http://allafrica.com/stories/200703260036.htmlAfrica: Africa Fuels China's Ascent Into a 'Superpower'
The Nation (Nairobi)
OPINION
March 25, 2007
Posted to the web March 26, 2007
Mwende Mwinzi
Nairobi
After running on high octane for the past five years, George W. Bush is finally running on fumes. Very, very, low fumes. Far from the days when his walk had extra bounce, Bush's supporters have dwindled, his country's enemies - many thanks to him -- increased. Has the war on Iraq, now in its fifth year, achieved anything at all?
It depends, I guess, on who you ask. With their coffers emptied out and coffins filled up, many Americans say no. Iraqis, all bloodied, agree. The war has yielded grand loss. No person or country seems to have gained. Unless China, of course?
Driven by a growing demand for resources, China has exploited America's focus on war, by moving aggressively on Africa. Though Sino-African trade grew by an astounding 700 per cent in the 1990s, it is in the periods following that China has redefined itself. It is reported that from 2002-2003, trade between China and Africa topped $18.5 billion, nearly doubling in 2005 to $32.15 billion. Oil was at the centre of such trade.
With China accounting for 40 per cent of the total growth in global demand for oil in the last few years, China is taking Africa very seriously.
In the first 10 months of 2005, Chinese companies are said to have invested a total of $175 million in African countries (primarily on oil exploration projects and infrastructure) and the country currently takes an approximate 64 per cent of Sudan's oil exports which include the more desirable light, sweet and easily refined crude. Sudan, which in 2005 reported the production of about 500,000 barrels of oil a day, has risen rapidly in global relevance.
China also has growing interests in Opec member Nigeria, the world's 11th largest oil producer and Africa's largest, and in Angola (Africa's second largest oil producer) as well.
Angola not only has major offshore gas reserves, but it also is expected to reach an oil production of two million barrels a day by 2008. Algeria, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and the Republic of Congo are also on China's radar screen for their significance to China's booming economy which has boasted growth rates exceeding seven per cent. It is estimated that by 2020, the country's GDP will have exceeded that of Japan.
Diversify investments
So how, with such growth, does a country plan ahead? Well, if you are China, you harness and push broadly into political and militaristic ties, and concurrently diversify investments!
Trade between China and South Africa, the continent's economic powerhouse and a major gold producer, reportedly reached $240 million in the first 11 months of 2006 (an increase of 34.5 per cent over the previous year) and China owns one of the largest copper mines in Zambia. Speak of raw materials like timber and she's there. If anyone has gained from Bush's (mis)priorities, it is China. Hands down.
But what of Africa and isn't there something to be said about our marked growth and our infrastructural development in the recent past?
China's involvement in the continent has boosted these, providing empowerment at a time when the West cared less for Africa and when, by all accounts, the relations between the two (thanks to reductions in aid and political gimmicks like travel advisories), were strained.
China seems friendly and beneficial to Africa and indeed through her various incentives, she has not only aided us but also levelled off America's influence on Africa. Yet the question still begs: Is the country genuinely Africa's long-term partner or is it - like the West -- just another power exploiting us?
Though not much talked about, China's presence in Africa dates back. Records indicate that high-level Chinese officials visited Africa as early as 1979 with Li Xiannian; Zhao Ziyang in 1982-83; Li Peng in 1984, 1997, 1999, 2001 (Li Peng) and a multitude of others since. Vice-premier Qian Qichen visited more than 36 African countries between the years 1990 and 1998. The world was simply not watching. Yet China was at work.
China has paved more than 80 per cent of Rwanda's main roads, rehabilitated railways and schools in Angola and established low-cost housing in the same, among others. The county has banned export tariffs for the poorest of our nations and, in contrast to the West, linked aid with infrastructure without meddling in governance issues. Africa, they claim, is to benefit through such trade and exchange. It all sounds good. Or does it? Serious questions beg.
How does China differ, for instance, from the West which, when it first penetrated Africa, concerned itself with resources alone and not the management and due process the continent is finally appreciating?
Can China's complacency towards African leadership (which includes the corrupt and murderous kind), not fuel such vices or at the very least, suggest that good governance is no longer a priority? Worse, why, if China is truly a friend, is she - without regard for their long-term effect - selling arms to African countries?
Thanks to China, Sudanese troops sport military hardware which includes helicopters to protect oil pipelines.
With their assistance, Sudan, it is said, has also built three munitions factories. Does China care how many guns from here have been used in Darfur?
The economic advice and policy prescriptions that the West has offered Africa in the past have not always been appreciated.
Understandably. But that is no reason to follow blindly a country concerned "about the imbalance in the structure in China-Africa trade."
Am I suggesting that we detour from our journey with China? No. Certainly not. China has the potential to partner greatly with Africa and the continent has also much to learn from China.
But what's the hurry, not when "a journey begins with one simple step?" Human rights, energy, security and long-term autonomy risks are at stake here. We should ponder them as we fuel China and her ascent into a "superpower."
AfroShanghai
Author