the completion of Bauchi independent power plant project as well as $100 million to complete Galaxy backbone project, were also included in the Chinese facility.
The finance minister assured them that the credit, which was being sought at not more than 3 per cent concessionary interest rate, in line with the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRC), was still within the debt-to-GDP ratio of about 20 per cent.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201202220327.html
davidbfpo
02-23-2012, 03:32 PM
KingJaja,
This announced finance package, ostensibly 'people orientated projects', appears to be akin to "fiddling while Rome burns". With spending on a light rail project for the national capital and four (airport) terminals as BH meander around causing mayhem.
Secondly I am sure, not confident, that in another thread on Nigeria there was an item that oil refining in Nigeria was a big issue, with refineries either not working or working way below capacity. So why not fix those?
If you could clarify whether this "fiddling" is an accurate observation I'd be obliged.
KingJaja
02-23-2012, 04:41 PM
Not exactly fiddling.
A quarter of the budget already goes to security, contracts have been awarded to repair existing refineries, a petroleum industry bill which should open up the petroleum sector to more competition is likely to be passed and reforms in the power sector are on track.
In all fairness, this administration is better intentioned than most administrations before it. The outcomes remain to be seen.
KingJaja
02-28-2012, 10:09 AM
One of the great things about a discussion board like this is that it helps dispel stereotypes, gut feelings or assumptions.
A piece by an experienced China watcher about the Chinese in Ethiopia. Note the role of the Chinese in providing technical training - a common accusation in the Western media is that they do nothing of that sort.
Tough governments are able to get the most out of the rise in emerging-market interest in Africa. Here is one example of countries trying to get beyond the 'win-win' rhetoric in engagements with their Chinese partners. In Ethiopia Addis Ababa holds the reigns.
During his August 2011 trip to China, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi visited the Pearl River Delta, where higher production costs are driving manufacturers offshore.
He invited his Chinese hosts to visit Ethiopia. Among other things, he wanted them to look at a leather-based industrial cluster Ethiopia is developing to better utilise its live stock population, Africa's largest.
Within weeks, a delegation of Chinese businessmen had arrived in Addis Ababa. Among them were representatives of the privately owned Huajian Group that produces 16m pairs of leather shoes per year. By October, Huajian had decided to invest.
Huajian's general manager arrived in November, hired 50 Ethiopian technical school graduates and sent them off to China for training.
Huajian is leasing a factory site in Ethiopia's Eastern (Oriental) Industrial Zone, Hagos Sequar, an Ethiopian industry ministry official told The Africa Report.
"The machinery is already on its way to Djibouti," he added. Ethiopia, at the end of 2011, reflects the surprising complexity of Chinese engagement in Africa, how it differs from that of the West and – possibly of more significance to the continent –how central the role of African agency is.
China is no newcomer here. In 1972, China financed the Wereta-Weldiya road across Ethiopia's Rift Valley. Between 1998 and 2004, the Chinese contributed 15 per cent of the cost of Addis Ababa's ring road, while Ethiopia paid the rest.
But when Ethiopia's economy began to grow at Asian rates, Chinese investors saw increased opportunities. Not all were in the direction stereotypes would have predicted.
Yes, China's state-owned petroleum companies explored for oil but often as contractors for Ethiopian companies. The Chinese government also unleashed a variety of state-sponsored tools for building economic ties.
Most of these do not involve China's relatively modest foreign aid. The China-Africa Development Fund has made equity investments in a leather factory, a cement plant and a glass factory.
The Eastern Industrial Zone is being built and run by a private Chinese company, with performance-based subsidies from China's economic cooperation fund.
Chinese telecoms firm ZTE teamed up with Chinese banks to provide a $1.5bn commercial suppliers' credit (at the London Interbank Offered Rate \[LIBOR]plus 1.5 per cent) to roll out cellular and 3G service across the country.
A preferential export buyer's credit is paying more than half of the $612m cost of a toll road between Addis Ababa and Djibouti.
The tolls will help repay the loan over 20 years. In a twist on a financing mode popularised in Angola, where infrastructure loans were repaid with Angola's main export, oil, China's Export-Import Bank has provided commercial loans for electricity distribution lines, cement factories and other projects, secured (and repaid) by Ethiopia's exports to China, mainly sesame seeds.
These credits are known as hu hui dai kuan or mutual benefit loans. A Chinese company gets the business, Ethiopia gets finance for development at LIBOR plus 2-3 per cent.
Of course, there are downsides. Chinese banks continue to show interest in financing large hydro-power projects with daunting environmental and social challenges.
Reportedly, working conditions were so onerous at the enormous African Union complex built by a Chinese firm that some Chinese workers went on strike.
Ethiopians also complain about the quality of ZTE's technology. At the same time, observers sometimes accuse China of sins it has yet to commit.
In July, Günter Nooke, German chancellor AngelaMerkel's Africa adviser, said that in Ethiopia China's "large-scale land purchases" were partly to blame for a devastating famine.
The California-based Oakland Institute had reported just a month earlier, after an exhaustive four-month 'land grab' study, that Chinese investors were "surprisingly absent from land investment deals" in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia is clearly in charge in this engagement. Chinese traders and shop keepers, who are fixtures across many African cities, are absent on Ethiopia's streets.
These positions are reserved for locals and the Ethiopian government enforces the rules. And China listens. A decade ago, Chinese companies building the ring road complained they could not find enough local skilled workers.
The Ethiopian government asked China to establish a college that would focus on construction and industrial skills. The fully equipped Ethio-China Polytechnic College opened in late 2009, funded by Chinese aid.
Chinese professors offer a two-year degree with Chinese language classes alongside engineering modules. Chinese companies are waiting to hire its first crop of graduates.
KingJaja
02-29-2012, 10:00 AM
Watch this Al Jazeera documentary about Congo and their bad roads. Square it with the West's reluctance to invest in or even support infrastructure projects in Africa for the past twenty-five years (humanitarian aid leads to better photo-ops than road construction).
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/riskingitall/2011/05/201151073240594854.html
It helps you understand why the recent Chinese offer to provide infrastructure to the DRC is popular there regardless of the politics, the history or even the terms (which the Western media tends to focus on). The average Congolese doesn't want to hack his way through jungle to transport his load of palm oil. All he wants is a f**king road - and if the Chinese are the only ones ready to construct the road - well and good.
The Congolese truck driver doesn't want to be assailed with PowerPoint graphics, Excel charts or useless reports he wants a f**king road. He doesn't want to be told stories about how roads constructed by the Belgians and under Mobutu have disintegrated, he wants a f**king road and he wants it now!
Building a road is a better course of action than all the "capacity building" driven western aid.
(Roads are bad in Nigeria, but not this bad! :eek:. A month to travel 650 miles?)
KingJaja
02-29-2012, 08:24 PM
PAN stands for Peugeot Automobile Nigeria. They used to assemble 504s (If you haven't driven in a 504, 505 or a 404 you haven't lived in Africa!). Well they are no longer doing the Peugeot thing they are going Chinese - I guess they are following in the footsteps of Innoson.
PAN Nigeria Limited, owner of Peugeot nameplate in Nigeria, is set to return and reassert its position as one-time most sought-after brand and the country’s leading automobile manufacturer having concluded plans to diversify its brand portfolio which will see to the mass production of the ALSVIN model, a brand of the Chongqing Changan Automobile China.
This fresh move is coming on the hills of a Technical Agreement signed between PAN Nigeria Limited and Changan Automotive Manufacturing Company, brand owners of the ALSVIN, a B and M1 segments car. The brand comes with three distinguishing attributes: European design, strong Chinese elements of production and time honoured amenability to the Nigerian terrain.
Recall that the Chairman, Board of Directors of PAN Nigeria Limited, Sani Dauda led top management of the company to China for the historical event in October last year. During an inspection tour of the first set of the Nigerian produced ALSVIN to ascertain the overall readiness of the company, the chairman said PAN will initially produce about 3000 units of the ALSVIN from its Kaduna plant in 2012 with production target expected to increase annually.
To this end, PAN has completed a full scale installation of the factory lines for the production of the ALSVIN – which comes with an engine capacity of 1.5 litres. According to the Managing Director of PAN Nigeria Limited, Shehu Dauda the decision to diversify into a multi-brand is market-driven as it is hinged on the need to produce affordable vehicles within the reach of the middle class in the country.
“We have achieved test production of the ALSVIN. We have also exhaustively conducted road test of our production to assess quality and durability which signify our reputation. The results were very favorable as the ALSVIN proved to be very suitable for Nigerian roads,” said the company’s chief.
http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/motoring/33703-pan-nigeria-plans-diversification-into-chinese-brand-
Dayuhan
03-04-2012, 02:42 AM
he wants a f**king road and he wants it now!
Everybody wants something, and they all want it right now. So what? Why should the US or "the West" want to run around giving everyone what they want?
There's an odd misconception running around that there's some sort of popularity contest going on in Africa that the US or "the West" needs to win, or that there's some sort of competition going on to win the right to invest in Africa or send aid to Africa. Of course that's reinforced by the vague paranoia we here from those who are always worried about the Chinese "getting ahead" in Africa... as if there was a race going on.
Chinese aid to and investment in Africa is no threat at all to the US, and in some ways is rather useful to the US. There's no race or competition that the US needs to worry about losing. How it works out for Africa remains to be seen, but again that's no issue for the US either way.
Of course western aid and investment is always going to be uncoordinated. Aid comes through a multiplicity of governments, NGOs, and multilateral agencies, each putting its own agenda ahead of the interests of aid recipients. Investment is up to the private sector and each company makes its own decisions, it's not coordinated among companies or between private and public sector.
The Chinese are pursuing a long-term neocolonial enterprise through a coordinated aid/investment program. Their "private sector" is of course largely under government control so the whole program is aimed at a goal and coordinated. Of course it will be more effective at pursuing that goal than an uncoordinated program that has no cohesive goal at all. Again, whether that long-term goal will be to Africa's advantage remains to be seen.
Of course the construction of infrastructure is a necessary part of a neocolonial enterprise: have to facilitate the extraction of resources and the distribution of one's own projects. Western aid/investment does not pursue any similar coherent goal, because each of the numerous institutions involved has its own goals.
Any government aid or investment program from any source is designed to advance the interests of the donor or investor... that should be assumed from the start, whether you deal with Chinese, Indian, US, European, anyone.
KingJaja
03-04-2012, 12:47 PM
Everybody wants something, and they all want it right now. So what? Why should the US or "the West" want to run around giving everyone what they want?
There's an odd misconception running around that there's some sort of popularity contest going on in Africa that the US or "the West" needs to win, or that there's some sort of competition going on to win the right to invest in Africa or send aid to Africa. Of course that's reinforced by the vague paranoia we here from those who are always worried about the Chinese "getting ahead" in Africa... as if there was a race going on.
Chinese aid to and investment in Africa is no threat at all to the US, and in some ways is rather useful to the US. There's no race or competition that the US needs to worry about losing. How it works out for Africa remains to be seen, but again that's no issue for the US either way.
Of course western aid and investment is always going to be uncoordinated. Aid comes through a multiplicity of governments, NGOs, and multilateral agencies, each putting its own agenda ahead of the interests of aid recipients. Investment is up to the private sector and each company makes its own decisions, it's not coordinated among companies or between private and public sector.
The Chinese are pursuing a long-term neocolonial enterprise through a coordinated aid/investment program. Their "private sector" is of course largely under government control so the whole program is aimed at a goal and coordinated. Of course it will be more effective at pursuing that goal than an uncoordinated program that has no cohesive goal at all. Again, whether that long-term goal will be to Africa's advantage remains to be seen.
Of course the construction of infrastructure is a necessary part of a neocolonial enterprise: have to facilitate the extraction of resources and the distribution of one's own projects. Western aid/investment does not pursue any similar coherent goal, because each of the numerous institutions involved has its own goals.
Any government aid or investment program from any source is designed to advance the interests of the donor or investor... that should be assumed from the start, whether you deal with Chinese, Indian, US, European, anyone.
Then what's the purpose of this thread titled China's expanding role in Africa? I did not initiate the thread and some people in the small wars community assumed it is important enough to merit some discussion.
What exactly are we supposed to be talking about on this thread?
Dayuhan
03-04-2012, 01:17 PM
What exactly are we supposed to be talking about on this thread?
We could talk about whether China's expanding role in Africa is or should be a matter of concern, and if so to whom. I can imagine it being a matter of concern to Africans, but I see no reason why it should be one to Americans.
Fuchs
03-04-2012, 01:20 PM
I agree it's not really a threat. The Chinese are responsible for a major portion of global manufacturing growth, and as a consequence they need to tap some untapped resources. Some of which happen to be in Africa.
There'll only be a problem once they begin to actually cut us from our supply.
Dayuhan
03-04-2012, 01:45 PM
There'll only be a problem once they begin to actually cut us from our supply.
"Our" supply? What supply - of anything - is "ours", beyond what's actually within our borders?
I'd say the Chinese are doing the west a favor. They're investing in expanding resource production in environments where most western companies won't go due to political and security risks. By doing so they're bringing new supply into markets that would otherwise not be there, and thus alleviating price pressure.
None of these materials are unique to Africa; there's supply all over the globe. Nobody is going to be "cut off" from supply, though if demand exceeds supply the price may go higher than some users want to pay.
Imagine, for example, that the Chinese manage to pump 8mbpd of oil from African investments. Even if every drop goes to China, the US and all other importers still benefit, because that's 8mbpd that the Chinese won't be buying from non-African sources. As long as that oil comes onto the market, it alleviates the overall supply/demand imbalance and reduces upward pressure on prices. Since the chances are that if the Chinese don't develop those resources nobody will, they are essentially doing all other importers a huge favor: they take all the risk, we share in the benefit. Good on 'em, I say.
KingJaja
03-04-2012, 02:07 PM
We could talk about whether China's expanding role in Africa is or should be a matter of concern, and if so to whom. I can imagine it being a matter of concern to Africans, but I see no reason why it should be one to Americans.
But this discussion board is dominated by Westerners and one of the major reasons why China is up for discussion here is because China is perceived to be a threat to the West. If Brazil or India were doing exactly what China is doing today in Africa (India may follow that route in a few years), the level of interest on this board will be minimal.
Also remember I am one of the very few Africans on this discussion board. So when this topic was brought up, I doubt the African perspective was what the initiator had in mind.
Fuchs
03-04-2012, 02:39 PM
But this discussion board is dominated by Westerners and one of the major reasons why China is up for discussion here is because China is perceived to be a threat to the West. If Brazil or India were doing exactly what China is doing today in Africa (India may follow that route in a few years), the level of interest on this board will be minimal.
Trust me, the U.S. Americans will manage to feel threatened by Brazil and India as well.
32% of them were polled to feel threatened by Iran, and another of their main worries is about the dysfunctional North Korea. They even feel threatened by some idiot being a loudmouth in starving Somalia!
They will also feel threatened by Russia if it ever has a real manufacturing comeback post-Putin.
Hey, they even invaded tiny Grenada! Grenada! And Panama!
All it takes to become a threat to the U.S. is to not be allied with them and to have an AK and a loud mouth or some correspondence with someone who qualifies as such!
They're certainly no Turks, who feel comfortable in one of the 'hottest' regions on earth.
Ken White
03-04-2012, 02:54 PM
All it takes to become a threat to the U.S. is to not be allied with them and to have an AK and a loud mouth or some correspondence with someone who qualifies as such!Fair assessment, not far off at all. We do preemptions. ;)
They're certainly no Turks, who feel comfortable in one of the 'hottest' regions on earth.Not nearly so good an assessment on that one. Don't pay much attention to the US media, we don't, they're really sort of breathlessly wide eyed -- and clueless.... :rolleyes:
KingJaja
03-04-2012, 07:42 PM
Trust me, the U.S. Americans will manage to feel threatened by Brazil and India as well.
32% of them were polled to feel threatened by Iran, and another of their main worries is about the dysfunctional North Korea. They even feel threatened by some idiot being a loudmouth in starving Somalia!
They will also feel threatened by Russia if it ever has a real manufacturing comeback post-Putin.
Hey, they even invaded tiny Grenada! Grenada! And Panama!
All it takes to become a threat to the U.S. is to not be allied with them and to have an AK and a loud mouth or some correspondence with someone who qualifies as such!
They're certainly no Turks, who feel comfortable in one of the 'hottest' regions on earth.
This is exactly why frauds like Saleh in Yemen can play the US like a fiddle.
Dayuhan
03-04-2012, 10:59 PM
But this discussion board is dominated by Westerners and one of the major reasons why China is up for discussion here is because China is perceived to be a threat to the West.
Westerners, and Americans in particular, see all kinds of things as threats. See my signature line for a suggestion as to why that might be the case. I don't speak for America or "the West", and I personally think a great deal of this "threat perception" is hyperventilated nonsense. All I've said here is that I don't think China's expanding role in Africa is a threat or a problem for anyone, except possibly for Africans. If anyone thinks otherwise I'd be curious to hear why.
If Brazil or India were doing exactly what China is doing today in Africa (India may follow that route in a few years), the level of interest on this board will be minimal.
Possibly, though as Fuchs says the American capacity for paranoia should not be underestimated. Worth considering as well that if the US, Britain, or France was doing exactly what China is doing today in Africa, Africans would likely be up in arms and hyperventilating about the return of the colonial powers. Selective perception is widespread in this world...
KingJaja
03-05-2012, 12:03 PM
Possibly, though as Fuchs says the American capacity for paranoia should not be underestimated. Worth considering as well that if the US, Britain, or France was doing exactly what China is doing today in Africa, Africans would likely be up in arms and hyperventilating about the return of the colonial powers. Selective perception is widespread in this world...
The problem is that the French and British (and by extension the Americans - wazungu), have done it before. The Chinese haven't and are unlikely to (in spite of the dominant Western narrative of them having horns on their heads).
For example, the Chinese are very unlikely to mess up Southern Sudan and Angola the same way Shell messed up the Niger Delta. To vainly hope for them to pull off a Shell in Angola merely exposes an illogical bias and a visceral dislike bordering on racism.
Dayuhan
03-05-2012, 12:12 PM
The problem is that the French and British (and by extension the Americans - wazungu), have done it before. The Chinese haven't and are unlikely to (in spite of the dominant Western narrative of them having horns on their heads).
Just because the wazungu do have horns on their heads doesn't mean the Chinese can't have horns as well.... and focusing on the threat in the past rather than the one in your future might be seen as a departure from the path of wisdom. Bad as the wazungu were, they're history. The Chinese are still incoming.
I'd advise being suspicious of any outsider who wants a piece of what you've got, and equally suspicious of most insiders... but I'm cynical by nature.
For example, the Chinese are very unlikely to mess up Southern Sudan and Angola the same way Shell messed up the Niger Delta. To vainly hope for them to pull off a Shell in Angola merely exposes an illogical bias and a visceral dislike bordering on racism.
I don't think the Chinese will mess up in the same way that any of the wazungu did. I think they'll come up with their own unique ways of messing up. I'm not saying I hope they'll mess up, I just think they probably will. It would be lovely if everything worked out well for both parties... lovely but unlikely. Human nature is what it is.
PS: If you expect the Chinese to respect the environment and the human rights of Africans, you might want to look first at the way they treat their own people and environment. Do you expect them to behave better in Africa than they have at home?
KingJaja
03-05-2012, 03:40 PM
I don't think the Chinese will mess up in the same way that any of the wazungu did. I think they'll come up with their own unique ways of messing up. I'm not saying I hope they'll mess up, I just think they probably will. It would be lovely if everything worked out well for both parties... lovely but unlikely. Human nature is what it is.
PS: If you expect the Chinese to respect the environment and the human rights of Africans, you might want to look first at the way they treat their own people and environment. Do you expect them to behave better in Africa than they have at home?
I can only speak about Nigeria, but if another group of people attempt to mess up our environment the way the likes of Chevron, Shell and Total have done for the past fifty years - a lot of blood will be spilled.
Some Chinese have already been sent packing here - they've got the message. We are not stupid, we actually learn from our lessons.
I can only speak about Nigeria, but if another group of people attempt to mess up our environment the way the likes of Chevron, Shell and Total have done for the past fifty years - a lot of blood will be spilled.
Some Chinese have already been sent packing here - they've got the message. We are not stupid, we actually learn from our lessons.
Jaja,
Forgive my ignorance when it comes to those oil folks - Why haven't they been sent packing already ? I don't want to strike comparisons with the late Mobutu and his financial wizardry (which is why half of the Lebanese and Chinese never left Zaire), but I don't understand why Nigeria and her people don't go at it alone and get all the oil hungry dogs out.
Your insight ?
omarali50
03-05-2012, 06:26 PM
I dont pay too much attention to how it is framed, but the anecdotes themselves are interesting in this book, and relate to this topic: http://www.amazon.com/Stealth-Nations-Global-Informal-Economy/dp/037542489X
I am always struck by how little "government" there seems to be in China. Is that likely to remain the case or will the elite eventually establish much tighter control over the gigantic informal economy?
I take it that the current situation does mean that China can do less coordinated intervening than past powers. Thats probably a good thing in some ways; the environment gets screwed either way.
omarali50
03-05-2012, 06:28 PM
Incidentally, India seems to have a "worst of both worlds" deal in this matter. The state is not competent enough to do much good, but its competent enough to get in the way of free-lance crooks/enterpreneurs much more than the Chinese state does..
KingJaja
03-05-2012, 07:35 PM
Jaja,
Forgive my ignorance when it comes to those oil folks - Why haven't they been sent packing already ? I don't want to strike comparisons with the late Mobutu and his financial wizardry (which is why half of the Lebanese and Chinese never left Zaire), but I don't understand why Nigeria and her people don't go at it alone and get all the oil hungry dogs out.
Your insight ?
The Chinese wanted to strike a huge deal in Nigeria, but the unions and the communities kicked against it because the unions weren't sure about their labour practices and the communities were not clear on their environmental practices. Secondly, are you aware that Shell was barred from operating in Ogoni land for several years, not by the Nigerian government but by the Ogoni people?
In today's Nigeria, if the community gives you (the oil and gas company) a tough time, there is very little you can do as the Government is too stretched to provide you with 24/7 protection - and we haven't gotten to the stage of bringing in Blackwater to guard oil installations. (A very unwise move).
Today, the Chinese (not being stupid) have seen how Shell has tarnished its reputation in the Niger Delta. They want the oil, so they are extremely careful about making the same mistakes as Shell.
Incidentally, India seems to have a "worst of both worlds" deal in this matter. The state is not competent enough to do much good, but its competent enough to get in the way of free-lance crooks/enterpreneurs much more than the Chinese state does..
Some of the biggest crooks Nigeria has ever seen are Indian (that's a topic for another day - read up on the Vaswani brothers). India is also an extremely corrupt country (read up on the 2G licencing scandal). So any impression that the Indians are angels of light is mistaken.
The Indians have also being doing this sort for far longer than the Chinese and they have a much better appreciation of the landscape. They aren't that much under the spotlight because they are from a democratic nation.
KingJaja
03-05-2012, 07:54 PM
Stan,
One more thing, the saving grace for many of these oil companies is that most of the new acreage is offshore (with an FPSO you don't have to worry about pesky militants, you simply offload to waiting tankers).
In fact, many of the majors are seeking to divest their onshore holdings (selling them to marginal players) - the stress of dealing with militants and communities is just a bit too much.
However, in future militants could jolly well operate offshore. Now if the US Navy wants to protect the Bonga field, well its up to them!
KingJaja
03-05-2012, 09:10 PM
Militants actually struck 120km offshore in the past. (2008)
June 19 (Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it shut down the Bonga oil field in Nigeria because of a militant attack, the first time the deepwater facility 120 kilometers (75 miles) offshore has come under assault.
``There has been an armed attack on the Bonga field production unit,'' Shell spokesman Rainer Winzenried said in an interview from The Hague. Bonga crude shipments were scheduled to average 190,000 barrels a day in June, based on loading schedules. Attacks by militants previously focused on onshore and shallow fields in the creeks of the Niger river delta.
``It's certainly of a different tactical order,'' Antony Goldman, an independent U.K.-based analyst specializing in Nigeria, said by telephone from London. Goldman said he was surprised the militants had the ``hardware'' to carry out such an attack.
Nigerian Navy spokesman Henry Babalola said three people were kidnapped from a private security vessel during the Bonga attack. Gunmen in three speedboats also attacked a vessel near Pennington and abducted the ship's captain, a U.S. national, Babalola said by phone.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta claimed responsibility for the Bonga attack and urged oil companies to evacuate foreign staff from Nigeria.
The group released the ship's captain, a U.S. national, at 4:45 p.m. local time, MEND spokesman Jomo Gbomo said in an e- mailed statement.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&refer=africa&sid=aRx1aLUJHgT0
omarali50
03-05-2012, 09:43 PM
King, you misunderstood my comment. I made no claim about Indians being angels. I just pointed out that the Indian govt is more able to obstruct its citizens-entrepreneurs-crooks than the Chinese govt. No moral superiority was implied (though one may or may not be present).
And why the italics on democratic? By current world standards, India is definitely a democracy. And of course, compared to China, it is clearly far more democratic.
KingJaja
03-05-2012, 11:29 PM
King, you misunderstood my comment. I made no claim about Indians being angels. I just pointed out that the Indian govt is more able to obstruct its citizens-entrepreneurs-crooks than the Chinese govt. No moral superiority was implied (though one may or may not be present).
And why the italics on democratic? By current world standards, India is definitely a democracy. And of course, compared to China, it is clearly far more democratic.
Is this a perception or is it factually correct? If you know what India business men have been up to in Africa... On the other hand, the CCP can enforce good behaviour pretty rapidly if it wants to.
I get that India is perceived to be a better player than China, but is that perception factual. I suspect it could be, we don't know.
Why the italics on democracy? India could be democratic, but there is nothing in real terms that distinguishes China's Africa policy from India's Africa policy. The same scramble for energy resources, farm lands, bad labour practices etc. The major difference is that the Chinese government is more focused, disciplined and coordinated. The Indians aren't but they'd love to be doing every thing the Chinese are doing in Africa because unlike the West they really need Africa's oil and minerals and the Chinese are beating them to the race.
Dayuhan
03-06-2012, 12:48 AM
Is this a perception or is it factually correct? If you know what India business men have been up to in Africa... On the other hand, the CCP can enforce good behaviour pretty rapidly if it wants to.
The CCP can't even enforce good behaviour in China: the corruption in the Chinese economy, much of it involving people with close to the CCP, is absolutely staggering. The West may have illusions that China is some sort of unstoppable economic juggernaut under tight central control, but the Chinese elite know better, and they're salting away money abroad as fast as they can, against the day when things fall apart.
Why the italics on democracy? India could be democratic, but there is nothing in real terms that distinguishes China's Africa policy from India's Africa policy. The same scramble for energy resources, farm lands, bad labour practices etc. The major difference is that the Chinese government is more focused, disciplined and coordinated. The Indians aren't but they'd love to be doing every thing the Chinese are doing in Africa because unlike the West they really need Africa's oil and minerals and the Chinese are beating them to the race.
Democratic regimes do not necessarily behave any better than non-democratic ones once they get outside their own borders.
Forgive my ignorance when it comes to those oil folks - Why haven't they been sent packing already ? I don't want to strike comparisons with the late Mobutu and his financial wizardry (which is why half of the Lebanese and Chinese never left Zaire), but I don't understand why Nigeria and her people don't go at it alone and get all the oil hungry dogs out.
That would be about money. Those who govern want the money, both because they need it to run the country and because a good bit of it goes into their own pockets. They don't have the expertise to run the industry themselves, so they deal with foreign companies.
The reality of foreign companies, regardless of where they're from, is that they will be as bad as you let them be, or as good as you force them to be. In the west there have been some attempts to constrain bribery, environmental abuse, human rights abuse etc from the home side, though effectiveness is limited. Overall, though, it's up to the host country government to establish and enforce limits. The question is whether they'll be willing to do that if they're on the payroll of a foreign investor.
Why do you think the Chinese are spreading all that baksheesh around and handing out favors to build influence and popularity, if not to protect themselves against unwanted interference in their business down the line? It may work or it may not - that's up to Africans - but I wouldn't expect there's anything resembling charity involved.
Of course western companies, governments, NGOs etc don't practice charity either: whatever they "give" is calculated to advance their own interests and agendas. Human nature is what it is.
KingJaja
03-06-2012, 10:03 AM
The CCP can't even enforce good behaviour in China: the corruption in the Chinese economy, much of it involving people with close to the CCP, is absolutely staggering. The West may have illusions that China is some sort of unstoppable economic juggernaut under tight central control, but the Chinese elite know better, and they're salting away money abroad as fast as they can, against the day when things fall apart.
In the light of the rise of anti-Chinese candidates like Michael Sata in Zambia and the prominence of labour unions in Nigeria, there is a greater motivation for Chinese companies to "behave themselves" in Africa. True, they can get away with a lot in Africa's worst dictatorships, but do not assume that this is the case everywhere in Africa.
KingJaja
03-14-2012, 10:54 PM
We've spent a lot of time talking about African perceptions of AFRICOM, but there is a Western perception of Africa that drives much of the West's policy towards Africa.
Read this essay, it neatly encapsulates the problem.
How to Write About Africa
Always use the word ‘Africa’ or ‘Darkness’ or ‘Safari’ in your title. Subtitles may include the words ‘Zanzibar’, ‘Masai’, ‘Zulu’, ‘Zambezi’, ‘Congo’, ‘Nile’, ‘Big’, ‘Sky’, ‘Shadow’, ‘Drum’, ‘Sun’ or ‘Bygone’. Also useful are words such as ‘Guerrillas’, ‘Timeless’, ‘Primordial’ and ‘Tribal’. Note that ‘People’ means Africans who are not black, while ‘The People’ means black Africans.
Never have a picture of a well-adjusted African on the cover of your book, or in it, unless that African has won the Nobel Prize. An AK-47, prominent ribs, naked breasts: use these. If you must include an African, make sure you get one in Masai or Zulu or Dogon dress.
In your text, treat Africa as if it were one country. It is hot and dusty with rolling grasslands and huge herds of animals and tall, thin people who are starving. Or it is hot and steamy with very short people who eat primates. Don’t get bogged down with precise descriptions. Africa is big: fifty-four countries, 900 million people who are too busy starving and dying and warring and emigrating to read your book. The continent is full of deserts, jungles, highlands, savannahs and many other things, but your reader doesn’t care about all that, so keep your descriptions romantic and evocative and unparticular.
Make sure you show how Africans have music and rhythm deep in their souls, and eat things no other humans eat. Do not mention rice and beef and wheat; monkey-brain is an African's cuisine of choice, along with goat, snake, worms and grubs and all manner of game meat. Make sure you show that you are able to eat such food without flinching, and describe how you learn to enjoy it—because you care.
Taboo subjects: ordinary domestic scenes, love between Africans (unless a death is involved), references to African writers or intellectuals, mention of school-going children who are not suffering from yaws or Ebola fever or female genital mutilation.
Throughout the book, adopt a sotto voice, in conspiracy with the reader, and a sad I-expected-so-much tone. Establish early on that your liberalism is impeccable, and mention near the beginning how much you love Africa, how you fell in love with the place and can’t live without her. Africa is the only continent you can love—take advantage of this. If you are a man, thrust yourself into her warm virgin forests. If you are a woman, treat Africa as a man who wears a bush jacket and disappears off into the sunset. Africa is to be pitied, worshipped or dominated. Whichever angle you take, be sure to leave the strong impression that without your intervention and your important book, Africa is doomed.
Your African characters may include naked warriors, loyal servants, diviners and seers, ancient wise men living in hermitic splendour. Or corrupt politicians, inept polygamous travel-guides, and prostitutes you have slept with. The Loyal Servant always behaves like a seven-year-old and needs a firm hand; he is scared of snakes, good with children, and always involving you in his complex domestic dramas. The Ancient Wise Man always comes from a noble tribe (not the money-grubbing tribes like the Gikuyu, the Igbo or the Shona). He has rheumy eyes and is close to the Earth. The Modern African is a fat man who steals and works in the visa office, refusing to give work permits to qualified Westerners who really care about Africa. He is an enemy of development, always using his government job to make it difficult for pragmatic and good-hearted expats to set up NGOs or Legal Conservation Areas. Or he is an Oxford-educated intellectual turned serial-killing politician in a Savile Row suit. He is a cannibal who likes Cristal champagne, and his mother is a rich witch-doctor who really runs the country.
Among your characters you must always include The Starving African, who wanders the refugee camp nearly naked, and waits for the benevolence of the West. Her children have flies on their eyelids and pot bellies, and her breasts are flat and empty. She must look utterly helpless. She can have no past, no history; such diversions ruin the dramatic moment. Moans are good. She must never say anything about herself in the dialogue except to speak of her (unspeakable) suffering. Also be sure to include a warm and motherly woman who has a rolling laugh and who is concerned for your well-being. Just call her Mama. Her children are all delinquent. These characters should buzz around your main hero, making him look good. Your hero can teach them, bathe them, feed them; he carries lots of babies and has seen Death. Your hero is you (if reportage), or a beautiful, tragic international celebrity/aristocrat who now cares for animals (if fiction).
http://www.granta.com/Archive/92/How-to-Write-about-Africa/Page-1
Dayuhan
03-15-2012, 12:27 AM
This neatly encapsulates one stereotype, and in the process presents another. Of course the stereotype presented has some basis in reality, but most stereotypes do.
Western stereotypes about Africans are certainly an obstacle to productive relationships, but African stereotypes about the West are an equal obstacle. Individuals on both sides enjoy highlighting the prevailing stereotypes of the other, but both might be better advised to pay less attention to pointing out the absurdity of the other side's stereotypes and more attention to unraveling their own.
I suspect that it would be possible to assemble an equally amusing and equally accurate manual for Africans on "How To Write About the West", but that would prove little that we don't already know.
M-A Lagrange
03-15-2012, 07:34 AM
Hey Kingjaja,
Makes more than a decade I live in Africa (several countries, so I will use the continent as a location)
The problem is not how to describe Africans in a condescending way. The issue, as Dayuhan said is why do so many individuals act according those stupid clichs!
My question is rather why do you refer to those stereotypes?
Why do you still try to explain why African people are different/victims and therefore deserve the right to blame west for everything?
Cause there is always an African guy involved. Never forget that you need to be 2 to do business. And that was Sedar Shengor who said it...
KingJaja
03-24-2012, 10:35 AM
Interesting....
The milestone would mark a significant turnaround since 2008, the bank says, when exports to China stood at half of those to the US.
In a research note, Standard Bank's Beijing based economist Jeremy Stevens writes that "despite becoming marginally more expensive, China has managed to grow exports to Africa rapidly."
The estimate is the latest sign of deepening ties between the two regions, and Mr Stevens goes on to say that "Chinese and African businesses are now more comfortable transacting with one another. Looking forward, China is well-positioned to participate in Africa's next phase of development."
China has been at the forefront of reshaping the continents external relations in recent years, and Mr Stevens notes that its "foresighted engagement with Africa back at the start of the past decade was a master stroke, allowing Beijing to steal a march on Africa's other partnerships."
Bilateral trade volumes now exceed $160bn per year, or almost a fifth of the continent's overall trade - a 28 percent increase from 2011. Imports from China stood at $73bn in 2011, up more than 23 percent on 2010, while Africa's importance to overall Chinese trade is also increasing. The region now accounts for 3.8 percent of exports, up from 2 percent in 2002. The rapid growth in trade between the two regions is putting pressure on more established partners such as the EU and the US to strengthen their commercial ties with Africa.
Rapidly growing economic activity has gone hand in hand with political engagement. High profile visits by Chinese officials have become common place in Africa since 2000, including President Hu Jintao and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
China has also begun making its mark as an emerging donor. In January a new $200m African Union headquarters was commissioned in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Funded entirely by China, the opening ceremony was attended by Jia Qinling, the country's most senior political adviser, who told those in attendance that "the towering complex speaks volumes about our friendship to the African people, and testifies to our strong resolve to support African development."
The relationship has however not been without controversy, and China regularly finds itself the subject of allegations that it undermines human rights and governance in its dealings with African governments.
China's focus on securing access to natural resources has also been the source of debate, with critics arguing that its interests do not represent a long term strategy and differ little from exploitative relationships that have done little to support development on the continent in the past. Fuels, ores and metals account for almost 90 percent of all Chinese imports from Africa.
In some resource exporting countries, notably Zambia, China's role has become a contentious issue in recent years. Having invested heavily in Zambia's copper industry relations have been strained amid allegations of mistreatment of Zambian workers by Chinese foremen; tension that has resulted in several deaths in recent years.
Despite such cases, China's role in Africa is likely to deepen significantly in the coming years. It is estimated that more than one million Chinese citizens now live on the continent, and a change of leadership in China later this year is not expected to result in a change of policy.
Standard Bank's Mr Stevens argues that "China's commodity demand is structural and will be longstanding. In addition, Africa's demand for infrastructure and China's differential approach to financing creates markets for Chinese exports; commercial opportunities for its [state owned enterprises] and employment opportunities for Chinese people.
http://www.afrika.no/Detailed/21313.html
davidbfpo
03-24-2012, 02:09 PM
Catching up. This article on Zambia's white Deputy President is interesting in itself, but he makes a number of comments on the Chinese and I have slightly edited down the paragraphs.
Scott and Sata were swept to power on a vehemently anti-Chinese ticket. Scott admits they have had to tone down the ‘China-bashing’.
‘There was no need for it,, It was a shock tactic to point out the problems with the Zambian-Chinese relationship. The Chinese potentially have something very good to give, but they have a reputation for being somewhat ... inhumane. They employ far more people, but they are terrible managers.’
‘It’s an interesting paradox, the Chinese paradox ...You get open conflict quite a lot. The Chinese don’t understand that they should be dealing with the unions. What they tend to do is cosy up to the leadership, take them shopping and hope to sterilise them. Then they don’t have a conduit through which to speak to the workers ... We must recalibrate that relationship.’
‘We need to stop the silly things, like agreeing that so many Chinese can come here, no questions asked, then the next thing you know they have dominated the chicken market ... We deport Zimbabweans and Congolese all the time, poor sods who are refugees from economic hardship. Why should Chinese of unknown origin be sitting outside Lusaka growing chickens?’
Link:http://www.spectator.co.uk/essays/all/7699583/dr-scott-i-presume.thtml
KingJaja
03-24-2012, 04:39 PM
Catching up. This article on Zambia's white Deputy President is interesting in itself, but he makes a number of comments on the Chinese and I have slightly edited down the paragraphs.
It is much easier to campaign that to govern. When you start governing you immediately understand that Obama and Cameron's carefully crafted words don't translate into investment - America and Britain neither have the money nor the interest. The Chinese do, so they've got to play ball.
It is much easier to campaign that to govern. When you start governing you immediately understand that Obama and Cameron's carefully crafted words don't translate into investment - America and Britain neither have the money nor the interest. The Chinese do, so they've got to play ball.
... and there is nothing like a new Swiss bank account to help you tone down your criticism of China ;)
KingJaja
03-24-2012, 06:48 PM
... and there is nothing like a new Swiss bank account to help you tone down your criticism of China
Interestingly, the Chinese do the Swiss bank account thing a lot less than the West........
Interestingly, the Chinese do the Swiss bank account thing a lot less than the West........
You talking governments or corporates?
KingJaja
03-24-2012, 07:29 PM
It doesn't matter. The Chinese Government doesn't do business in Africa, Chinese companies do.
KingJaja
03-24-2012, 07:36 PM
By the way, what's the difference between Total and the French government?
It doesn't matter. The Chinese Government doesn't do business in Africa, Chinese companies do.
What exactly are you saying? That if you bribe less than the West or western companies its OK?
Surferbeetle
03-24-2012, 08:57 PM
It doesn't matter. The Chinese Government doesn't do business in Africa, Chinese companies do.
A choice of models, Theme and variations, State capitalism is not all the same (http://www.economist.com/node/21542924)
Jan 21st 2012 | from the print edition, The Economist
Members of this new generation of managers are changing the management of the public sector, too, as they alternate between the corporate domain and government. There are currently 17 prominent Chinese political leaders who have held senior positions in large SOEs. Conversely, 27 prominent business leaders are serving on the party’s Central Committee. If state capitalism allows politicians to shape companies, it also allows companies to shape politicians.
State capitalism in China, Of emperors and kings, China’s state-owned enterprises are on the march (http://www.economist.com/node/21538159), Nov 12th 2011 | from the print edition, The Economist
According to the Congressional report, state-owned firms account for two-fifths of China’s non-agricultural GDP. If firms that benefit from state largesse (eg, subsidised credit) are included, that figure rises to half. Genuinely independent firms are starved of formal credit, so they rely on China’s shadow banking system. Fearing a credit bubble, the government is cracking down on this informal system, leaving China’s “bamboo capitalists” bereft.
Those who argue that state-owned firms are modernising point to rising profits and a push to establish boards of directors with independent advisers. Official figures show that profits at the firms controlled by SASAC have increased, to $129 billion last year. But that does not mean that many of these firms are efficient or well-managed. A handful with privileged market access—in telecoms and natural resources—generate more than half of all profits. A 2009 study by the Hong Kong Institute for Monetary Research found that if state-owned firms were to pay a market interest rate, their profits “would be entirely wiped out”.
China State Construction Engineering Corp (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_State_Construction_Engineering_Corp), by wikipedia
The CSCEC in 1982 as a state company. In 2002, CSCEC, international trade journal Engineering News-Record (ENR) ranked 16 of the world's largest international general contractor, and ranked 10 of China's largest companies by revenue or 12th rank in companies assets. The company with assets as of June amounted to 74.1 billion RMB in 2002, far ahead of the next largest construction companies in China. The total turnover of CSCEC since its inception was then estimated at 434.7 billion RMB, of which 30% abroad. 2006, the consolidated annual turnover at 117 billion RMB (equivalent to 11.2 billion euros or 18.6 billion Swiss francs).
China National Offshore Oil Corporation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_National_Offshore_Oil_Corporation), by wikipedia
China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC Group Chinese: 中国海洋石油总公司 Pinyin: Zhōngguó Háiyáng Shíyóu Zǒnggōngsī) is one of the three major national oil companies of China.
CNOOC Group is the third-largest National Oil Company (NOC) in the People's Republic of China after CNPC (parent of PetroChina), and China Petrochemical Corporation (parent of Sinopec).
CNOOC Group is a state-owned oil company, fully owned by the Government of the People's Republic of China, and the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) performs the rights and obligations of shareholder on behalf of the government.
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigerian_National_Petroleum_Corporation), by wikipedia
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is the state oil corporation through which the federal government of Nigeria regulates and participates in the country's petroleum industry.
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Refineries & Petrochemicals (http://www.nnpcgroup.com/NNPCBusiness/MidstreamVentures/RefineriesPetrochemicals.aspx), official website
The downstream industry in Nigeria is well established. NNPC has four refineries, two in Port Harcourt (PHRC), and one each in Kaduna (KRPC) and Warri (WRPC). The refineries have a combined installed capacity of 445,000 bpd. A comprehensive network of pipelines and depots strategically located throughout Nigeria links these refineries.
Shell Petroleum Development Company (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_Nigeria) by wikipedia
Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) is the largest fossil fuel company in Nigeria, which operates over 6,000 kilometres (3,700 mi) of pipelines and flowlines, 87 flowstations, 8 natural gas plants and more than 1,000 producing wells. SPDC's role in the Shell Nigeria family is typically confined to the physical production and extraction of petroleum. It is an operator of the joint venture, which composed of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (55%), Shell (30%), Total S.A. (10%) and Eni (5%). Until relatively recently. it operated largely onshore on dry land or in the mangrove swamp.
...and as we have discussed previously the West also has a number of SOE's to include Fannie Mae (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fannie_Mae), Freddie Mac (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Mac), and the National Health Service (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Health_Service)
KingJaja
03-24-2012, 10:09 PM
Well what the French have been doing in Francophone Africa for the past fifty years, is by any definition, state capitalism.
I don't know why everyone is ganging up on the Chinese.
KingJaja
03-24-2012, 10:12 PM
Everyone who does business in Africa bribes. Halliburton bribes, Shell bribes, Total bribes. These companies have given bribes for the past fifty years. The Chinese also bribe and suddenly it is big news?
Surferbeetle
03-24-2012, 10:36 PM
Well what the French have been doing in Francophone Africa for the past fifty years, is by any definition, state capitalism.
I don't know why everyone is ganging up on the Chinese.
Not ganging up on China or France on this end and i hope for the best for Africa; infrastructure, education, business development are to be lauded in my book. My point, however, is that there is a vast and appreciable difference between a SOE (state owned enterprise (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government-owned_corporation)) and a private company: scale, resources to draw upon, etc.
East Africa will be an interesting place to watch for what form capitalism will take, and how development/growth proceeds, as the proposed port in Lamu and the natural gas finds take shape.
Lamu port project launched for South Sudan and Ethiopia (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17231889), 2 March 2012 Last updated at 10:35 ET, BBC News
Construction has begun on a $23bn (£14.5bn) port project and oil refinery in south-eastern Kenya's coastal Lamu region near war-torn Somalia's border.
An oil pipeline, railway and motorway will also be built linking Lamu to South Sudan and Ethiopia.
Newly independent South Sudan plans to use Lamu as its main oil export outlet.
Energy giants Statoil and Exxon target East African gas (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/17224226), By Russell Padmore
Business reporter, 19 March 2012 Last updated at 02:19 ET, BBC World Service
Statoil and its American partner Exxon Mobil have made the biggest offshore discovery yet of gas reserves off the coast of Tanzania.
I have been interviewing engineers of late and have noted Chinese training and African experience (on Chinese projects) among some of the candidates...the world grows smaller every day. ;)
Dayuhan
03-25-2012, 01:27 AM
I don't know why everyone is ganging up on the Chinese.
Is everyone ganging up on the Chinese? Who's "everyone"? I hear a bit of futile whining here and there, not sure how that equates to "ganging up". Certainly the Chinese don't care and probably barely notice.
Of course bribery has been standard practice for companies operating in Africa for decades. The complaints emerge because just about the time the US decided bribery was a bad thing and made it illegal (that law is not always observed, but it does create a substantial obstacle to US companies dealing in locations where bribes are expected), the Chinese came along with a state-sanctioned large scale bribery campaign. Depending on who you talk to, that can be seen as undermining the American campaign to promote morality or an unfair disadvantage for US companies.
There's also some complaints over the Chinese not playing along with the Western idea of forcing better governance by tying aid and investment to human rights performance, various reforms, etc. Of course whether there was ever any point to that in the first place is quite debatable, but there are some who get emotional about it.
Of course there are also some who seem convinced that the US or "the West" and China are in some sort of race or competition for African influence, and get all hysterical about the prospect of "losing". I personally think that's a bit silly, and it's not a view that's ever gained any great political traction, but it's out there.
I personally think Chinese investment in resource production in high-risk African environments is good for the US, particularly where oil is concerned. The Chinese are bringing oil onto the market that would otherwise not be produced, and even if every drop goes to China, that reduces Chinese buying from other sources and alleviates upside price pressure.
I don't think the US or "the West" need to fret over China's expanding role in Africa... for the Africans, maybe another story, but that's their business. The comment about Chinese chicken farmers in Zambia hints at what I suspect will be increasingly an issue in many places - Chinese immigrants taking over businesses and jobs that could be done by locals - but again, that's up to the countries involved to sort out. The pressure to sort it out is most likely to come from the workers and entrepreneurs who feel displaced, but how that happens remains to be seen. What is almost certain is that the local Chinese populations will not simply remain in their current economic and social niches. Their influence and presence will expand until it's constrained. How and when that happens remains to be seen, but I don't see any reason for the US or "the West" to be anything more than interested observers.
Everyone who does business in Africa bribes. Halliburton bribes, Shell bribes, Total bribes. These companies have given bribes for the past fifty years. The Chinese also bribe and suddenly it is big news?
Whoa!
You forgot to mention the one consistent factor... and that is that Africans have always accepted the bribes (from whatever source).
The Chinese are the new kids on the block sucking in Africa's natural resources and selectively (and cleverly) bribing their way to that end.
Like the frog in water brought slowly to the boil by the time Africans realise that their country is owned by China it will be too late (as by then China will have become dependent on Africa's resources to the extent that they will be prepared to defend the source and trade routes militarily).
You posted Orwell's story Shooting An Elephant (http://www.online-literature.com/orwell/887/) as a shot at the Brit empire but you obviously missed the following comment from the astute Orwell:
I did not even know that the British Empire is dying, still less did I know that it is a great deal better than the younger empires that are going to supplant it.
Now fast forward to today and look back at Burma's last fifty years of glorious independence and how they are begging the world to save them from themselves (their 50 year military dictatorship). Personally in this instance they should IMHO be told quietly that they made their own bed now they must lie in it... quietly (if you know what I mean ;) )
KingJaja
03-25-2012, 08:09 AM
True, Burma was a disaster, but Botswana, Ghana, Singapore and India have done much better now than under British rule.
True, Africans accept bribes, but there isn't a uniform African experience. Some African nations are determined to be basket cases, some are not.
Dayuhan
03-25-2012, 12:14 PM
If we're speaking of the Chinese willingness to indulge in corrupt practices in Africa, one might note that they are equally willing to engage in corrupt practices in China: it is a very, very corrupt country, and you can bet that Africans aren't the only ones skimming off these projects.
KingJaja
03-25-2012, 12:24 PM
At this point in time (t), Africans are terribly bothered about bribes. They actually want to have some infrastructure built.
If you realise that since the eighties, not much infrastructure has been built in Africa and the Chinese are the only people committed to making infrastructure happen.
We are willing to take the risk. We have endured two decades of PowerPoint presentations and Excel financial models and capacity building. All that has come out from that are glossy brochures and even more white Toyota SUVs.
True, Burma was a disaster, but Botswana, Ghana, Singapore and India have done much better now than under British rule.
Don't know much about Ghana other than it took from independence in 1957 until 1992 for political parties to become legal. Can that be blamed on the Brits?
Botswana was fortunate to find massive diamond deposits one year after independence and now as the diamonds start to run out they have found uranium deposits. That speaks for what has underpinned their economy that has been well managed.
With a population of 2m Botswana is hardly a great example as case studies go.
The downside is the 24% HIV positive rate amongst adults and the genocidal behaviour towards its minority San (Bushman) population. Can't understand why this has not attracted international condemnation.
True, Africans accept bribes, but there isn't a uniform African experience. Some African nations are determined to be basket cases, some are not.
You are going to have to explain that to me as I don't follow.
KingJaja
03-25-2012, 08:37 PM
True Botswana discovered diamonds and uranium, but Nigeria discovered oil. Look how Nigeria turned out and what became of Botswana. You'll have to admit that visionary leadership played a role in putting Botswana where it is today.
Some African nations like Congo DRC, Nigeria and Chad are determined to be basket cases. You cannot say the same about Rwanda, Ghana, Tanzania and Kenya. Governance is improving there. Unfortunately the Pentagon tends to send US Military to the basket cases, and thus ex-service personnel with African experience tend to have a skewed opinion about Africa.
M-A Lagrange
03-26-2012, 06:24 AM
True Botswana discovered diamonds and uranium, but Nigeria discovered oil. Look how Nigeria turned out and what became of Botswana. You'll have to admit that visionary leadership played a role in putting Botswana where it is today.
Some African nations like Congo DRC, Nigeria and Chad are determined to be basket cases. You cannot say the same about Rwanda, Ghana, Tanzania and Kenya. Governance is improving there. Unfortunately the Pentagon tends to send US Military to the basket cases, and thus ex-service personnel with African experience tend to have a skewed opinion about Africa.
I believe we do not visite the same countries when it comes to improved governance in Rwanda or even Kenya.
It is not because government do not openly act corrupted that they are not. Also, what is the metrics you are using to evaluate good governance: provision of basic services or numbers of financial and political scandales?
KingJaja
03-26-2012, 08:53 AM
I believe we do not visite the same countries when it comes to improved governance in Rwanda or even Kenya.
It is not because government do not openly act corrupted that they are not. Also, what is the metrics you are using to evaluate good governance: provision of basic services or numbers of financial and political scandales?
A simple metric like provision of basic services and female literacy rates will separate the laggards from the leading nations.
M-A Lagrange
03-26-2012, 11:01 AM
A simple metric like provision of basic services and female literacy rates will separate the laggards from the leading nations.
In that case Butan is the most developed country in the world. :cool:
Basic social services and women litteracy is one indicator but it does not measure governance just Human development.
If you want to evaluate governance, you have to go through transparency of public market, strategic ressources commercial deals... And also respect of Human Rights, freedom of speetch and political opinion, rally and parties, public institution control, parlementary control of government actions...
Kenya for instance has a huge problem of political violence. I do not know if you are aware but during last elections the country felt in ethnic cleasing and 6 are now to be judged at ICC. And distributio of basic services like water and electricity is more tan problematic in Nairobi (may be not in 5 stars hotels...)
Rwanda has been supporting rebellion in DRC and is deeply involved into illegal mining trade in the great lakes. I would recommend you to read the UN security expert panel reports on DRC.
A strong regime with no contestations and a hiigh level of litteracy does not mean good governance, it barely mean old fashion control of the press.
KingJaja
03-26-2012, 01:34 PM
Kenya for instance has a huge problem of political violence. I do not know if you are aware but during last elections the country felt in ethnic cleasing and 6 are now to be judged at ICC. And distributio of basic services like water and electricity is more tan problematic in Nairobi (may be not in 5 stars hotels...)
Rwanda has been supporting rebellion in DRC and is deeply involved into illegal mining trade in the great lakes. I would recommend you to read the UN security expert panel reports on DRC.
A strong regime with no contestations and a hiigh level of litteracy does not mean good governance, it barely mean old fashion control of the press.
Kenya doesn't have a problem with political violence. Since 1999 about 50,000 Nigerians have died due to political and religious violence. The violence Kenya took the World by storm simply because Kenya isn't a usual hotbed of political violence.
davidbfpo
08-25-2012, 05:44 PM
One of the downsides to the Chinese presence in Africa:
Angola has extradited 37 Chinese nationals, accused of extortion, kidnappings, armed robberies and running prostitution rings. They allegedly targeted other Chinese, kidnapping businessmen for ransom and sometimes burying victims alive.
Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-19378660
davidbfpo
11-30-2013, 11:32 PM
On SWC we sort of understand the importance of logistics; railways are an important factor in politics and economics - even if in the West the auto-engine reigns supreme.
Two recent BBC News reports. First from Ethiopia:
Across the Ethiopian countryside 2,000km (1,243 miles) of railway is being built, the first phase of an endeavour to create a new 5,000km network....The centrepiece of the new rail system is the planned line between Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, and the neighbouring country of Djibouti.
Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24869433
Then from Kenya:
Kenya has formally launched a new....railway which should extend across East Africa to reach South Sudan, DR Congo and Burundi. The first section will link the Kenyan port of Mombasa to the capital, Nairobi, reducing the journey time from 15 hours to about four.
What is the common political factor, first Ethiopia:
Both projects began in early 2012 and are joint ventures between the Ethiopian government and Chinese companies that successfully bid for the $3.3bn (£2.2bn) Addis-Djibouti contract, and the $500m LRT project.
And Kenya:
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed the deal in August in Beijing.
Now what comes after such a large Chinese investment? SWC does have a thread on China's increasing role in the developing world (maybe not the thread's title).
Incidentally China's last big railway investment, the TanZam railway which opened in 1975 has been plagued with problems for many years. Last I heard it was due for renovation.
AdamG
02-23-2014, 07:56 PM
Over the last decade, America has quietly expanded its military presence throughout Africa in an attempt to counter Chinese and other emerging nations’ influence, while consolidating control over critical strategic resources and trade routes.
The United States, like its allies Britain and France, has long maintained influence and indirect control in Africa through financial institutions such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and African Development Bank. It has exerted political influence using aid organizations such as USAID and NGOs like the National Endowment for Democracy, Freedom House and others.
However, recent years have seen an unprecedented military expansion which has gone almost entirely unnoticed by the US public.
http://rt.com/op-edge/us-expands-military-net-africa-081/
AdamG
03-05-2014, 09:39 AM
COLOGNE/MUTARE- China is reportedly scheming to set up a military airbase in Zimbabwe's controversial Marange diamond fields of Manicaland province, as Beijing and Harare ratchet up military cooperation and closer than before foreign relations, The Telescope News has heard.
China has no known military bases in Africa, and insists on it's non-interference of internal politics stance of her allies on the continent, thus raising eyebrows as to whether Beijing could finally be making a paradigm shift in it's foreign military policy, in response to the Asian giants growing economic interests here.
http://www.thetelescopenews.com/index.php/world/3187-china-planning-airbase-at-zimbabwe-s-diamond-fields.html
Inside China: Long march to Africa (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/6/inside-china-long-march-to-africa/?page=all#pagebreak)
Anyone listening out there?
davidbfpo
03-08-2014, 07:17 PM
JMA,
Yes China's expanding role has been noted far beyond SWC. It takes many forms, the vast majority - certainly in terms of money - are commercial investments and some can have a strategic impact - see post 132 on two massive railway investments.
The cited article refers to Djibouti, a small state that appears to rely on renting out space to all-comers; for a long time to the French, then the USA and now others - for supporting anti-piracy seaborne patrolling. I am sure existing tenants will watch the PRC's arrival closely.
As for Zimbabwe I suspect the PRC is one of the few major trading, non-African states that is happy, if not eager, to trade with Mugabe and partners. Building a air force base (AFB) appears to be cyclical for non-African powers, I recall the huge AFB in Botswana built by the USA years ago and never used IIRC.
davidbfpo
10-10-2014, 05:10 PM
A South African review of Howard French's book 'China’s Second Continent - How a Million Migrants are Building a New Empire in Africa', published; the author is a former NYT journalist:
The main strength of China’s Second Continent is the fact that French has intimate knowledge of China, having lived and worked in the country. He also has experience of Africa where he reported on West and Central Africa for the New York Times. His insights into the lives of the Chinese in Africa are presented through the prism of their own history.
Link:http://mg.co.za/article/2014-10-09-the-chinese-in-africa-empire-builders-or-new-pioneers
A link to Amazon.com:http://www.amazon.com/Chinas-Second-Continent-Migrants-Building/dp/0307956989/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412955895&sr=1-1&keywords=howard+french+china%27s+second+continent
AdamG
10-15-2014, 06:52 PM
Related asymmetric threat response
A Chinese drugmaker with close military ties is seeking fast-track approval for a drug that it says can cure Ebola, as China joins the race to help treat a deadly outbreak of a disease that has spread from Africa to the United States and Europe.
Sihuan Pharmaceutical Holdings Group Ltd has signed a tie-up with Chinese research Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS) last week to help push the drug called JK-05 through the approval process in China and bring it to market. The drug, developed by the academy, is currently approved for emergency military use only.
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/10/14/china-military-linked-firm-eyes-quick-approval-drug-to-cure-ebola/
davidbfpo
01-13-2015, 08:01 PM
Not exactly the Chinese foreign ministers exact words. He did say this though:
Politically, we always speak up for African countries and uphold justice. Economically, we help African countries to enhance development to achieve prosperity. “In China’s exchanges and cooperation with Africa, we want to see mutual benefit and win-win results. I want to make clear one point, that is, China will never follow the track of western colonists and all cooperation with Africa will never come at the expense of the ecology, environment or long-term interests of Africa.
Link:http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/jan/12/china-denies-building-empire-africa-colonialism
The absolute and relative scale of Chinese road-building certainly has a big impact on many African countries. It is quite relaxing to drive on them, especially compared to the classic alternatives at long as there are few drivers on the road earning their wage there...
The biggest differentials in Chinese vs Western investment seems to be the trend in 'boots on the ground'. Western companies tend to sub-contract more while the Chinese do most, apart from the manual labour, in-house. According to persons I have spoken with, this makes often a big difference in outcome.
P.S: Obviously the words of the Chinese FM are not exactly the truth and Chinese activities come at a sometimes high price. We will see in the long run how the scorecard will be.
davidbfpo
02-02-2015, 09:47 AM
Ho, hum China wonders where the money goes:
The Chinese government is seeking the secondment of its officials to key Zimbabwe parastatals to ensure that Chinese loans for government projects are not lost to “leakages”, it emerged this week.A Chinese delegation was in Zimbabwe to lay the groundwork for the implementation of economic agreements signed in August by the two countries. There are now concerns from some government officials that the Chinese government is angling for a greater stake in, and control of, Zimbabwe’s natural resources and government entities before the agreements are implemented.
Mugabe went to China seeking a $4-billion rescue package, but other than the memorandums of understanding, he came back empty- handed.
The Chinese are also said to have been unhappy with Zimbabwe’s failure to repay previous loans. Sinosure, a leading Chinese insurance company, is reportedly refusing to guarantee loans from Chinese banks to Zimbabwean companies.
By the end of last year, Zimbabwe’s interest on loans stood at $60-million, according to government officials.
Link:http://mg.co.za/article/2015-01-23-china-puts-screws-on-zim
Jedburgh
02-05-2015, 10:01 PM
The Economist, 17 Jan 15: China in Africa: One among many (http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21639554-china-has-become-big-africa-now-backlash-one-among-many)
China has few political ambitions (http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2014/04/africa%20china%20policy%20sun/africa%20in%20china%20web_cmg7.pdf) in Africa. It co-operates with democracies as much as with authoritarian regimes. Its aid budget (http://aiddata.org/sites/default/files/wps3_aid_on_demand_african_leaders_and_the_geograp hy_of_chinas_foreign_assistance.pdf) is puny. The few peacekeepers it sends stay out of harm’s way. China’s corporatist development model has attracted few followers beyond Ethiopia (http://www.afrodad.org/phocadownload/publications/China_In_Africa/china%20ethiopia.pdf.pdf) and Rwanda. Most fast-growing African nations hew closer to Western free-market ideas. In South Sudan (https://radiotamazuj.org/sites/default/files/Request%20for%20Action%20Against%20Malicious%20Pra ctice%20of%20Chinese%20Private%20Company%20(Huawei ).pdf), the one place where China has tried to flex its diplomatic muscle, it has achieved embarrassingly little. Attempts to stop a civil war that is endangering its oil supply failed miserably.
Chinese immigrants in Africa chuckle at the idea that they could lord it over the locals. Most congregate in second-tier countries like Zambia; they are less of a presence in hyper-competitive Nigeria. Unlike other expatriates, they often live in segregated camps. Some thought, after a decade of high-octane engagement, that China would dominate Africa. Instead it is likely to be just one more foreign investor jostling for advantage.
AdamG
05-21-2015, 04:32 AM
China illegally fishing off coast of west Africa, Greenpeace study reveals
Number of Chinese fishing boats operating in Africa soared from 13 in 1985 to 462 in 2013, say environmental group, with ships ‘taking advantage of weak enforcement and supervision’
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/20/china-illegally-fishing-off-coast-of-west-africa-greenpeace-study-reveals
davidbfpo
05-21-2015, 11:57 AM
An IISS Adelphi paper 'China’s Strong Arm: Protecting Citizens and Assets Abroad' landed today and so joins a growing pile of items to read.
On the link are a few reviews, taken from that by The Economist's former editor:
It presents a convincing thesis: that force of circumstance will oblige China to become a global power, regardless of its stated non-interventionist policy.
Link:http://www.iiss.org/en/publications/adelphi/by year/2015-9b13/chinas-strong-arm-63b7?
I was surprised by the sheer amount of 'Chinese' roudbuilding in Burundi* and Ruanda when I was there. The relationships in question are certainly not free from tenstions but I was told in Uganda that the Chinese ones are much better then the Italian ones, at least in part due the Italian's local subcontractors. :wry:
*Quite a few in Burundi told me about tensions building up due to elections and third term problem. I didn't imagine that we would have fighting and a failed coup...
SWJ Blog
01-12-2016, 10:04 PM
China is Building its First Military Base in Africa (http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/china-is-building-its-first-military-base-in-africa)
Entry Excerpt:
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Read the full post (http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/china-is-building-its-first-military-base-in-africa) and make any comments at the SWJ Blog (http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog).
This forum is a feed only and is closed to user comments.
AdamG
04-18-2016, 10:02 PM
(EBC, Mar. 4, 2016)- President Ismal Omar Guelleh has presided over the foundation stone laying ceremony for the new mega gas project, which comprises a natural gas pipeline, a liquefaction plant and an export terminal at Damerjog, Djibouti.
The pipeline project will enable Ethiopia to export gas to China and support socio-economic development across the region.
The new 700 km pipeline will transport up to 12 billion m3/y of natural gas from Ethiopia to Djibouti. The liquefaction plant will have capacity to produce up to 10 million t of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year after completion of the project.
The project, which will be funded by Chinese firm POLY-GCL Petroleum Group Holdings Ltd, will cost approximately US$4 billion. Construction work is expected to start shortly and will take three years to complete.
http://www.ebc.et/web/ennews/-/djibouti-mega-gas-project-will-enable-ethiopia-to-export-gas-to-china
AdamG
04-18-2016, 10:07 PM
The year 2015 was quite eventful for China-Africa diplomacy. Several high-level officials from both sides visited in each direction; the African Union (AU) and China signed a memorandum of understanding; China concluded an agreement to build a base in Djibouti; and China signed a host of bilateral agreements with African countries.
The capstone of the year’s diplomatic efforts was Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), hosted in Johannesburg on Dec. 4-5 and gathering delegations from 50 African countries, the African Union, and of course China.
What did we learn about China-Africa relations from this meeting?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/01/07/china-pledged-to-invest-60-billion-in-africa-heres-what-that-means/
Hangzhou — The fifth China-Africa Think Tanks Forum opened on Friday in Yiwu City of east China's Zhejiang Province, focusing on China-Africa industrial cooperation.
The two-day event, organized by Zhejiang Normal University and Yiwu city government, has attracted more than 350 government officials, academics and business people from China and over 40 African countries.
Trade with China accounts for 20 percent of the total trade volume in Ethiopia, said Arkebe Oqubay Metiku, economic adviser to Ethiopia's prime minister. "Thanks to China's investment, Ethiopia now has the first electrified railway system in Africa."
In late 2015, China promised 60 billion U.S. dollars in funding to promote China-Africa cooperation and boost the development of African countries.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201604181240.html
AdamG
10-17-2017, 12:13 PM
China’s first overseas military base in the small African country of Djibouti is “probably the first of many” the country intends to build around the world, which could bring its interests into conflict with the U.S., according to American intelligence officials. “China has the fastest-modernizing military in the world next to the United States,” according to insights provided Thursday by U.S. intelligence officials, who asked not to be identified discussing the information.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-05/u-s-intelligence-sees-china-s-military-expanding-bases-globally
AdamG
10-21-2017, 10:14 PM
China's growing involvement in South Sudan's civil war differs from its past approach to non-interference, though there is debate on the long-term implications as its role in African, and global, security affairs expands.
China's announcement of plans to vastly expand its first-ever overseas military base in Djibouti follows a dramatic display in July, when two Chinese navy vessels steamed across the Indian Ocean towards the dock
http://allafrica.com/stories/201710030330.html
davidbfpo
10-22-2017, 09:41 AM
Adam,
That is an interesting article, which reflects others awhile ago now on whether China would assert itself and protect its investments in Africa.
Plus the link shows it originated from the Hong Kong based South China Morning Post, at the end it acknowledges it first appeared as an ICG article.
China's long term record in Africa has been marred by poor performance, such as the first TanZam railway (since completely renovated) and Chinese traders in particular unsettled many communities - too competitive for them.
Why two PLAN ships should be significant eludes me. There is a regular PLAN deployment to the anti-piracy patrolling and if one looks deeper "showing the flag" visits.
AdamG
10-22-2017, 11:43 AM
China's long term record in Africa has been marred by poor performance, such as the first TanZam railway (since completely renovated) and Chinese traders in particular unsettled many communities - too competitive for them.
The Chinese could wind up being their own worst enemies (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRM_9aNw8O8) with that 30 Year Plan of theirs to rule the world.
A Chinese museum has touched the nerves of Africans online after a video was posted online showing a seemingly racist exhibition where Africans were displayed alongside wild animals.
The video, originally uploaded on Instagram by a Nigerian Edward E. Duke, showed Chinese art lovers admiring the exhibits at the Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan ahead of the national Golden Week holiday.
The exhibits include a photograph of a roaring lion next to an African man with the same expression; a pensive monkey next to another man; elephants and giraffes next to African children among others.
http://www.africanews.com/2017/10/12/outrage-as-chinese-museum-s-racist-exhibits-compare-africans-to-animals//
AdamG
01-03-2018, 04:27 AM
Addis Ababa — The Chinese-built 756 km electrified rail project connecting landlocked Ethiopia to Djibouti officially started commercial operations on Monday with a ceremony held in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.
Contracted by two Chinese companies, the first 320 km of the rail project from Sebeta to Mieso was carried out by the China Rail Engineering Corporation (CREC), while the remaining 436 km from Mieso to Djibouti port section was built by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC).
http://allafrica.com/stories/201801020364.html
AdamG
05-03-2018, 04:41 PM
I know just the man for the job.... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqxAtTv9VP0&list=PLWaxnuw-7V33evJbbJGLWA4C99UKdjGqb&index=15)
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/60AjI1pIzVQ/hqdefault.jpg
(CNN)Chinese personnel at the country's first overseas military base in Djibouti have been using lasers to interfere with US military aircraft at a nearby American base, activity that has resulted in injuries to US pilots and prompted the US to launch a formal diplomatic protest with Beijing, two military officials told CNN.
The US issued a notice to airmen "to exercise caution when flying in certain areas in Djibouti," which "was issued due to lasers being directed at US aircraft on a small number of separate occasions over the last few weeks," according to the notice obtained by CNN.
"During one incident, there were two minor eye injuries of aircrew flying in a C-130 that resulted from exposure to military-grade laser beams, which were reported to have originated from the nearby Chinese base," the notice said.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/03/politics/chinese-lasers-us-military-pilots-africa/index.html
AdamG
09-04-2018, 08:42 AM
Buying African votes in the UN.
China will write off any amount owed by indebted countries or developing nations, President Xi Jinping said. China is offering US$60 billion in financial support and a debt write-off to impoverished African nations- no strings attached, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Monday
*
The Chinese official laid out the extensive financial strategy to African leaders, with plans to invest US$5 billion in African exports, US$ 10 billion for "development financing" and US$15 billion in grants, interest-free loans, and concessional loans; a credit line of US$20 billion. Xi said their friendship was time-honored and that China's investment in Africa came with no political strings attached.
https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/China-Offers-African-Nations-60-Billion-in-Development-with-No-Strings-Attached-20180903-0005.html
https://www.mematic.net/resources/memes/third-world-skeptical-kid.jpeg
AdamG
12-17-2018, 12:00 PM
Double-tapped.
Good multi-article-cited background piece -
At a time when local fishermen in Somalia are struggling to compete with foreign vessels that are depleting fishing stocks, the government has granted 31 fishing licenses to China. Since assuming power last year, this is the first time that Somali president, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has given fishing rights to foreigners, news site BBC reports.
https://face2faceafrica.com/article/somalia-gives-up-its-fishing-rights-to-china
AdamG
12-29-2018, 10:53 PM
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – China may be preparing to seize some major assets in the African nation of Kenya, as a result of debt-trap diplomacy. African media reports that Kenya may soon be forced to relinquish control of its largest and most lucrative port in Mombasa to Chinese control.
Other assets related to the inland shipment of goods from the port, including the Inland Container Depot in Nairobi, and the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), may also be compromised in the event of a Chinese port takeover.
Kenya has reportedly taken extremely large loans from the Communist government for the development of some major highways, and especially for the SGR, which forms a crucial transport link to and from Nairobi for the import and export of goods through Mombasa.
In November, Moody’s noted that Kenya is at high risk of losing strategic assets because of debts owed to Beijing. Local media began to express concern that Chinese lenders may be angling to seize assets, since it does not appear the Kenyan government will be capable to repaying the loans.
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3605624?fbclid=IwAR3zx3Kr5NcmzZLwc3QKRWijs8dl-OG4lc6RAot7EGYsjCtLiUwTYLGnCbQ
davidbfpo
06-01-2019, 08:36 PM
Thanks to a photo essay in the RUSI Journal (behind a pay wall) on 'Climate Change and Djibouti' referring to the Chinese mining millions of tons of salt from Lac or Lake Assal - is that the reason for their commitment? Never seen this aspect being mentioned before.
A quick search confirmed the Chinese mining. See:http://www.lukasspieker.com/blog/8450/harvesting-salt-lac-assal/ and:https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/modern-life-fails-intrude-djibouti-white-gold-miners-190303203157690.html
davidbfpo
06-21-2019, 07:24 PM
A useful map caught via Twitter and the article is full of detail, for example which ports are completed or not.
Link:https://www.csis.org/analysis/assessing-risks-chinese-investments-sub-saharan-african-ports
Bill Moore
06-23-2019, 08:18 PM
David,
Sometimes I think these studies miss the real essence of the threat. Normally we should encourage the development of economic infrastructure in Africa regardless of what country provides that assistance. Africa’s rise economic rise is long overdue, and failure to support the African nations and regional organizations develop in a way that can provide jobs to rapidly expanding youth bulge will lead to instability far beyond Africa. We have already seen the beginning of this instability with the mass migration into Europe, and it will only get worse if current trends continue.
Is China part of the solution, or part of the problem? To see the threat clearly, first you have to disregard the communist party narrative, it sounds great, but it is a lie. Like a block of ice, this lie rapidly evaporates when exposed to the sunlight. China’s ports benefit China and corrupt African officials in most cases, as in any situation we shouldn’t paint with too wide sh, because there may be situations that deviate from the norm. To sustain China’s miraculous economic growth (much like Japan’s phenomenal growth previously), China understandably needs access to resources. These resources include oil, minerals, fish, and food (agriculture), and let us not forget access to endangered species. China also wants to expand its market for Chinese goods, to include the deadly counterfeit drugs they frequently sale to various African nations. Most of the above equates to the reinforcing the 'resource trap' that much of Africa has been trapped in for decades. An economy that is dependent upon a particular resource, and often one primary market to sell it to, for various reasons tends to breed corrupt politicians that control the trade and see no incentive to diversify their economy. Rich in oil or another resource, yet suffers from massive poverty.
To add to this burden, China is pushing its ideology, which is socialism with Chinese characteristics. In reality, it is authoritarian capitalism. China is now exporting its tools and methods to enable dictators to enforce control over its population (smart city technologies, facial recognition, internet monitoring and control, social credit system, etc.). Authoritarian governance simply locks bad into place, further limited the ability of the nation to evolve economically and politically, which serves China’s purposes perfectly.
I can only speak for myself, but I wouldn’t mind China displacing the U.S.A. as the world’s superpower if they embraced the liberal, rules, and norms based international order. When the USA replaced the UK as the world power, there were no significant disruptions, since we generally had the same values (minus the UK’s colonies). However, a China-led world order would be very, very different. Human rights progress would be reversed, all religions would be under threat, democracy would be at risk, and instead of a win-win approach to economic development, China would seek to generate a global economic order that solely benefited China. This world will become increasingly destabilized, and the risk of major wars will increase.
China “could” do much good in Africa and the world writ large if it wasn’t led by a racist, Han, communist party that embraces an agenda that threatens what most people hold dear.
davidbfpo
06-27-2019, 08:53 AM
Caught this news report a little late on an unheard of website 'Construction Kenya':
Tanzania President John Magufuli has indefinitely suspended plans to construct what would have been East Africa’s largest port in Bagamoyo, Tanzania, after disagreeing with Chinese investors on the terms of the highly ambitious infrastructure project.
There is a little more detail on:https://www.constructionkenya.com/3128/bagamoyo-port-construction/
Might have missed this:
In October 2018, for example, Sierra Leone cancelled plans to build a $318 million (Sh32 billion) China-funded airport outside the capital Freetown.....While cancelling the project, President Julius Maada Bio, said Sierra Leone could not afford to repay the loan – adding that priority should be to make Lungi airport viable.
Link for quote:https://www.constructionkenya.com/3128/bagamoyo-port-construction/ and:https://www.constructionkenya.com/5362/mamamah-airport-sierra-leone/
davidbfpo
06-29-2019, 11:23 AM
Now another 'no thanks' and this time Kenya:
On Wednesday a court in Kenya also halted plans for the construction of a $2 billion Chinese-backed coal power plant near the island town of Lamu, a UNESCO World Heritage site famed for its twisting alleyways and stunning coastline. The plant, which activists say would have increased Kenya's greenhouse gas emissions by 700 percent, was cancelled after judges ruled the environmental assessment was inadequate.
Link:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/06/27/tanzania-suspends-10-billion-port-project-new-blow-chinas-belt/
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