Thursday

28th Mar 2024

China's rise in Africa does not spell EU decline, says official

  • Chinese shopkeepers in Burundi (Photo: Kaj Iverson)

Both China and Europe can reap the benefits of greater investment in Africa, with associated gains in influence not defined by a zero-sum game, a senior official from the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) has said.

Many in Europe have fretted in recent years over China's increasing leverage in the mineral-rich continent, but the head of cabinet of the ACP's secretariat told MEPs on Wednesday (4 May) that the EU could still secure its interests in the region.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"Just because China goes into Africa, doesn't mean that Europe will lose out," Obadiah Mailafia told a conference in Brussels organised by the European Parliament's Green group.

Mailafia acknowledged however that Beijing had a "slightly better record of past activities in Africa" than former European colonial powers, who plundered the continent during the 19th and 20th centuries and are now criticised for sermonising rather than supporting private sector investment.

"What do the Chinese do right? They invest before they complain ... they have an adventurous spirit," said the official of Nigerian origin.

The past decade has seen hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens set up shop across the African continent, aided by loans from a government back home, hungry for raw materials to sustain the country's rapid economic growth.

Underfunded African states have tended to welcome them with open arms, happy to benefit from the building of new roads, schools and hospitals, granting Chinese companies mining rights and a guaranteed share of oil supply in return, for example.

Reports of badly-built infrastructure, environmental damage and poor treatment of workers have partially soured the relationship in recent years however.

"Unfortunately China is not a democracy, which is a limiting factor, and there are certain environment elements which they tend to ignore," Mailafia told the MEPs.

Others accuse Chinese businesses of exporting a culture of corruption, already rife throughout Africa, and of striking deals with corrupt and information-poor African leaders that fail to sufficiently benefit the continent's citizens.

Europe has also received recent criticism over its drive to secure raw materials in Africa, with a European Commission strategy document drawing fire over its references to EU development policy and the threat of action in international trade fora.

Parliament is expected to draw up its position later this year. "Development policy must not become a slave to accessing raw materials," said Green MEP Reinhard Butikofer who will lead the chamber's deliberations on the subject.

"We can follow China's increasingly difficult approach ... or we can adopt a more cooperative method."

Isabelle Ramdoo of the European Centre for Development Policy Management think-tank said the commission's paper was a "very legitimate policy", but highlighted the need to complete geological studies.

"Africa is known to hold 30 percent of the world's resources, but it is estimated that 75 percent have not yet been discovered," she said.

"It's crucial that current and future geological studies be made public, so that African leaders do not trade huge resources for little in return."

US and EU breaking taboos to restrain Israel

The US abstained and all EU states on the UN Security Council backed a call for an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza, as Europe prepares to also blacklist extremist Israeli settlers.

EU warns Russia over Moscow terror attacks

Europe has warned Russia not to use the weekend's terror attacks in Moscow as a pretext to escalate its war in Ukraine and crackdown on internal dissent.

EU summit risks failing Gaza once again, Ireland warns

Austrians and Czechs might block an EU statement calling for an Israeli ceasefire, Ireland warned, as leaders met in Brussels amid starvation in Gaza. Israel's conduct of the war meant it had "squandered the support they had", Leo Varadkar said.

Interview

Kallas: Russia's defeat crucial to avoid Third World War

The West must help Ukraine defeat Russia to avoid a wider conflict, Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas has said, advocating more EU arms for Kyiv and heavier investment in Europe's defence industry.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Latest News

  1. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  2. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  3. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult
  4. EU unveils plan to create a European cross-border degree
  5. How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route
  6. 2024: A Space Odyssey — why the galaxy needs regulating
  7. Syrian mayor in Germany speaks out against AfD
  8. Asian workers pay price for EU ship recycling

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us