Losing Africa to China

Western analysts of China describe China’s vigorous African diplomacy as a rising great power’s attempt to gain control of Africa’s natural resources and markets, and lay the foundation for enduring political and military influence.

Just consider China’s recent economic performance in Africa. Its trade has grown by leaps and bounds to about $37 billion last year. Africa supplies nearly 30 per cent of China’s hydrocarbon requirements. A few days ago, China’s top offshore oil producer CNOOC agreed to pay $2.3 billion for a stake in a Nigerian oil and gas field—its largest overseas acquisition. Looking beyond petroleum, China is consolidating its hold on the rich mineral resources of Africa. One of the biggest Chinese mining operations on the continent is the Chambishi copper mine in Zambia. Its interest covers the entire range of African minerals. Chinese-funded enterprises in Africa increased by 77 in 2004 to 715. The new companies invested $135 million with plans for investment of $432 million, according to Chinese officials.

Flag follows trade

Hours after the White Paper was released last week in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing set out on a nine-day tour of Africa that will take him to six countries including Nigeria and Senegal. It has now become a tradition for Chinese foreign ministers to begin every new year with an extended trip to Africa. For some time now, Beijing has been hosting an annual ministerial meeting of the China-Africa Forum. During his Africa trip, Li will prepare the ground for the first China-Africa summit that is slated to be held at the end of this year in Beijing.

Thanks to the recent robust economic growth in Africa, India has not done too badly on the trade front. Although a fraction of China’s commerce with Africa, India’s non-oil trade with the continent has grown from $914 million in 1990-91 to a little over $9 billion in 2004-05. Unlike China, India has been unable to lend a strategic purpose to its Africa policy.

Lack of high-level visits from India has been a big diplomatic failing. Last year alone, two members of the Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo, the foreign and defence ministers, and two vice-premiers visited China. Even if we take the span of two decades, high-level Indian visits have been too few and far between. The last Indian prime minister who travelled on a bilateral visit to Nigeria, the largest African country, was Jawaharlal Nehru in 1962. Atal Behari Vajpayee was barely there for a day to attend the Commonwealth Summit in 2003. The last prime ministerial visit to Angola, which is emerging as one of Africa’s leading oil producers, was Rajiv Gandhi in 1986.

Our leaders tend to limit their African visits to either South Africa or Mauritius, thanks to the allure of the chai-samosa gatherings of the diaspora. Africa is long way from becoming ‘‘sexy’’ for the Indian diplomatic corps, which is severely under-represented in the continent in comparison to China. There are countries in Africa where even secretary-level officers have not visited for decades. For now it is only China’s flag that follows trade.

Military diplomacy

While it was India which set up national military academies in a number of important African countries, it is China which now has a purposeful military diplomacy on the continent. Although the Indian Army’s peacekeeping contingents have been going to Africa for decades, China is now injecting a long-term vision into its security cooperation with Africa. The White Paper promises to intensify arms sales and military training in Africa, expand intelligence sharing, and deepen cooperation between Chinese and African law enforcement agencies.

‘Asiatic Imperialism’

As China looms large over Africa, Western analysts have already begun to accuse it of ‘‘neo-colonialism’’. As India follows China in Africa, it too will be accused of ‘Asiatic imperialism’.

China and India’s search for energy and minerals in Africa does surely remind one of the ‘‘scramble for resources’’ that led to western colonialiasm during the second half of the 19th century. This precisely is the reason why the White Paper underlines Beijing’s emphasis on ‘‘political equality’’ and ‘‘mutual benefit’’. Chinese analysts say Beijing’s economic presence has reduced African dependence on the West and given the continent more economic options. As India figures out a strategy to deepen its engagement with Africa, it must offer a radically different model of aid and economic cooperation that focuses on capacity building and technology and skill transfer to Africa. If Delhi does pay serious strategic attention to Africa and takes advantage of the huge goodwill for India, it could yet become the tortoise that beat the Chinese hare in Africa.