In this paper co-authored by Mr. Thompson Ayodele and Mr. Olusegun Sotola of the Nigerian based think tank the Initiative for Public Policy Analysis (IPPA) they look at China’s involvement in Africa.
Much has been written on the subject but so little from an African perspective. Their take is refreshing in that it doesn’t follow the broad Western narrative of closet economic colonization and rapacious extraction whilst supporting shabby petty dictators and local warlords (Sudan anyone?).
Messieurs Ayodele and Sotola take a much more positive view of China’s engagement pointing out that it’s still tiny compared to China’s other overseas investments and nowhere near what the West is, and has long been, up to. For example they point out that China controls only around 2% of Africa’s known oil reserves and most of that was acquired from Western oil companies who regarded those investments as no longer worth bothering with.
They also note that higher commodity prices in recent years, the direct response to greater China demand, is of tremendous benefit to Africa and China’s low end phones and computers have put tools into the hands of ordinary Africans that may be of greater value than much of the ‘aid’ often sprayed indiscriminatly around the continent.
There’s a lot more here but one line sticks out as being particularly sharply observed; ‘Every country that is prosperous today was once poor.’ The overall view at the end of this read is that China’s involvement in Africa is significantly more nuanced than mainstream commentators care to acknowledge but more importantly, from an African perspective, it’s most welcome and to be encouraged.
Happy Sunday