Introduction
The relationship between China and Africa can be traced back to the Song Dynasty. It was cemented by the Chinese admiral Zheng Ho back in the fourteenth century (Taylor, 2011). In the era of modernity, Sino-Africa relations were rekindled in South Africa in 1911, and since then, they have continued to grow (Stein & Uddhammar, 2021). Sino-Africa relations have come with various impacts on the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, and this has left many wondering whether this is good for their development. Some claim the relationship is symbiotic, but others think it is amensalistic. The relationship has led to the investment of billions of dollars in many Sub-Saharan African economies through loans, aid, and foreign direct investment.
Chinese influence in Africa is an area of contention that has drawn much media attention, especially in the global west (Xin, 2009). In response to whether this Sino-Africa relationship is symbiotic or amensalistic, I examine Sino-Africa relations based on China’s impact on social-cultural, infrastructural, and economic development. In this paper, I weigh in on the Sino-Africa relationship and how this relationship has impacted countries in Africa. I narrow the discussion to Sub-Saharan Africa as a case study.
Background of Sino-Africa Relations
As indicated earlier, Sino-Africa relations date back to the Song Dynasty (Taylor, 2011). China’s involvement in Sub-Saharan Africa has attracted attention and left many wondering whether it is one where both parties mutually benefit (Lafargue, 2005). Undoubtedly, one will always invest in a venture in which one can reap benefits. China is not immune to this because its relationship with Sub-Saharan Africa has provided a market for its goods and contributed to China’s position in world affairs. For example, on October 25, 1971, while 35 western countries opposed China’s readmission into the United Nations, 26 African countries supported them, and they regained their seat at the United Nations (FrontPageAfrica Monrovia, 2017). In appreciation of the above gesture, China has committed itself to partner with Africa in various ways.
The relationship has recorded increased diplomatic relations and political changes between the two parties. It has increased the frequency of Sub-Saharan Africa government leaders’ visits to Beijing and strengthened economic ties between China and Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2009, China invested over $8 billion in Africa, making it the continent's most extensive trade partner (Zhongxiang, 2010). China’s desire to sustain economic growth drives its foreign economic policy. To meet their global and domestic market needs, they have decided to engage with Sub-Saharan Africa (Liang, 2012). The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has fueled the proliferation of Chinese expansion and involvement in Sub-Saharan Africa (Taylor, 2020). The Sino-Africa relationship has evolved from symbolism and politics to being economic and pragmatic. This evolution became visible after China’s ascension to the World Trade Organization in 2001 and was characterized by the pursuit of energy, influence, and market in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the 1950s, China supported many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa in their struggle for independence because it is a friendship that has existed for a long time (Liang, 2012). Today, China considers Sub-Saharan Africa a trade partner because it is not just a product market but also a source of raw materials. The expansion of regional markets for Chinese products has provided appealing opportunities that have led to the growth of the Chinese economy (Cotula et al., 2016). Having clearly understood how far Sino-Africa relations have come, below are ways in which this relationship has impacted Sub-Saharan Africa.
Impacts of Sino-Africa relations on Sub-Saharan Africa
The Chinese presence in Sub-Saharan Africa has been felt by many, both directly and indirectly. Its presence in almost every household is undeniable. China is Sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest trade partner because of the increasing Chinese exports of goods and services to the region (Stein & Uddhammar, 2021). In response to our main question, I weigh in on this relationship with a specific focus on the following areas.
Social- Cultural development
Globalization has aided the free movement of people across borders. It has significantly contributed to the growth of cosmopolitanism in most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and China. It is estimated that as of 2021, approximately 500,000 African people were living and working in China. On the other hand, between 1 Million and 2 Million Chinese people live and work in Africa (Cissé, 2021). This migration between China and Sub-Saharan Africa has led to social-cultural influence and exchanges among the people of China and Sub-Saharan Africa. Chinese social-cultural influence in Sub-Saharan Africa is propagated by local ethnic Chinese communities whose presence in many Sub-Saharan African countries has continued to grow (Rolland, 2022).
Many Chinese nationals live and work in local African communities. China has spread its cultural and social influence through this relationship by actively engaging in local programs like the education system. The Chinese government has helped 30 Sub-Saharan African universities set up the Chinese language in their education systems, built 48 Confucius classrooms, and incorporated Chinese culture and language into the curricula at 16 institutes (Xinhua, 2021). For example, East African leaders have supported teaching Chinese languages and culture in schools because it improves job competitiveness and facilitates business relations with China (Berya, 2019). Over 5,500 Chinese language teachers and volunteers have been sent throughout the continent since 2004 (Xinhua, 2021). China, under the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), offers personnel training and is committed to training 10,000 professionals for African countries (Zhongxiang, 2010).
Sino-Africa relations have also catalyzed an increase in interracial marriages between Africans and Chinese people (General, 2018). The continuous growth of Chinese media in Sub-Saharan Africa also plays a significant role in the social-cultural development (Jedlowski, 2021). With these positive contributions, the Sino-Africa relationship is still concerning because of the imbalance in the number of Africans living and working in China compared to the Chinese living and working in Sub-Saharan Africa. Additionally, atrocities like xenophobia and having to work hard to navigate the complex and restrictive migration policies aimed at minimizing their presence committed on Africans in China have created skepticism about the nature of the relationship between the two parties (Cissé, 2021). This relationship is also inconsistent with conditions that promote good governance because Sub-Saharan African governments venerate Chinese people at the expense of their citizens (Asongu, 2016).
Infrastructural development
Many Africans have viewed China’s development assistance in Sub-Saharan Africa as a good initiative that has helped to meet the needs of many. A study by the Afro Barometer showed that 56% of the people in Africa are satisfied with China’s contribution to their development (Afrobarometer, 2016). The construction of infrastructure by the Chinese is done under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) unveiled in 2013 by President Xi Jinping. It aims to build infrastructure in eighty-seven countries worldwide, twenty of which are in Sub-Saharan Africa (Taylor, 2020).
China is not only the biggest funder of Sub-Saharan Africa projects. It is also the most prominent infrastructural builder in most construction programs under the African Development program. For example, they are the builders of the following projects in Uganda: the Entebbe Express Highway, the renovation of the Mandela National Stadium, and the Karuma Hydropower Dam (Guloba et al., 2010). One of China’s other most significant infrastructure projects is the high-capacity, high-speed Standard Gauge Railway (SGR). This project aims to connect the Mombasa port in Kenya to Uganda, Rwanda, and South Sudan. The four governments signed the treaty in August 2013 to aid transportation and reduce production costs (Taylor, 2020).
In addition to the above projects, China has also constructed many other hydropower projects in Sub-Saharan Africa (Atchike et al., 2020) under its commitment to invest in renewable energy in Africa, for example, the Adama wind project in Ethiopia, the Bui Dam hydro-power project in Ghana, and the Garissa solar PV project in Kenya (Lema et al., 2020). They have also invested in the regional telecommunication infrastructure by introducing mega telecommunication companies like Zhongxing Telecom and Huawei (Lafargue, 2005). These projects create employment opportunities for the local populations, though some firms have been accused of violating international labor standards and breaching national labor laws like the case in Zambian copper mines (Isaksson & Kotsadam, 2018). There are also concerns about how most available jobs are awarded to Chinese nationals, as the locals are given jobs that do not require skills and are with low remunerations (Lema et al., 2020). These projects are all funded by the People’s Republic of China in the form of loans and financial aid.
The downside of this engagement is that the Chinese involvement in infrastructural development is aimed at maximizing profits (Asongu, 2016) and has disempowered small local firms because contracts are given to Chinese nationals, thus leading to an escalation of unemployment (Isaksson & Kotsadam, 2018). China’s involvement in Sub-Saharan Africa has also paved the way for its workers and domestic construction companies to expand operations outside (Morangi, 2018). The presence of mega Chinese construction companies has disempowered small local construction companies. The funds that would have helped these small, locally owned companies grow are sent back into the Chinese economy because Chinese contractors work on all mega projects in Sub-Saharan Africa (Isaksson & Kotsadam, 2018). In Uganda, for example, Chinese nationals run and are in charge of almost all Chinese-funded projects (Guloba et al., 2010).
Economic development
Africa is considered the home of the world’s fastest-growing economy. It has attracted many international investments, including China, whose trade volumes with Africa increased from $11 billion in 2000 to $185 billion in 2018 (Sanny & Selormey, 2020). Chinese involvement in Sub-Saharan Africa has significantly contributed to economic growth through aid and foreign direct investments that were poured into the economy to boost trade. Studies have demonstrated that local development outcomes of Sub-Saharan African countries where Chinese aid has been injected into their economies have increased between 2001 and 2012 (Dreher et al., 2021). There are over 1,000 private and state-owned Chinese companies in Sub-Saharan Africa. These companies’ operations have flourished because of operational market freedoms granted to them by local governments in Sub-Saharan Africa, favorable terms, and backing from the Chinese investment capital (Stein & Uddhammar, 2021).
Sino-Africa relations have also led to significant gains in trade and investment in many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (Madowo, 2018), although Africa as a continent only accounted for 2.3% of China’s exports in 2005 (Lafargue, 2005). Under the Sino-Africa bilateral trade partnership, China’s imports from Africa amounted to USD 78 billion, while China’s exports to Africa amounted to USD 113 billion in 2019. This accounted for 11 % of Africa’s global export of goods (Stein & Uddhammar, 2021).
Sub-Saharan Africa’s agricultural industrialization and modernization, growth of the internal consumer market, and economic growth have been made possible because of support from China through aid, loans, and gains from the Chinese Foreign Direct (FDI) Investment (SIDRA, 2019). This has provided employment opportunities to local populations. In 2019, China invested USD 44 billion in the Sub-Saharan Africa economy (Stein & Uddhammar, 2021). The question about the quality of employment is still an issue of concern because of the continuous unequal divisions of labor and China’s known record for awarding better jobs to their nationals (Lema et al., 2020). This kind of collaboration has led to a reduction in the economic benefits of Sub-Saharan Africa and has aided the rapid growth of the Chinese economy because of its nature which is characterized by low levels of diversification and small productive capabilities (Asongu, 2016).
The rapid growth of the Chinese economy is a result of the massive market for Chinese goods and the abundance of cheap raw materials like coal, ore, cobalt, oil, and copper that have boosted their manufacturing industry (Lafargue, 2005). China’s eradication of competitors in textiles has opened more markets for Sub-Saharan African cotton. This relationship has given Sub-Saharan Africa a new export outlet and has also significantly led to a rise in the prices of its raw materials (Lafargue, 2005). China’s contribution to the development of transport, energy, and other social service sectors like health and education has opened up opportunities for economic growth (Beretta et al., 2017). The difference between Sub-Saharan Africa’s relationship with China and other countries in the west is that China does not make specific political demands because it allows the countries to retain their sovereignty (Lafargue, 2005).
Despite these positive contributions, there is still a fear that African countries have been lured into the debt trap because of the increasing appetite for Chinese loans (Madowo, 2018). Additionally, trade between China and Sub-Saharan Africa is still marginal, although studies have shown that it is making considerable progress. The progress would be better if countries in Sub-Saharan Africa shifted from being a source of raw materials to a manufacturing and value added production (Lafargue, 2005).
Conclusion
It is with no reasonable doubt that the Sino-Africa relationship is symbiotic to a greater extent because of how Sub-Saharan Africa has been socio-culturally, infrastructurally, and economically impacted by this relationship. China’s contribution to infrastructure development through the Belt and Road Initiative, economic development through Chinese Foreign Direct Investments and the bilateral trade partnership, and contribution to the improvement of social service delivery are significant and undeniable. However, China can still do better to minimize the amensalistic nature of the relationship that is visible in China’s migration policies, labor, and investment policies that are aimed at profit-making, sustenance of Sub-Saharan Africa as a source of raw materials, and a market for her goods, and the creation of dependency through unconditional aid and loans. My recommendations are that the agreements around borrowing, award of contracts, and bilateral trade should be domestically applicable and in languages that all parties understand. Conditionalities on funded projects should be revised to enable the growth of small local businesses and industries, equality in employment, and respect for local labor laws.
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