Dragon finds all it needs on continent

Each week, the Centre for Chinese Studies at Stellensbosch University in South Africa issues an update on China's activities in Africa.

The latest issue is typical: one company has finished a bridge in Angola, another is building an agricultural research centre in Mozambique, and direct investment in the first six months of the year stood at £345 million ($740 million), nearly twice that of the same period last year.

The bulletin highlights the pace of China's scramble for Africa, arguably the most important geo-political change since the fall of the Berlin wall.

When the Chinese turned to Africa in 1996 to provide the raw materials to fuel their astonishing growth, trade between the two was worth a paltry £3.5 billion.

Last year it stood at £66 billion, with hundreds of Chinese companies operating on the continent. India, South Korea and other Asian countries are following in their wake.

The focus is on the resources that should have made Africa rich: oil from Angola, gas from Nigeria, copper from Zambia, cobalt from the Congo. Beijing is even hoping Africa can help feed the growing Chinese population, buying up precious agricultural land and investing in research projects.

The Chinese have built roads, railways, schools and stadiums. Shops are filled with Chinese-made goods. With this relationship comes political, diplomatic and strategic power, strengthening China's hand in foreign policy and on international bodies - the 53 nations in Africa comprise more than a quarter of the UN General Assembly.

China's policy of ignoring human rights issues has led it into deals with some of the more unsavoury figures on the continent. But last year it helped to nudge Sudan, one of its major oil suppliers, into allowing a beefed-up UN peacekeeping operation in Darfur. Then on a visit this year China's President, Hu Jintao, signalled Beijing's intent to double aid to Africa.

Ethiopia boasts none of the reservoirs of raw materials China is normally associated with, but Beijing has been doling out the credit to build roads and hydroelectric dams and is now financing a £940 million expansion of the state-owned mobile telephone network.

In a recent paper for The South African Institute of International Affairs, Dr Monika Thakur found China's role in Ethiopia contradicted the spectre of the hungry dragon invoked by some in the West.

"China's activities in Ethiopia, and in Africa in general, are part of its continuing emergence as a global power, and as such are no different from what major powers traditionally have done," she wrote.

"Overarching judgments as to whether China's engagement is a blessing or a curse for Ethiopia are still unclear. What is certain is that the country can derive much from China's economic engagement."

There are other problems with the Chinese invasion. Cheap Chinese goods are stifling African markets. And many Chinese companies win contracts by paying low wages, bribing officials and ignoring environmental concerns.

Some deals insist that the majority of work goes to Chinese companies or that a majority of the workforce is Chinese, hindering development and angering residents who see much-needed jobs go to immigrants. Resentment is growing to such an extent in some areas that politicians have campaigned on anti-Chinese sentiment.

For all these justified concerns, however, the Chinese are ultimately benefiting Africa. They are offering vital competition to Western companies and finance for African nations.

Their insatiable demand for raw materials has forced prices up, ensuring more money flows into the continent. And, most importantly, they are ensuring the rapid development of infrastructure, something that is desperately needed and has been ignored for decades by the West.

The Western world cannot criticise too loudly. In recent weeks one British company has been involved in a massive bribery case in Tanzania and another accused of dumping toxic waste in the Ivory Coast.

And, of course, Western nations are not immune to propping up their own favoured despots.

Instead, we should be pushing to work with China for greater transparency to eliminate corruption and tighter regulations to protect the environment.

But it is little wonder that Paul Kagame, the dynamic President of Rwanda, defended China this week. "The Chinese bring what Africa needs: investment and money for governments and companies," he said. "I would prefer the Western world to invest in Africa rather than handing out development aid."

- INDEPENDENT