December 2013 Issue of The China Monitor

The Centre for Chinese Studies at Stellenbosch University has just published the December 2013 issue of The China Monitor. It contains the following articles:

• Chinese Peacebuilding in Liberia as Soft-Power Projection: Perspectives from Monrovia by Steven C.Y. Kuo.
• Sino-Nigeria Investments: Prospects and Challenges 1971-2010 by Lemuel Ekedegwa Odeh.
• China and Botswana: Legal and Cultural Differences in Labour Laws by Liu Yang and Cyprian Nugah Doh.
• Forum: China's Engagement in Africa: Opportunities and Challenges for Africa by Daouda Cisse.

China-Botswana Relations

The Centre for Chinese Studies at Stellenbosch University published in November 2013 a paper titled "Strengthening Africa-China Relations: A Perspective from Botswana" by Frank Youngman, a professor at the University of Botswana.  He looks at the relationship both historically and in its current dimension. 

The Chinese in Botswana and Zimbabwe

Writing for Good Governance Africa in September 2013 in a piece titled "A Tale of Two Nations: The Chinese in Botswana and Zimbabwe," Kevin Bloom compares the approach of both African governments in the case of Chinese-funded infrastructure projects.

Botswana applies a strict set of governance standards while Zimbabwe does not.

Southern African Resistance to Chinese Traders

The Brenthurst Foundation in South Africa just published a fascinating study on the growing number of Chinese traders in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zambia and Angola. It confirms findings I encountered during travel to southern Africa in 2007 and subsequent following of press accounts from countries in southern Africa. The lead author of the study is Terence McNamee, Deputy Director of the Brenthurst Foundation.

The study concluded that Chinese traders have become fearful of the rising tide of resentment from Africans complicated by China's perceived dominance over many sectors of their economies. This was especially true in Lesotho, Angola and Zambia, and less so but increasingly in Botswana. Only in South Africa did traders express any sense of belonging or attachment to the country. Almost without exception, Chinese traders seal themselves in cocoons, completely cut off from local communities. The traders feel besieged by charges that they are using illicit means to rob and cheat Africans, rather than simply out-compete them. The survey painted a bleak picture of the status of Chinese traders within African societies.

The study found that only 20 percent of the Chinese traders had previous trading experience in China. Most of them saw the move to Africa as an opportunity to improve their economic status by owning a small business. In some countries, more than half of the traders come from Fujian Province, home to less that 3 percent of China's population.

The report suggested that the large number of Chinese migrants living in southern Africa and elsewhere could become China's Achilles Heel. The fear is there could be violence directed against the traders based on nationalist sentiments. Despite these problems, life in Africa still makes economic sense for Chinese traders, at least for now. Research shows that traders in Africa are making about three times what they might earn in China. At the same time, their presence in Africa is more precarious than in other parts of the world.

Click here to read the entire report.

One issue that needs more research is the reaction of African consumers to the Chinese traders. My experience is that the consumer, as opposed to the competing African trader, is more receptive to the Chinese presence. They are often seen as providing a product that is less expensive and of equivalent quality. I agree, however, that African traders and African companies that manufacture products that compete with Chinese products are deeply concerned with the Chinese trader presence.

African government reaction to events in Libya

"Hands Off Libya! Libyan people can manage it alone!" Photo by Al Jazzera/Flickr.

Al-Hurra Arabic-language television invited me today to comment on African government reactions to events in Libya.

The interviewer was actually much more interested in the role of African mercenaries than African governments. After commenting that there clearly are some African mercenaries fighting for Colonel Qadhafi, I suggested the accounts are probably exaggerated and we will not have a good idea of the numbers involved until after the conflict is over. More important than the number in Libya today is whether new mercenaries are arriving. There are unconfirmed reports that the government of Zimbabwe has allowed members of its military forces to go to Libya as mercenaries. When members of parliament asked Zimbabwe Defense Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa about these reports, he did not respond directly to the question.

What I really wanted to talk about was the role of African governments. I was able to make a few of the following points:

• Most of Africa's 53 governments have been silent on events in Libya. Some are concerned that if they criticize Qadhafi, it may endanger their nationals who have not been able to get out of Libya. Certain authoritarian governments are probably reluctant to speak out for fear that such statements will only encourage reformers in their own countries.
• The response from those African governments that have commented on Libya runs the spectrum from concern to the breaking of diplomatic relations. Senior officials in Mauritania, Morocco, South Africa, Lesotho and Sudan have expressed concern or deep regret about the violence in Libya. The governments of Liberia and Mozambique condemned the violence. The president of Gambia called on Qadhafi to step down immediately. Botswana not only condemned the violence but broke diplomatic relations with Libya.
• The position of the African Union (AU) has been especially disappointing. So far, it has taken no action. Qadhafi has been a major financial supporter of the AU and this fact may reflect its failure to respond. Should Qadhafi survive, the AU may be concerned that he will cut off future funding. The current AU Chairman is Equatorial Guinea's Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, not an African leader at the forefront of political reform. While the Arab League has suspended Libya's membership, the AU dithers.
• Finally, it will be interesting to see what happens to Qadhafi's Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD). At last count it had 29 African members and has the stated goal of strengthening peace, security, stability and economic development among member states. It is also Qadhafi's effort to create an organization that he hoped would lead one day to the United States of Africa. That concept never had much traction; it has now probably slipped into the ditch.