A glimpse of African tigers
Chinese investment in the continent could help fight poverty in ways
western money never did
William Gumede
The Guardian,
Thursday April 24 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/24/china.zimbabwe
A ****pment of weapons from China destined for Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe
is an obvious cause for the west to denounce Beijing's involvement in
Africa. But western business and political leaders have already been
watching China's re-engagement with the continent with trepidation.
China is setting up Con****ius schools, laying out roads and railways,
and stitching together deals to buy its commodities - oil, platinum,
gold and minerals. Perhaps not since the first wave of independence
during the late 1950s has there been such a buzz in Africa. And crisis
meetings, conferences and summits are being hurriedly put together as
the US, the EU and Japan scratch their collective heads over how to
respond.
China's investment may offer Africa the first real chance to lift
itself out of poverty, not unlike postwar Europe under the Marshall
Plan or the industrialisation of the Asian tiger economies, neither of
which could have happened without US investment. Between 1945 and
1978, the US poured the equivalent of all the aid given to Africa into
just one country, South Korea. This is the kind of commitment Africa
needs.
The response to China's interest exposes western hypocrisy and perhaps
betrays a sense that African countries are still considered colonial
possessions. While the US, France and the UK have slashed or dubiously
inflated aid figures, China is promising to double assistance to
Africa by 2009. Western development aid is still mostly used to push
donors' commercial interests, rather than poverty alleviation; much
Chinese aid to Africa is likewise tied to business deals. But China is
widening access to its markets for African products - something
western governments have been reluctant to do - and has offered aid
without onerous conditions.
China's involvement is not all positive, as the sup****t given to
Mugabe's regime shows. Its model of one dominant political party that
quashes dissent is inspiring a number of African leaders just as the
continent is seeing a proliferation of opposition parties and a
mushrooming of civil movements. But African autocrats have also been
helped by the US war on terror, allowing them to round up and imprison
critics. The countries of most of Africa's longest-serving leaders -
Togo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Cameroon, Mauritania, Guinea,
Uganda and Swaziland - either have oil, or are partners in US
anti-terror campaigns. So criticism of oil-rich regimes with
dictatorial governments has been muted.
International NGOs and governments, including African ones, must
tackle China's unwillingness to use its leverage with Sudan to end the
conflict that has killed or displaced millions. But western firms'
dodgy investments in Africa are still a political blind spot.
All that said, African governments must insist that trade pacts with
China include clauses committing it to respect minimum labour rights,
human rights and environmental standards. China needs the resources of
the veldt just as much as Africa needs its money. To continue its
head-spinning 9% growth rate, China's economy requires a deluge of
commodities that can only be found in Africa in such quantities and so
cheaply.
But to make the partner****p work for them, African nations will have
to be more hard-nosed. China is buying strategic assets cheaply and
with few obligations. Most countries are ex****ting raw materials and
im****ting labour-intensive manufactured goods from China. The rise in
ex****ts typically generates few jobs, while im****ts take them away.
Africa must ensure that partner****p deals boost its shrinking
manufacturing industry and quickly diversify its economies. It must
not again squander its riches.
ยท William Gumede is a senior associate and Oppenheimer fellow at St
Antony's College, Oxford
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