Welcome catalyst for change

Africa Should use China Connection to Achieve continental shift in fortunes

Africans must prepare to intelligently participate in the emerging new world order that includes China over traditional Western hegemony.

History points at the disastrous outcome of ethnic-based economies that led to a few Europeans dominating the entire continent. Those national economic structures have offered minimal benefits to African people in that they were tailored to simply supply raw materials to global markets.

Africans have been paralyzed by foreign domination leading to the paradox of stunted growth amid wealth in natural resources. Will China's relations with Africa be the antidote to the continent's paralysis?

The force driving China into Africa varies to that which drives Western countries, although both are interested in supplies of energy and raw materials from Africa.

Western industrialized countries remain key drivers of economic activity in Africa with incentives that go beyond imposing their values on the continent to ones preventing migration from Africa. China-Africa relations are driven by China's position as a major global player.

Africans are concerned about continued Western domination and Chinese immigrants shifting base to the continent.

China's relations with Africa offer a catalytic element toward achieving a continental socio-political economy. Africa changed from having pre-colonial ethnic economies that were largely driven by seers, chiefs and kings, to national economies constituted by colonial infrastructure. The continent is currently grappling with building regional economic blocs driven by both local and international interests keen on efficient market systems. China's re-entry into Africa has opened up a new ocean of possibilities toward a continental economy.

The whole of Africa can strategically tap into China's need for natural resources to push for infrastructure development. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce estimates that between the year 2000 and 2006, Chinese companies contracted more than 6,000 kilometers of road building, 1,350 km of railway renovation and 1,600 km of new railroads. The continent's policymakers should consider positioning their plans on the basis of how to utilize oceans, seas and airspace in their negotiations with their Chinese counterparts.

The non-prescriptive element in China-Africa relations offers an opportunity for Africans to build a positive image about the continent to the world; to restore confidence in their abilities to tackle the continent's challenges and to scale up cultural revival. China's need to manage more than 1.3 billion people and keep harmony with 14 neighbors also offer Africans an opportunity to leverage their interests.

Africans must discard the paralyzing effect caused by the erroneous mindset that solutions to the continent's challenges lie with foreigners. The surge in intra-African investments in the construction, banking, retail, education and hospitality sectors is a positive signal for the continent. Rapid urbanization offers Africans the opportunity to craft their own centers of economic activities and policies. The multilateral environment provided by Chinese interest in global affairs offers the continent an opportunity to voice their concerns and push for democratic international institutions. The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation offers an opportunity to engage China with positive outcomes in mind.

China has widened Africa's menu of choice from the traditional focus on Western countries. A bigger menu in itself will not produce positive results unless Africans invest in informed choice mechanisms.

The FOCAC initiative provides a framework from which African countries can evolve a unitary strategy to reap from economies of scale and strengthen the continent's negotiating position globally.

As in all catalysts, China-Africa relations will not change Chinese self-interest. The obligation is on Africans to scan the shifting global systems and evolve alliances that safeguard African interests. Western countries have benefited from building alliances to create international systems that put wind into their economic sails. Individual African countries cannot go at it alone and engage China and expect long-term benefits. They have to craft a coordinated approach and utilize the FOCAC platform among others.

Africans should keenly study how China manages ethnic diversity, competing interests, and its engagement in multilateralism.

The continent's leadership structure should be courageous and jointly craft a long-term vision for the continent and its expected relevance and participation in global affairs. Africans should not fear the Chinese. Instead, they should build a robust evidence-based strategy to engage China.

The author is director of the Inter-Region Economic Network and publisher of The African Executive online magazine. He can be contacted at james@irenkenya.org. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

(China Daily 12/21/2012 page7)