China in Africa: Salvation or Disaster

Africa and China: Salvation or disaster for Africa?

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“Wake up Africa. The Chinese proverb says: don’t give the people fish, teach them how to fish. In Africa the Chinese give us the fish instead of teaching us how to fish”. Unknown – The Namibian, 14 September 2010 (SMS of the Day – What you are saying!)

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Introduction:

This paper discusses and critically evaluates the Sino-Africa trade relationship from an “African economic sustainability perspective”. Much has been written about this theme, and as such, we are not seeking to reinvent the wheel but rather to take an objective look at this relationship in order to determine whether China’s renewed economic interest in Africa is mutually beneficial for Africa and China or whether this will lead to Africa’s demise in the long term.

China’s involvement in Africa is by no means a new phenomenon. This relationship, however, has evolved over time. China’s interest in Africa started as far back as 1955 at the Asia-African Conference referred to as the “Bandung Conference” held in Bandung, Indonesia. At the time of this conference though, this association was characterised by both Africa & China’s position of non alignment, and of being anti-America, anti-hegemonic and anti-imperialist. A posture that lead to China’s participation in and support of a number of liberation struggles across the African continent. This link though, did not at this time include any trade partnerships that could generate any development for Africa. It was not until China joined the United Nations in 1971 and the Bretton Woods Institutions in the early 1980s that China moderated its scepticism toward international system and economic issues. Naturally, Beijing's late 1990s announcement of its "going global" policy, which includes large firms expanding their exploration into investment opportunities in Africa, has led to a new economically focused trend. (Maswana, J-C, 2007).

At this conference the first of many...