Oxford, United Kingdom, 15 May 2015 (ECA) - The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, Carlos Lopes has said that China's relationship with Africa has transformed into one defined by dynamism and African agency, lessening the hold the former previously had on Africa in the early days of this evolving relationship.
“While African States have greater leverage in dealings with China, thanks to their natural resources, Africa needs to convert this leverage into negotiating power, he said in his Keynote address entitled: Reinserting African Agency into Sino-Africa Relations, delivered at an Annual Conference organized by the Oxford University China Africa Network on 16th May 2015.
Mr. Lopes said there is an "untold story" of the relationship, whose terrain spans the significant number of Africans who live or frequently visit China; and the increasing flow of African investments and tourists into China.
“Sino-Africa relations have evolved to the extent that African countries are taking a more assertive role when it comes to investment and signing trade deals, ensuring that their interests are protected,” he said.
He noted that China’s Africa Policy is best analysed from its unique political and economic perspectives and that although China reaps considerable economic gains from Africa, “it would be simplistic to regard those benefits as the sole driver of China’s policy.”
The simplistic analysis often pits Africa against China and revolves around China’s “dependency on natural and energy resources, as well as markets, and investment opportunities for its booming industries and job-seeking workers,” he said.
He argued that the criticism against China fails to take into account the fact that China’s more active engagement with Africa is part of its continuing emergence as a truly global player.
“It is no different from the traditional behaviour of any major power and China pursues its interests without hesitation and lends support without ‘strings attached’”; and such relations, said Lopes, are considered refreshing by many African political leaders.
He also argued that on its global and regional diplomacy, China, like all great powers, is pursuing multiple objectives, including those that might create tensions between values and interests at both the national and global levels.
“China can no longer be expected to subordinate its commercial and strategic interests to others,” he said; and added that most African countries that have benefited from China’s increasing trade, investment, as well as debt relief, are not endowed with mineral wealth - they are interesting for China for other reasons.
He stressed that it is the responsibility of African leaders to devise a strategy for their relations with China, not for China to be responsible for a mutually beneficial relationship.
“What is important to retain is that a more nuanced view of the relationship reveals a two-way traffic indeed. The interest and urge of Africans to expand their presence in China is real, although less reported,” he said.
Mr. Lopes also called for an alignment of China’s policy with Africa’s “primary political and economic interests, including Agenda 2063, and also stated that there are emerging opportunities for China and Africa to collaborate on the achievement of the latter’s vision for the future.
“When focus is placed on industrialization as a means for attaining structural transformation, China is an obvious partner,” he said.
Issued by:
ECA External Communications and Media Relations Section
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: ecainfo@uneca.org