‘No Preaching’ and other tactics as China woos African leaders

With pomp and splendor, China has welcomed more than 50 African leaders to Beijing this week for a summit aimed at strengthening ties amid increasing political and economic turmoil worldwide.

“It appeals to their vanities,” Macharia Munene, a Kenya-based professor of international relations, tells the BBC, referring to the red-carpet welcome—enhanced by dancers in colorful costumes—that the leaders received. The optics were carefully choreographed to create the impression of a meeting among equals.

Many of the leaders, including South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa and Kenya’s William Ruto, held one-on-one meetings with their Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, and were given tours of Beijing and other cities central to China’s development ahead of the summit. As Prof. Munene puts it, China’s aim is to show African leaders that “we are in the same boat, we are all victims of Western imperialism.”

Paul Frimpong, executive director of the Ghana-based Africa-China Centre for Policy and Advisory, says that Western powers, as well as oil-rich Gulf states, are trying to match China’s influence in Africa. “There is a keen interest and competition in and around what Africa’s potential is,” he tells the BBC.

Cobus van Staden, co-founder of the China-Global South Project, writes that China goes out of its way to emphasize its status as a developing country, signaling solidarity with Africa and the rest of the Global South. “It avoids the dreariness of the US and EU’s ongoing aid focus with its attendant conditionality and preaching,” he adds.

Over the last two decades, China’s diplomacy has paid off. It has risen to become Africa’s largest trading partner. Data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) shows that a fifth of Africa’s exports go to China, with the bulk comprising metals, mineral products, and fuel. The exports have quadrupled in US dollar terms since 2001.

For African countries, China is also the “single largest source of imports” of manufactured goods and machinery, according to the IMF. However, the balance of trade in most cases heavily favors China.

This is something Mr. Ramaphosa sought to address in his bilateral meeting with President Xi. “We would like to narrow the trade deficit and address the structure of our trade,” South Africa’s president said. A joint communique issued afterward stated that “China showed it was willing to uplift job creation, citing recruitment conferences for Chinese enterprises to promote local employment in South Africa.”

Kenya, on the other hand, is seeking more credit despite a heavy debt burden that consumes nearly two-thirds of its annual revenue and has recently triggered street protests after the government sought to introduce new taxes to fund the budget deficit. Mr. Ruto hopes to secure funding for various infrastructure projects, including the completion of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) to connect Kenya’s coast to neighboring Uganda, the construction of roads and dams, the establishment of a pharmaceutical park, and a technology-driven transport system for the capital, Nairobi.

After connecting Nairobi to the port city of Mombasa, China discontinued its financing of the controversial SGR four years ago, leading to the rail tracks ending in a field outside the lake city of Naivasha.

As a major bilateral lender to many African countries, China has often come under scrutiny for its deals, particularly in recent years when several African countries, including Ghana, Zambia, and Ethiopia, experienced debt distress.

Debt sustainability is at the center of discussions at every major forum on Chinese-African relations, and it is likely to be a key issue at the latest summit as well, Mr. Frimpong says.

The debt crisis is a reminder that foreign powers are motivated by their own interests—and African states need to improve their economies and finances to reduce their reliance on them. This is especially true as the IMF predicts that China’s economic growth will continue to slow and recommends that African countries adapt by deepening regional economic integration and implementing structural reforms to increase local revenue.

Most importantly, as Dr. Van Staden points out, African leaders need to “overcome the velvet rope aspect of these summits to make their own deals, set their own terms, and throw their own parties.”

Credit: BBC