China's Expanding Role in Africa

[Dayuhan]

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.