Chinese Vaccine Diplomacy in Africa

Medicine has long played a key role in the Africa-China relationship. Since 1963, China has sent teams of medical volunteers to the continent annually to provide primary healthcare to underserved countries and targeted care related to particular diseases, notably malaria.¹ China has also been instrumental in the development of a new generation of malaria medication, and the Ebola crisis of the 2010s created space for collaboration between China and other external partners on the continent. But most recently and most starkly, the Covid-19 pandemic has both validated and raised doubts about China-Africa medical cooperation, even as the virus ruthlessly exposed the realities of Africa's wider global position.

This essay assesses China's diplomacy and cooperation with African countries in two stages of the Covid-19 pandemic: the early phase that focused on virus mitigation through personal protective equipment (PPE) and healthcare supplies, and a second phase that has focused on Covid-19 vaccine production and distribution. It argues that although China was more successful in partnering with Africa early in the pandemic, China has enjoyed diplomatic gains from the second stage due to the failure of the global North and its multilateral institutions to live up to their promises regarding sharing vaccines and vaccine intellectual property (IP). The essay examines China's diplomacy and then turns to look at similar efforts of the global North. It concludes with observations about the recent Eighth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and the lasting effects Covid-19 responses may have on Africa's relationships with China and with traditional Western partners.

The Early Stages of the Covid-19 Epidemic and PPE Diplomacy

In the earliest stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, when it was still contained in China, several African countries provided emergency assistance to China in the form of PPE and other support.² China managed to control the epidemic earlier than other countries, and as the virus spread internationally, China stepped into the role of providing PPE, ventilators, and other medical supplies to countries around the world, including in Africa. While the Chinese government was the figurehead of this outreach, Chinese companies were key to the rollout. This was due not only to China's massive production capacity but also to the logistic muscle underlying its global distribution capacity. For instance, e-commerce giant Alibaba played an important role, especially given its transport and logistics networks. This capacity to aid was boosted by additional funding from the Jack Ma Foundation. The founder of Alibaba, Ma became the face of early Covid-19 outreach to Africa, which added to the political impact of the cooperation until Ma's subsequent fall from grace in China and disappearance from public view. This event was part of China's marked shift from PPE diplomacy to vaccine diplomacy.

Ethiopian Air, Ethiopia's national carrier, played a key role in shaping Covid-19 diplomacy between the continent and China, especially during the early phase of the pandemic. As the crisis gathered steam in China, airlines increasingly started reducing flights to the country or discontinuing service completely. Ethiopian Air, however, continued its flights, soon becoming the only carrier to remain in service between Africa and China.³ This made Ethiopian Air a key partner for Chinese PPE diplomacy. Ethiopian Air worked with Alibaba to facilitate PPE deliveries to all African countries, using Addis Ababa's Bole International Airport as a logistics hub. The collaboration between the Jack Ma Foundation, Alibaba, and Ethiopian Air filled planes with masks, ventilators, and other supplies, and the planes touched down to make deliveries in African capital after capital as an iconic emblem of solidarity, especially as demand in the global North for masks and other equipment made it nearly impossible for African countries to source such goods.⁴

The position of African students in Wuhan and other Chinese cities also became an issue early in the pandemic. China's facilitation of these students' evacuation strengthened diplomatic ties. For example, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa publicly thanked the Chinese authorities for their help in arranging the evacuations.⁵ However, the status of...