[Opinion] China Picking Up The U.S.’ Infrastructural Slack in Africa

Written by Makula Dunbar

May 29, 2014

Written by Abdullahi Boru Halakhe | From Aljazeera

Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visited Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola and South Sudan. Officials described his four-day tour of Africa as part of efforts “to encourage democratic development, promote respect for human rights [and] advance peace and security,” according to the State Department.

As Kerry concluded his voyage, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang embarked on a similar mission to Ethiopia, Kenya, Angola and Nigeria, where he attended the Annual World Economic Forum on Africa.

In recent years, buoyed by its tremendous economic growth, Africa has become an arena of contest between the United States and China and among emerging countries such as Turkey, Brazil and India. In Africa — once regarded as the byword for ethnic conflict, disease and natural disaster — hardly a month goes by before a high-level foreign delegation visits for trade, construction or natural resource deals.

China’s upper hand

In 2012 a new African Union headquarters, built with a $200 million gift from China, was opened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It represented a real turning point in China’s growing influence in the continent. After decades of being patronized by the West, most African leaders are now facing east — shorthand for working with China — as their default position. Western diplomats are often reminded that their countries are no longer the only game in town.

China’s investment in Africa is making it an indispensable player at a time when Africa’s economic fortunes are improving remarkably. China’s policy of noninterference in domestic affairs, especially on human rights, has a particular appeal among African leaders and contrasts sharply with Western nations’ rights-based rhetoric. China’s benign but inherently problematic approach enjoys broad support not only from the political elite, which loathes accountability, but also from the public, which is seeing the immediate, tangible benefits of infrastructure development.