Africa -China Review Africa -China Cooperation and Transformation
Published: January 12,2024
By Gerald Mbanda
China is Africa’s largest trading partner and its fourth-biggest source of investment. Bilateral trade between China and Africa stood at 282 billion U.S. dollars in 2022. Chinese Foreign Direct Investment to Africa have steadily increased since 2003, moving from US$ 75 million in 2003 to US$ 5 billion in 2021.
More than 10,000 Chinese businesses have invested in Africa promoting industrialization, production and job creation.
One may ask a question, why China has been able to out-compete western countries which assumed had the monopoly to trade with Africa? The secret behind the flourishing and increasing cooperation between China and Africa lies in a number of factors but the most important is that the cooperation is based on mutual trust and the two sides work together as equals and the relationship hinges on the win-win principle.
The west has been a victim of its own arrogance and complacency, and here is why. As if it was a New Yearfriendship package, the United States administration announced that effective January 1, 2024, four African countries, namely; Uganda, Central African Republic, Gabon and Niger had been removed from a list of countries that benefited exporting to the US duty free.
President Joe Biden said he had “determined” in a decree dated December 29, 2023, that the four countries “do not meet the requirements” necessary to allow them to continue benefiting from the trade deal, effecting his earlier stated plans to delist them.“Accordingly, I have decided to terminate the designations of the Central African Republic, Gabon, Niger, and Uganda as beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries for purposes of section 506A of the Trade Act, effective January 1, 2024,” read the statement by the US President.
The fall out between the US administration and Uganda started in May 2023, when the Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni signed a bill criminalizing same sex conduct which the US describes as a violation of fundamental human rights. African countries have strongly resisted western pressure to accept same sex relationships on grounds that it is against the African culture and decency. If the US and other western countries find same sex relationship good for them, that is okay, but it should not be imposed on other countries claiming that those who do not accept the relationships violate fundamental human rights. This is the argument by many African countries.
The US and other western countries tend to impose their own “values” and political systems yet those countries have their own choices and preferences based on their needs, culture and history. Making their own choices universal values is a very big mistake. Anotherimportant reason that makes China resonate well with African countries is that China does not impose its own culture, and political system to other countries, neither does it meddle in other countries’ internal affairs.
When the US stops trade with African countries, the impact affects more the ordinary people rather than the leaders. But there is also an assumption that since the African countries have lost the US market, they will not be able will find other markets where to export their products.
A country like Rwanda was suspended from exporting duty free apparel to US in July 2018, for banning the import of second-hand clothes from US. However, Rwanda’s apparel production of was not affected and instead looked for markets in other countries. Rwanda reasoned that the importation of second hand clothes would not allow growth of its own textiles industry. A World Bank report shows that in 2019, Rwandaexported textiles and Clothing mainly to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the United Kingdom, Uganda, France and Belgium.
Western countries while dealing with Africa have assumed that they can impose anything because they are strong and rich, China does not and this has contributed to the cooperation between China and Africa growing stronger and stronger.
