WITH my little experience researching Africa-China engagements, it is clear that there are about three classes of opinions or schools of thought angling for attention in this matter.
There are what may be called China bashers - these are scholars or thinkers and analysts, who do not see anything positive about China’s active engagement of Africa.
To them the Asian giant is a voracious dragon, ruthless in its approach and cruel in its objectives. This group is also composed of those who think that every non-western country engaging Africa has a nefarious agenda aimed at aiding and abetting corruption, kleptocracy, erosion of human rights and trampling on democracy.
The next group is composed of what may be called China huggers or panther huggers. These are the analysts and scholars, who believe that China has historically been Africa’s all-weather friend, beginning with the assistance it rendered to Africa during liberation struggles, sanctions busting (in the case of Zimbabwe), as well as the various aid programmes that the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and China Aid have been implementing over the years, among others.
Hence China cannot exploit Africa because historically, it does not carry colonial and imperialistic baggage. The final group is the more objective thinkers, who are neither bashers nor huggers, they are the fair-minded ones and these have done a great deal in churning out correct and balanced narratives about the China-Africa engagements.
Professor Deborah Brautigam stands out as an example, among many who are researching in this area.
Indeed, the need for objectivity cannot be over-emphasized. China, like any other global power has interests to achieve and those interests are defined first by their domestic economic imperatives. Through the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (Focac), China and Africa have created a platform for coordinating development, trade and aid initiatives from 2000.
The United States of America (USA) also has tangible and intangible foreign policy objectives it is pursuing in Africa through various strategies, such as the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the Africa Command, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) among others.
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In the game of international politics, no matter how good the relationship between states or regions may be, the objective is to achieve an advantage either over your ally (in a non-competitive way) or over competitors.
China’s engagement of Africa also needs to be partly viewed in this way. If when China, or Chinese actors see loopholes on the African side, they may naturally exploit those loopholes. This is not to mean that they are exploitative or they are bad allies, but it is the logic of the game that is how it is played.
In this regard, Africa needs to introspect on a variety of issues but chiefly to do with availability of laws and regulations that hedge against economic and environmental exploitation as well as those to do with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and/or environmental social and governance Issues (ESG).
These regulations must be enforced without fear or favour, in letter and in spirit to ensure total compliance. Indeed, without even bringing Chinese actors into the picture, there appears to be a big problem in the enforcement of available regulations in Africa chiefly owing to corruption and lack of capacity. Thus, any actor who sees these loopholes will seek to make most of them to their advantage.
Thus we cannot continue to pile blame on Chinese actors for environmental degradation, violation of labour laws and other ills when Africans display an inability to enforce their own regulations.
When I visited China in October 2024, I asked Chinese officials, who were in charge of the programme, about this particular matter. They made it clear that the Chinese government vehemently insists that all Chinese companies’ officials operating in Africa should respect the local regulations of the African countries. They do not object to the arrest and prosecution of Chinese citizens involved in acts of criminality in Africa.
The responsibility to ensure the respect of local laws, therefore, lies in African countries’ hands. In fact, Africa needs to do more. Visit any country rich in gold or other precious minerals in Africa and you will see the rampant environmental destruction taking place not majorly at the hands of the Chinese but by the activities of Africans themselves.
The galamsey problem in Ghana gives ample evidence to this fact. In Zimbabwe’s gold-rich regions of Mashonaland Central, Midlands, Matabeleland South, as well as Manicaland and others, the ‘makorokoza, mashurugwi, magweja’ (gold panners) menace on the environment is all clear to see.
Reports of classrooms and roads falling-in in Kwekwe and Bindura respectively, the destruction happening along Mazowe River, as well as vast swathes of arable, but unusable land in various provinces, resulting from rampant environmental damage inflicted by such activities leaves a lot to be desired.
What picture does this give to foreign investors when they come?
Would they not think that we are too lax in enforcing our own regulations on our own people This should be food for thought indeed and it should lead us to do a lot of introspection as we begin a new year.
Lastly, I firmly believe China deserves its chance on the global stage. It is a country that has worked its way up without too much external funding and help and has managed to pull a staggering 800 million people out of poverty over a short period of 40 years.
Over the years, it has also become a technological and manufacturing behemoth largely owing to deliberate investments in science and technology.
This means Africa needs to position itself well to take advantage of the opportunities for economic and social growth and transformation provided by a rising China.
Though we know that Africa’s agency is a bit circumscribed in the relationship, China’s willingness to treat the continent as an all-weather friend should provide a platform for intensive and extensive engagements that will give fuel to the continent’s growth trajectory while at the same time discussing problematic matters frankly as allies.
This is becoming even more imperative with the return of Donald Trump (as American President) whose disinterest in Africa is clear for all to see (judging from his first term).
- Dr Chipaike teaches international relations at Bindura University of Science Education. He mainly researches Africa-China relations. — chipaiker84@gmail.com, +263773244767. These weekly New Perspectives articles, published in the Zimbabwe Independent, are coordinated by Lovemore Kadenge, an independent consultant, managing consultant of Zawale Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, past president of the Zimbabwe Economics Society and past president of the Chartered Governance & Accountancy Institute in Zimbabwe (CGI Zimbabwe). — kadenge.zes@gmail.com or mobile: +263 772 382 852.
