Page 3 of 3 CHINA ON
SAFARI Emperor Hu's new clothes for
Africa By Bright B Simons,
Evans Lartey and Franklin Cudjoe
French
military-technical assistance to its former
colonies (which Lansana Gberie, a security expert,
asserts to have been worth many millions of
dollars in 1984) or the United States'
anti-communist projects across the continent: in
what was then Zaire, apartheid South Africa, and
Angola.
China's aid, in the absence of
these caveats, comes with "strings attached" - in
fact it provides enough rope for either partner to
hang
itself. Foremost among these is the injunction
against dealings with Taiwan and the unstated -
publicly, that is - commitment by the recipient
nation to favor Chinese consortiums for the
development of whichever projects the aid is
earmarked for.
For example, sports
stadiums have become one of Beijing's most favored
development projects in Africa. This is because of
Chinese companies' track record of building these
across the continent. In Mozambique, for instance,
China is both the biggest fund provider and
builder of roads.
China's Exim Bank makes
no effort to hide its mandated purpose of using
loans as means of securing contracts, particularly
in high-value processes, for Chinese companies
abroad. The 800 Chinese companies in Africa are
viewed by Beijing as fulfilling both political and
economic roles, and as part of a diplomatic effort
to project influence.
In Nigeria, to cite
a further example, oil concessions have gone to
Chinese companies as part of multibillion-dollar
infrastructure loan arrangements. The same is the
case in Angola. Perhaps to redeem the "no strings
attached" argument, it can be said that these are
commercial "strings" and differ in that respect
from the more complex conditions often insisted on
by Western aid givers. Such a contention will be
flawed on several levels.
All donor
countries have their priorities, which evolve
according to different timelines. Western donors
may calculate that promoting free markets means
eventually securing better trade relations with
Africa. China may emphasize immediate gains
through political negotiations. The difference is
of style and emphasis, not of fundamental
structure, which at any rate, in our view, is tied
to the very orientation of Africa itself, and far
less so to the disposition of Africa's partners.
Moreover, the premises ought to be better
established. It has become fashionable to lump all
Chinese assistance under the heading of "aid",
making little distinction among grants, loans and
technical assistance of different sorts. No doubt
this is partly because of the opacity of most of
these transactions. Still, it does not excuse the
lack of imagination.
The relevant context
is that to date Africa has received half a
trillion dollars from its traditional donors and
less than $7 billion from China. This is not to
denigrate China's giveaway - after all, it is a
hard-up country itself - or to ignore the massive
recent spike: this year it is projected to lend
three times as much as the World Bank to Africa.
But the fact remains that it gives different kinds
and levels of assistance under vaguely elucidated
terms and conditions. That is not the same thing
as "giving without strings".
Until
faltering reforms in Africa see a greater
transformation of the African economy and
political system, China's engagement with the
continent will be constrained like so many before
it in realizing possibilities.
Just as Hu
was about to leave Beijing for Africa, a breeze of
good news swirled like an omen into the airwaves.
Five Chinese telecom workers held hostage in
Nigeria had just been released. But the enthusiasm
was short-lived; four days later, nine employees
of Chinese petroleum giant China National
Petroleum Corp were grabbed by gun-toting rebels
right from company premises in the south of the
country. Perhaps CNPC is already taking some crash
courses in occupational-hazard awareness from
long-term foreign operators in the Nigerian oil
industry - the Shells and the Mobils.
The
unfortunate episode seemed to signify: welcome, if
you gonna play, you gotta learn the ropes. Hu, and
China, shouldn't expect an easy ride in Africa.
Whether Emperor Hu's clothes are new or
not doesn't matter, as anyone who has read the
fairytale [1] knows, because they both mean the
same thing. What matters, especially in Africa, is
that they fit.
Note 1. "The
Emperor's New Clothes" is a Danish fairy tale
written by Hans Christian Andersen and first
published in 1837, as part of Eventyr, Fortalte
for Born (Fairy Tales, Told for
Children). It was originally known as
"Keiserens Nye Klaeder". The story is a type of
fable or morality play with a cautionary message:
just because everyone else believes something is
true, it doesn't mean it is. - Wikipedia
Bright B Simons is an adjunct
fellow at the Center for Humane Education (Imani).
Evans Lartey is director of development at
Imani, which is a think-tank based in Accra
dedicated to researching economic trends to glean
practical public-policy insights for the benefit
of government, business and civil society in
Ghana. Franklin Cudjoe is the executive
director of Imani.
(Copyright 2007
Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
