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  • Chinese Investments in AfricaTwenty-First Century Colonialism?
  • Herbert Jauch (bio)

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Courtesy of Fifi Rhodes

Namibian workers hand over a petition about poor working conditions to a representative of the Chinese business chamber in 2009.

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China’s increasing presence in Africa has been the topic of many studies and publications in recent years. How Chinese businesses and investments on the continent impact African labor movements has, however, received little attention. Drawing on the findings of a ten-country study carried out by the African Labour Research Network (ALRN) in 2008–2009,1 this article provides a general overview of the labor conditions at Chinese firms in Africa, focusing on some common trends that exist despite countryspecific differences. Those trends indicate that—despite some notable differences between the nature of Chinese economic involvement and that of Western foreign direct investment (FDI) on the continent—Chinese business mostly adheres to a familiar, neocolonial pattern of resource extraction, labor exploitation, and infrastructure projects that fail to emphasize the development of local capacity.

A Brief History of Sino-African Relations

During the 1960s and 1970s, Chinese relations with African countries were driven largely by ideological considerations, with China presenting itself as an alternative to both the West and the Soviet Union. During that time, China’s support consisted mainly of moral and material support for liberation struggles. During the 1980s, the relationship became one of economic cooperation based on common aims. After the end of the Cold War, China portrayed itself as an [End Page 49] attractive economic partner and political friend. For African governments, this presented an alternative to the “Washington Consensus” and was termed the “Beijing Consensus”—support without interference in internal affairs.

China’s engagement with Africa today is less motivated by ideological considerations than by a commercial agenda that aims to sustain rapid industrialization and economic growth rates in China. China’s presence is usually warmly welcomed by African governments due to the offers of trade, aid, and investments without “strings attached.” China is also seen as a solution to the creation of local infrastructure where local capacity is lacking. In general, African leaders consider their engagement with China to be a viable alternative to the “Washington Consensus,” particularly the structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) that ravaged most countries on the continent since the 1980s.

China’s “socialist market economy” is driven by market-oriented state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and its interests in Africa are geared toward securing enough energy, resources, and minerals to feed its own industrialization program. However, Chinese investments are also found in the manufacturing and service industries. Chinese investments in and trade with Africa have increased significantly over the past few years, and the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation claimed that—by 2009—China had become Africa’s largest trading partner.2 Other sources indicate that—despite China’s increasing share—Europe and the U.S. are still the predominant sources of foreign investments and the main markets for African exports. Like the former colonial countries, China backs its trading relations with aid, debt relief, preferential loans, scholarships, training, and the provision of specialists. China also accounts for about 8 percent of Africa’s military hardware imports. However, Africa is by no means a major destination for Chinese investments, as only about 3 percent of China’s overall FDI outflows were destined for Africa in 2007. By the end of 2008, Chinese investors had set up about sixteen hundred companies in Africa and the total Chinese investment stock reached US$ 7.8 billion—amounting to 4.2 percent of China’s total outward investment stock.

Trade and Investment Projects

The Chinese-owned investment projects in Africa are in manufacturing (46 percent)—ranging from the production of pharmaceuticals to textiles—services (40 percent), and resources-related industries (9 percent). These resources-related industries, however, account for 28 percent of investment value. This scenario differs significantly between individual countries, as Chinese investors focus on oil extraction or uranium in some countries, and on construction and retail in others. China’s main export destinations in Africa are South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, and...

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