Two main features characterize China's new aid program to Africa — its volume that amounts to $20 billion over the coming three years, almost double what it gave during the past three years. Besides, it has a different focus this time of targeting grassroots as it plans training 30,000 Africans, in addition to 18,000 scholarships and sending 1,500 of medical personnel to work in various African countries.
Is it a change in focus from “we give you what we want,” as Beijing's approach has been described in the past, to prevailing emphasis on “African needs”? It is not clear yet and all depends on actual performance on ground.
Still Chinese aid emphasizes work on infrastructure projects and some $15 billion are being spent on things like roads, dams, power etc, where the need is great, not on the level of each country, but such projects sometimes help boost chances for regional cooperation and eventually on parts at the continental level.
The issue of China's aid to Africa came under spotlight last week, as Chinese leaders headed by Hu Jintau hosted their fellow Africans in China-Africa Forum. Though with little presence of African leaders unlike what happened back in 2009, partly due to the timing that clashed somehow with the African Union summit and its aftermath, but the presence of South Africa's President Jacob Zuma gave the meeting a new dimension.
In his speech Zuma warned that Chinese African relations continue to be unbalanced and that situation is not sustainable in the long run, but the striking feature of this unbalance is that it favors Africa. Total volume of trade is estimated to have reached $ 166 billion last year, which underline the significant presence of raw materials produced in Africa and shipped to meet growing Chinese needs.
The problem with Zuma's complaints is that it contradicts the general impression that unbalanced trade results in the metropolitan having the upper hand and that African trade balance paints a red color.
But that is not the case and probably sensing this perception, China is giving more emphasis this time on grassroots and social development in areas of training, health services and providing scholarships to young Africans. Moreover, they add that while typical western aid spends some 80 percent on their staff and importing needed material from back home, while the Chinese spend more than 90 percent of the cost on the project itself inside Africa. All this gives Beijing an edge on its Western competitors.
On the other hand, the Chinese were the first to group African countries into one forum to discuss bilateral issues of the whole continent under one roof, a precedent that was copied by others. Such approach follows the steps of the trend that tries to project the continent as a one entity. The change from the Organization of African Unity to that of the African Union with its various commission and push for a more integrated approach between its member countries is a landmark in this trend. Moreover, Beijing feels somehow indebted to Africa's push as a continent to support China's diplomatic offensive to regain its seat at the United Nations.
Yet it is hard to see how such approach is beneficial to either China or Africa, the continent as such. Though problems of under development are general and are affecting each and every country but in the end problems, needs and aspirations of Ghana differ from those of Zambia or Ethiopia.
Still Zuma's remark carries with it some inherited feelings from the colonial era. Though China has no colonial history in Africa as the case with Europe in general and both England and France in particular, but the reference in fact is pointing to the sense of exploitation that was and continues till today.
The colonization phenomenon was intended basically to expand markets before growing capitalism and ensure supplies of raw material to the growing and hungry needs of the industrial revolution that has engulfed Europe.
The bottom line in the issue of unbalance exceeds the volume to the content. Regardless of the volume of Africa's exports to China, it remains in the form of raw materials, with no added value and as such it means a subtraction at the expense of the continent's resources and future generation.
But it is hard to square the blame for that on China exclusively. Since the wind of change blew throughout Africa almost have a century ago, African countries have taken their destiny into their own hands but this period is characterized by mismanagement, corruption and lack of transparency, which are byproduct of lack of political stability, civil wars and loss of direction politically and economically.
It is easy to complain accusing colonialism in the past and the new powers like China now, but the fact remains that charity must start at home. Africa needs to put its own house in order first before looking for escape goats.
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