The Africa-China relations is about the historical, political, social, economic and cultural connections between the African continent and the world’s most populous country. It’s estimated that there are about 200,000 Africans working in China while one million Chinese citizens living in Africa. During the 1900s, the trade between China and Africa increased by 700 percent and, presently, China is Africa’s largest trading partner.
By 2006 the Sino-African trade jumped to $55 million, making China the second largest trading partner of Africa after the United States ($ 91 billion). In 2011, the trade between Africa and China was worth $166.3 billion, rising by a striking 33 percent, this included Chinese imports from Africa worth $93 billion. The imports were largely petroleum and agricultural products while Chinese exports to Africa were mainly manufactured products. There about 800 Chinese corporations doing business in Africa and most of them are private companies investing in energy, infrastructure, and the banking sector. One-third of China’s oil supplies comes mainly from Angola, while Burkina Faso, Mali, and Benin supply up to 20 percent of China’s cotton needs.
China also gave aid to newly independent African countries in the 1960s and 1970s, one of the notable early projects was the 1,860 km TAZARA Railway linking Zambia and Tanzania which was financed and built by China from 1970–1975. China was also giving more aid to African countries than the United States by 1978.
Africa plays host to Chinese cultural centres in Mauritius, Egypt, and Benin. For the promotion of Chinese language and culture, the Confucius Institute has 20 centres distributed in 13 African countries. In light of the developments in relations between Africa and China, places in China tagged ‘Chocolate city’ and ‘Little Africa’ are growing with new immigrants, mostly Nigerians. Most of the African immigrants in China–an estimated 20,000–are concentrated in Guangzhou.
There have been some criticisms by the western countries against China, calling it a neocolonialist to Africa. It was accused of supplying Zimbabwe with arms, jet fighters, vehicles and other military equipment. But in 2007, China declared that it was limiting its assistance to humanitarian aid in Zimbabwe. China is Sudan’s largest economic partner , owning a 40 percent share of their oil production. But China was also criticised for its supportive relationship with the Sudanese government, which was accused of the mass killing in Darfur. Also, low-cost Chinese-made products put a strain on African markets with high competitive pressure on local businesses and cottage industries.
Despite the criticisms, there are some things that China understands about Africa that the West doesn’t. China’s diplomatic ties with Africa has birthed partnerships for long-term business deals based on mutual benefits. Due to the tidal wave of investments from China and an increase in demand for commodities, the economic growth of African countries averaged 5.4 percent from 2000 to 2010, which had the continent ranked among the fastest growing regions of the world. In 2014, China signed infrastructure contracts worth over $70 billion for the continent and Chinese banks now provide more loans to African countries than the World Bank does.
The increasing challenges which can be linked with the dip in oil price, affecting oil producers such as Nigeria, Sudan, Angola have led to the diversification of economies for many countries in the region. The service and manufacturing sector in Africa increased from 44-48 percent and 17-23 percent respectively between 2010 and 2014, contributing to the continent’s growth.
China’s presence in Africa has initiated a paradigm shift, providing alternative options for the region other than the political interference of the Western countries.
