China’s Impact on the African Renaissance

China’s presence in Africa is contentious. This introductory chapter explores the conflicting perceptions of China being the new African colonists versus the view that China is a facilitator of development and growth on the continent. China’s investment in Africa now overshadows that of any other country and China has the propensity to alleviate many of the bottlenecks constraining many African nations’ potential. In order to better understand the actual impact that China can have on Africa’s own organic growth potential, the chapter provides the contextual overview of African perceptions towards China; China’s political and economic systems; a review of historical relations between Africa and China; China’s foreign policy towards Africa; the role of the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC); and the social–economic–environmental priorities of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

This chapter investigates the notion that the African renewal or renaissance can only take place through an organic growth process. The thinking about growth and development in Africa has evolved over time from a pure economic growth model towards an inclusive growth orientation, especially in the last decade. We demonstrate in this chapter that this thinking should be further refined to include organic growth. Organic growth is defined as the pursuing of a natural growth path to ensure the national well-being for all citizens of the country. The tree analogy was used to develop an integrated framework of organic growth that can be applied to all African countries: The African Tree of Organic Growth. The chapter also demonstrated the complexity of the African continent, necessitating that the discussion on organic growth needs to be individualised for African countries based on their unique context and stage of development. The success of China’s own ‘renaissance’ has proved that a transformational agenda directed at the conditions of a specific country can succeed in lifting a large segment of the population out of poverty. China has itself an impressive organic growth and development history, where the rents on resources were used to fuel economic and infrastructure development for the subsequent cycles of growth.

The question as to whether economic growth reduces poverty and inequality is a highly debatable and controversial topic in Africa. Much of the African population still earns their living in the primary sectors and the traditional economy, while GDP growth is mainly attributed to oil and mineral extraction, and dependence on these commodities makes many African countries susceptible to boom or bust cycles. This chapter describes the necessity for economic transformation, normally driven by government, that promotes diversified production and export competitiveness, and which should facilitate social well-being through more equal income distribution, skills development and employment. Kenya and Nigeria are evaluated to determine the impact China has had on these regional ‘powerhouses’ in East and West Africa, and some of the conclusions drawn are the following: China’s funding of strategic road and railway links is creating an enabling environment for growth and diversification; skills transfer is not occurring at a satisfactory level due to the respective governments not providing the capacity and structures for the transfer of those skills; government inefficiency and corruption, safety and security remain a barrier to investment and growth; China’s investment in Nigeria has boosted the extractive sector at the expense of the agricultural sector; the trade deficit in favour of China is a concern; and these African governments need to introduce more effective industrial and other policies to direct investment in priority areas.

While economic growth and diversification can be regarded as the ‘fuel’ for development, infrastructure is the ‘engine’ that powers growth. China’s contribution to Africa in this regard is phenomenal, and this chapter describes a wide range of infrastructural projects that have reduced the ‘bottlenecks’ in infrastructure development. One way this has been financed has been through the adoption of ‘Angola-mode’ framework agreements, essentially a swap agreement of the provision of infrastructure by the Chinese, financed mostly by China’s Exim Bank, in return for oil or mineral resources, or the proceeds of improved manufacturing capacity. The One Belt One Road Chinese initiative that includes a vast road and rail network in Africa is described, with special attention to China’s involvement in the integrated transport infrastructure development in Ethiopia which includes the only urban tram system in Africa and a new railway line linking Addis Ababa to the Port of Djibouti. In addition, the new road network traversing the Lesotho mountain Kingdom and the impact this has made to the well-being of rural communities are considered.

The importance of effective governments as an enabler to economic development is highlighted in this chapter. The struggle that many African countries undergo in effective leadership is illustrated by means of a comparative case study between Ghana, The Gambia and Zimbabwe, illustrating the important role of leadership and internal and international action in ensuring that problematic states progress from dictatorships and warring factions towards peace and development. The role of Chinese peacekeeping forces engaged in peacekeeping operations, the largest number amongst the United Nations Security Councils permanent members, is provided as an example of China’s commitment to peace in Africa and elsewhere. A number of other efforts by China are also described that contribute to peace and security on the continent, for instance, China’s engagement in direct bilateral mediation in conflict situations, such as it has done in South Sudan and Burundi.

The African Tree of Organic Growth paradigm in the book illustrates that good-quality primary and secondary education, complemented by relevant tertiary education, vocational training and skills development, will prepare future generations for their productive lives as members of their community, and will directly contribute to the wealth and produced and human capital of a country. China has been involved in a number of initiatives that complement African initiatives to improve the level and skills in Africa, including exchanges of African students to China, scholarships, the inbound movement of Chinese teachers to Africa, the building of many rural schools, regional vocational centres aimed at vocational training, Chinese Confucius Institutes and flagship educational infrastructural projects such as the Ethio–China Polytechnic in Addis Ababa and the University of Science and Technology in Malawi. One of the case studies depicted in the chapter considers the level of employment of locals by Chinese companies operating in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), describing the high rates of employment of unskilled labour, but the lack of employment of local engineers and management due to the unavailability of these skills in the country, or the high cost thereof. The authors advocate that for skills and technology transfer to be more effective, host countries have to ensure that human resources have the desired level of competence needed to facilitate such a transfer, a function of relevant and quality education and skills development.

Environmental sustainability is a delicate balance, and Africa with its acute development problems is particularly susceptible to environmental problems, especially in terms of deforestation, desertification, pollution and waste. China has committed itself to halting the growth of its own greenhouse gases by 2030, and seems to have prioritised environmental issues more so than Africa, an example of which is the African Union’s Aspirations which fail to prioritise environmental issues. The Forum on China–Africa Cooperation’s Johannesburg Action Plan of 2015 specifically refers to environmental protection and tackling climate change. China can play a key role in addressing environmental sustainability in Africa through the technological transfer of innovations in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, focusing on renewable energy solutions and finding the ecological balance that supports economic development.

Integrated organic growth must prioritise the interests of the African people by creating equal economic opportunities, generating social and cultural wealth and capital, to a broad spectrum of the population in each country. Human development seeks to enable people to lead full, productive and meaningful lives by raising their incomes and improving their standards of living, which include life expectancy, health, education, security and personal liberty and freedom of choice—unfortunately, Africa fares poorly in this regard if one considers the Human Development Index or the World Happiness Report. China is particularly active in interventions in Africa that aim to improve food security, social development, medical care and public health, poverty eradication, education, environmental protection, security, immigration, law enforcement and international cooperation. One example is China’s significant intervention during the Ebola outbreak crisis in West Africa which saved countless lives. Concerns do, however, remain regarding possible human rights abuses and lack of community engagement by Chinese investors in Africa.

This chapter analyses and evaluates the success of the internal growth processes in delivering a better life to the citizens of the countries studied, and second, investigates the role that China plays and the impact it has in supporting or deterring the success of this process. The two African countries that were selected for this analysis are Cameroon and the island of Mauritius. The mostly positive impact of China on the organic growth in Mauritius, as illustrated in this chapter, defies the opinions of many authors who suggest that Chinese interests in Africa are solely focused on the exploitation of the continent’s energy and mineral resources—Mauritius has no such resources to offer. For the Mauritian government, China is seen as a business partner which can provide the much needed financial capital and support for the development of the social and production capacity of the country. China has also played a key role in Cameroon’s economic development, particularly with regard to the development of infrastructure. Weak and corrupt governance, however, continues to hamper Cameroon’s development and obstructs the effective growth as well as the distribution of wealth to the population. Cameroon’s economy, although relatively diversified with services, is still dominated by the public sector limiting its potential for future organic growth.

In this chapter, we emphasise the notion that the thinking about growth and development in Africa should include organic growth. Africa is not a country but a continent with 52 different countries, each with a unique cultural and historical context, resource and asset base, as well as economic and welfare structures. Achieving the goals of an ‘African Renaissance’, therefore, needs to be specifically defined in terms of the individual context of the country, rather than in generic terms for the continent. In this sense, the African renaissance for a diversified country such as South Africa, with its own particular cultural and historical history, will have a different meaning than, for example, a transitional economy such as Cameroon. This chapter summarises the main findings of this book, namely that China is overall contributing to the development and organic growth of African countries with which they actively engage. It was further found that China sometimes finds it difficult to balance the impact of its direct engagements with the indirect effects and consequences on those countries. Chinese and African governments have finally a combined responsibility to ensure that the situation will be a ‘win-win’ relationship which directly contributes to the organic growth process of the country.