China's "Year of Africa"
June 21, 2006, 16 hours, 52 minutes and 45 seconds ago.
By ANDnetwork .com
Asian economic giant China has increased its presence and even influence on the African continent as new deals have been signed with Nigeria, Angola, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo marking China's "Year of Africa".
By Jonathan Katzenellenbogen
China is giving Africa unprecedented amounts of diplomatic attention after a five-year period in which its trade with the continent, heavily driven by growth in oil imports and manufactured exports, has risen fourfold. In Beijing, senior foreign ministry officials are calling this, “China’s year of Africa”.
The attention is a strong indication that China is putting down its marker as a serious player on the African continent.
China’s growing role in access to oil in Africa could either set off new, intense power rivalries on the continent, or bring about new forms of constructive engagement.
A new “scramble for Africa”, similar to that which took place at the beginning of the 20 Century, is perhaps underway, and the consequences could be damaging for Africa.
The rise of China’s involvement in Africa has been so fast and so recent that external powers, such as the US, UK and France as well as Africa’s regional powers of Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa, have showed signs of still thinking through the process.
China has however stressed that it is a “peaceful rise” in Africa.
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao is on a seven-nation African tour that includes a two-day stop in South Africa as part of China's new surge into Africa.
Earlier this year, Chinese President Hu Jintao visited three African countries, and in November, 2006, Chinese and African leaders will gather in Beijing for a China-Africa summit — only the second to have been held.
The only other country to have hosted a summit with African leaders is France. The European Union is struggling to hold such a summit due to its “smart sanctions” that are exluding Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe.
In January, 2006, Beijing released an official paper on its African policy, an indication of its seriousness in building a “new type of strategic relationship”.
With British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Commission for Africa report in 2005, and the global attention the continent has received, Beijing may well have felt under pressure to come up with its statement on what it is willing to in for Africa.
In 2007, Beijing will host a meeting of African finance ministers at the annual meeting of the African Development Bank, a move that reflects China's expanded role as an aid donor in Africa.
In terms of oil, Africa is of growing importance to China who have signed a number of deals in African countries, including Angola, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sudan. Information on the share of African oil as a percentage of China’s oil imports are not confirmed, but are believed to be less than 20%.
When China has the political will to act, it does so on a massive scale, however China has yet to reach the scale of engagement comparable to any of the western powers.
The Chinese have a tradition of thinking big and having long-term plans. In Africa they’ve built national stadiums, parliament buildings, and the Tanzam railway in the 1970's.
Is China to become one of Africa's new development partners?
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