China’s Role in The Development of Sub-Saharan Africa

China’s Role in The Development of Sub-Saharan Africa
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China’s Role in The Development of Sub-Saharan Africa
Introduction
China has been funding several projects in Africa. One of the recent projects funded by China in the continent is a railway line in Kenya, which starts from the port city of Mombasa to Nairobi, it's capital and the largest city. The project cost was $3.2 billion and is Kenya’s most expensive infrastructural project since independenceCITATION Sam18 \l 1033 (Kazungu, 2018). Kenya is seeking to extend the railway line to traverse the country into Uganda, her largest trading partner, for an additional cost of $5.2 billionCITATION Sam18 \l 1033 (Kazungu, 2018). In Ethiopia, Kenya’s neighbor to the North also has had the Chinese government fund a railway line from Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital to Djibouti’s Port of Dolareh. The project cost $3.4 billion, predominantly financed by China Exim Bank (70%) and the Ethiopian government CITATION Abd17 \l 1033 (Shaban, 2017). China’s investment in Africa is not only in the transport sector but also in energy. In Guinea, a mineral-rich West African country, had a damn constructed over the Konkoure river and produces 750 MW of hydroelectric power for $1 billion CITATION Sal07 \l 1033 (Samb, 2007). These are some of the projects that China has fully or partially funded in African in the last two decades. It is evident that China has strong interest in working with African countries to develop infrastructurally. This move has led to Africa racking up huge loans in the past few decades. Beijing has advanced loans worth US$143 billion to African countries since 2000 CITATION Jev19 \l 1033 (Nyabiage, 2019). The total amount of external debt for the continent is estimated at $417bn, with 20% owed to China, which is the largest single creditor nation to the continent, and some people claim that these loans are unsustainable CITATION BBC181 \l 1033 (BBC, 2018). However, Africa is a developing continent and is wriggling to come out of poverty. As western lenders continue to offer loans on certain conditions and their economy faltering, China has become a new and worthy alternative to African nations to fund infrastructural projects. It is a move that has been criticized by many people citing it is a potential debt-trap with some countries like Djibouti owing nearly 77% of its debt to Chinese lenders. The bigger picture points to China is playing a big role in Africa’s development especially infrastructurally.
Background
The main reason for China to work with African countries is hard to pin down. Many people claim that the Chinese government is putting Africa into a debt trap. They cite Sri Lanka’s case where the Chinese government-controlled companies advanced $8 billion to Sri Lanka, and when the government was unable to repay it, they took up the port and signed an agreement that it was to be returned to Sri Lankan government after 99 years CITATION Kai17 \l 1033 (Schultz, 2017). Though there is no African country whose infrastructure and or property been taken control over by the Chinese government for defaulting on their loans, there have been speculations that it is possible. The Chinese government has dispelled such news and cited that its debts are not designed to trap the African government in debt CITATION Ben18 \l 1033 (Blanchard & Shepherd, 2018).
Recently, the People’s Republic of China unveiled the silk road project that seeks to connect China and Europe, which is one of the main consumers and partners of Chinese products. They claim the possession of the Sri Lanka port is in an effort to take control of strategic points along that road CITATION Sho18 \l 1033 (Byrnes, 2018). Geographically, the Sri Lankan port seems to be a good shipping route for Chinese goods to the Middle East and through the Arabian sea to the Gulf of Eden to Europe. Thus, it could be possible that these strategic investments of the Chinese governments in Africa are meant to serve similar interests. The recent railway project in Kenya was designed to connect East Africa, and other landlocked countries in the area such as Uganda and South Sudan hence enhancing the Chinese government’s plan to build the new project dabbed the Belt and Road Initiative through the continent.
There are varied reasons why China wants/needs to invest in Africa. Some people claim that the main reason why the Chinese government is investing in the African continent is to serve its quest to be the global superpower. To achieve this, it needs to put as many countries under its wings to support it in decisive areas such as the UN General Assembly. Giving low-interest loans and expertise is one of the ways to deepen diplomatic ties with another country. It could be using this strategy to assert its hegemony on the African continent and eventually on world politics. It has been noted that the African countries that recognize Taiwan as a nation receive 2.7 fewer Chinese infrastructural projects CITATION Wen18 \l 1033 (Wendover Productions, 2018). On the other hand, the African countries that side with China and vote overwhelmingly on its side in the UN Assembly receive 1.8 times more projects CITATION Wen18 \l 1033 (Wendover Productions, 2018). This shows that there is a correlation that the Chinese government is using its influence to ‘buy’ African countries' allegiance.
Consequently, China seeks to influence international politics. In 1971, the UN General Assembly set to vote for the government that would represent the Chinese people. At the time, two governments claimed to be the legitimate representative of the Chinese people; the republic of China government, which is headquartered in Taiwan, and the People’s Republic of China headquartered in mainland China. Since each country has a single vote in the UN General Assembly, alliances are very important, and though the People’s Republic of China managed to clinch the nomination. Many of the countries that voted against the People’s Republic of China were African countries. They had sided with the United States on the vote, which sought to recognize the Taiwanese government over the mainland China government. The scheme to use the African countries in the United Nations General Assembly is strategically to influence the outcome of such decisive matters. It would be a good investment should another vote rise to declare Taiwan as a country or the other administrative regions of China such as Macau and Hong Kong. China is investing in amassing all the votes it could get to ensure that such a vote would not pass in the UN General Assembly. Thus, alliances of African countries, which number about 54 is crucial, and therefore it could be the reason why China’s government intensified its efforts to steer away the African countries away from allegiance to the United States. In 2007, China and majority of African countries following the Chinese government investments in Africa voted overwhelmingly with China on whether to make a resolution to condemn human rights violations of the North Korean government CITATION Wen18 \l 1033 (Wendover Productions, 2018). The Chinese government supports North Korea, and it rallied all but eleven African countries to vote against the resolution. This shows how China has established a firm political alliance to influence international politics with the African countries.
Additionally, African continent does not view Chinese involvement in African economy and affairs as predatory CITATION Sho18 \l 1033 (Byrnes, 2018). Most African countries seem to have adopted the perception that western disinformation about intentions of China is wrong and jealous-induced CITATION Sha18 \l 1033 (Ebrahim, 2018). Africa believes China’s investment in Africa is mutual and that each one of the benefits from a healthy relationship. Thus, the Sino-phobic narrative championed by the West portraying African nations as passive collaborators, who are victims of a second "colonization" wave is not accurate in the eyes of African countries.
Analysis
There are myriad other reasons why African countries prefer Chinese loans over other lending institutions. First, loans from China do not come with ‘strings attached’ especially about governance and human rights. Many African countries are still shackled in dictatorial regimes, and the western lenders and countries have been calling for their stepping down unconditionally should they want such loans. Other demands imposed by lenders include reduction of human rights violations within the borders of these countries, stopping corruption, suggestions for some policies, etc. Some countries find these terms hard because only top government officials seek to earn from the dealings with China. Therefore, they turn to China for ‘unconditional loans. The loans are not unconditional per se; they are just relatively less restrictive than the other lending bodies such as the IMF and the World Bank. Issues of human rights protections and democracy are not part of the requirements and conditions China requires the African governments to have to access their loans.
China seeks to form diplomatic relations to enable it to continue exploiting the resources found in Africa. Guinea, for example, is one of the countries in which China has invested by building a $1 billion hydro-electric dam. Guinea is rich in minerals, and it is possible that China is eyeing these resources CITATION Tom09 \l 1033 (Burgis & Wallis, 2009). The locals have claimed they have not benefitted in any way from the Bauxite boom is helping China CITATION The18 \l 1033 (The Economist, 2018). Other countries that have received Chinese government foreign aid and loans have been found to have huge deposits of crude oil. There are many countries in Africa with oil deposits. Some of them are; Libya, Kenya, Nigeria, Angola, Malawi, South Sudan, and Sudan, Mauritania, etc. China might be seeking deeper relationships with these countries either to get mining rights or become the preferred destination of the unprocessed oil for far lower prices since most of these countries do not have oil refinery factories. Other African countries such as DRC are also rich in other minerals such as uranium and cobalt which are projected to become very important in the development of energy solutions of the future. The strategic alliances with African countries could ensure that it benefits from the exploitation of these minerals. Additionally, since much of Africa is not developed, African countries rely on other countries for export. Importing cheap raw materials from Africa and exporting finished products to the same continent would create imbalance of trade, which would work in favor of China. All these potential reasons for trading with African countries make business sense, and the Chinese government stands to gain a lot from the partnerships.
The loans which the Chinese government has been giving the African countries also help the Chinese economy and people. First, these loans earn interest. The interest earned on these loans will eventually help the Chinese government and economy. Secondly, the Chinese government insists that any country securing a loan from them must use Chinese government workforce and companies to do the work. The railway road constructed from Nairobi to Mombasa was constructed by Chinese companies (China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC). Similarly, the Addis Ababa railway line was similarly constructed by China Railway Group Limited (CREC) and the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC). This has been the trend that essentially provides employment to the Chinese people in a foreign land. It also helps the Chinese government to continue creating cordial relationships with the locals in these countries as it aims to unseat the united states as the number one global superpower. It also wants to export its cultures into other countries. There are students in East Africa will start to take mandarin classes in a bid to work with Chinese nationals doing infrastructural projects within their borders CITATION Abd19 \l 1033 (Dahir, 2019). This is a cultural shift never seen before, and it is a veiled take over from western cultures to Chinese culture which would help Chinese global hegemony.
Key Chinese Investment Areas in Africa
The Chinese Investments across the Sub-Saharan countries...