Why China is Africa’s true development partner

BEIJING, Sept. 5 — The past 18 years of China-Africa relations
have made some people in the Western world uneasy as they churn out various
accusations against the Asian country’s role on the continent.

Some Western media and politicians have repeatedly labeled China as an
economic predator in Africa, claiming that China pillages natural
resources, steals local jobs, wrecks havoc on the environment and has
dragged the vast continent into a debt crisis. While such claims have
gained traction among those who have little knowledge about and ground
experience in Africa, they are as false as they are sensational. Facts
speak louder than words, and the facts show that China is not an economic
predator but rather a true development partner for African countries.

There is no denying that raw materials have been part of China-Africa
trade, but overlooked is the fact that Africa has also benefited from trade
with China as Africans gain access to affordable manufactured goods. Trade
is largely balanced even as it rapidly expands. It is also interesting to
note that most of the natural resources in Africa are in the hands of
Western-invested companies, while China only buys what its development
needs. Furthermore, thanks to Chinese investment and technology transfers,
many African countries are now on a solid path of industrialization and
agricultural modernization. During the colonial era, they were made into
providers of raw materials and had to purchase other necessities from
abroad.

China, now the largest infrastructure investor in Africa, has helped build
roads and railways, water dams and power plants, and bridges and telecom
towers across the continent, laying the foundation for the long-term
development of Africa. On jobs, it is absolute conjecture to claim that
China’s growing presence in Africa has cost locals their jobs. Research by
leading global organizations shows the opposite. A 2017 field study by
McKinsey found that in some 1,000 Chinese companies operating in eight
African countries, 89 percent of the employees were local. Two thirds of
these companies provide on-the-job training for local employees and about
half of them have set up apprentice workshops or schools.

Leading global accounting firm EY said in a report last year that Chinese
investment in Africa created more than three times the number of local jobs
than that of the United States in 2016 alone. Since the introduction of the
“10 cooperation plans” at the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on
China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2015, Chinese companies have created
some 900,000 jobs in Africa and provided technical or vocational training
for over 200,000 people in Africa. Consider another truth: Chinese
companies intentionally hire more local workers because wages back home are
rapidly rising. Importing a majority of workers from China would prove a
costly endeavor.

On alleged environmental irresponsibility, it is true that some of
Chinese-built roads and railways run through natural parks. But it does not
mean China has no regard for wildlife. For example, the addition of animal
corridors along the jointly-built Mombasa-Nairobi railway has garnered
praise from local residents and activists. Furthermore, China has brought
its proven expertise on fighting desertification to Africa, where expanding
deserts pose serious problems. Providing access to clean drinking water is
another example of cooperation. Besides drilling waterholes and building
conservation facilities, Chinese companies have begun building water
processing factories in Africa.

BEIJING, Sept. 4, 2018 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is the African co-chair of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), and heads of delegation of other 53 African members of the FOCAC, arrive at the venue of the roundtable meeting of the 2018 FOCAC Beijing Summit at the Great Hall of the People in
Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 4, 2018. Xi and Ramaphosa chaired the two-phase roundtable meeting respectively on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

Setting a “debt trap” for African countries is yet another irrational claim
made against China. The rising debt levels in some African countries are
due to a combination of factors, including a drop in commodity prices,
especially since 2014. Data from the China Africa Research Initiative at
Johns Hopkins University shows that China has provided roughly 114 billion
U.S. dollars in loans to Africa from 2000-2016, which accounts for 1.8
percent of Africa’s total external debt.Chinese loans to Africa have a
lower interest rate and longer repayment period compared to the market
average, and these concessional loans are primarily used to build
infrastructure, which promises returns and is essential for economic
capacity building of African countries. All in all, China values its
relations with Africa and is walking the talk on win-win cooperation. With
ties between the two sides set to strengthen in the coming years,
exaggerated and fabricated claims intended to tarnish China’s image in
Africa will become a thing of the past. – XINHUA