Bride-to-be wooed by East and West

China's respect for African culture and sovereignty gives it an advantage

The scramble for Africa's natural resources such as land, oil and gas is pitting international powers against one another.

Oil and gas in West Africa and East Africa, and land in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Sudan are attracting global investors at an increasing pace.

The West's exploitation of Africa has a long history. The legacy of colonial-era rule (the French in West Africa and the British in Sierra Leone and East Africa) is lopsided economic ties. Africa continues to receive political aid while offering access to natural resources/extractive industries and importing expensive manufactured goods from the West.

China was not a colonizing power in Africa, so it has a different approach to doing business with the continent. The Chinese economic model is attractive to Africa because foreign aid comes with no strings attached. China is a developing country that has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty, offering lessons that African countries can learn from.

There has been a gradual shift of United States foreign policy regarding Africa. The US considers the continent a reliable source of natural resources. However, because of recurrent conflicts, the US approach has combined diplomacy, foreign aid and the military as a unified strategy of pursuing US interests in Africa.

This militarization of US relations with Africa can be harmful when force becomes an easy option and humanitarian aid becomes a political tool.

The strategy also creates obstacles for Chinese businesses operating in Africa. No wonder China feels the need to take measures to ensure the security of its businesses in the continent. Fortunately, China has not been one to spread political ideology in Africa. This respect for Africa's cultures and sovereignty gives it an advantage over Western countries who feel they are still on a "civilizing mission" in Africa.

The new engagement in big infrastructure projects in the continent such as ports, railways and roads is helping to open up Africa's economic potential, to the chagrin of former colonial powers that want the continent to develop at the behest of Western hegemony.

Many Western economists have dismissed the grand projects as white elephants that do not meet the real needs of African countries. Since African countries are not seeking loans from the West, the latter has had limited say over these projects.

Given the experience of Africa's economic relations with the West, especially the structural adjustment programs of the 1980s and 1990s, China's appearance on the scene has been a godsend. Countries such as Angola have acquired economic sovereignty previously unseen in Africa, being able to sell oil and gas to China, thus making the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund largely irrelevant to its economy.

A global realignment of powers seems to be afoot, with the economic and political power and influence of the West on the wane. Previously such epochal seismic changes in the global world order have ignited violent conflict. It is yet to be seen whether China and other emerging economic powers will edge out the West politically and militarily in Africa and elsewhere without a fight.

Given US indebtedness to China and trade dependence, there are many opportunities for a negotiated balance of power.

Healthy global economic and political competition calls for respect of the international order under the current United Nations system and international legal regime. Unhealthy competition will lead to the West propping up rebellions, such as in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, regime change such as in Libya, and civil wars, such as in South Sudan and Sudan. These proxy wars will bring untold suffering to Africans and offer no sustainable access to natural resources.

Given the West's readiness to do business with China, it is hard to see ideological differences having any role in China's relations in Africa. The West has occasionally accused China of overlooking governance, democracy and human rights issues in some African countries.

Africa needs this divergent approach so as to negotiate the best advantages from the East and the West. Angola has grown remarkably economically, but a more open and accountable government, in other words a system of Western-style oversight, can ensure that the vast majority of the country who are poor benefit from such economic growth.

In Western eyes, and perhaps in Eastern eyes, too, Africa is the continent of the future, a land with the world's most untapped resources. Yet in the global world order, Africa's voice remains faint. However, new technology is offering the continent the opportunity to rapidly traverse what would otherwise be decades of industrial, agrarian and information revolution. Developing mutually beneficial relations with the West and the East is a cardinal challenge of thinkers and leaders of our time. The entry of China into this matrix can add value if well managed through research and well-informed policies.

The virgin land of modern Africa that the late Kenyan philosopher Ali Mazrui spoke of remains the reluctant bride-to-be wooed by the West and the East, but it is still uncertain whether the continent has acquired the wherewithal to develop new options and increase her bargaining power.

The author is a researcher at International Peace Support Training Centre in Kenya.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 06/26/2015 page9)