The West must approach Africa in a new light

French President Nicholas Sarkozy said it well this past week at the France-Africa summit when he said this about Africa in today's world: “Africa’s formidable demographics and its considerable resources make it the main reservoir for world economic growth in the decades to come.”

Chatham House has a new report that states the relationship between the West and Africa should be looked at in a new prism. Asian countries seemed to have caught the changing winds especially countries like China, Japan, India but many western countries have yet to fully adjust to the changing reality. Russia has a renewed interest, Brazil as well.  France due to historical reasons will always have interest in Africa and the lastest summit hosted by French President seems try and a new course with Africa.  Reuters has a similar take:

For the past ten years, fundamental change has been taking place across large parts of Africa. Growth rates and stability have increased. Political, regulatory and security reform have deepened. Increasing investment from China, but also Brazil, India, Turkey, South Korea, Argentina and other ambitious emerging powers has acted for the most part as an accelerant.

Even the global financial crisis has in some ways hastened this process, for while in the short and medium term it had a devastating impact on millions across Africa, it has also revealed the true ebb of power from East to West, and encouraged the new economic actors of the G20 to chase access to the 40 percent of the world’s mineral resources, and 1 billion consumers gathered in Africa. Almost as important is the 25 percent of UN General Assembly votes that are represented by the continent’s 53 countries.

Meanwhile, many Western countries seem trapped in a humanitarian conception of Africa.

Popular media coverage and policy judgement is overwhelmed with a perception that Africa is simply a problem continent with little strategic value, except as a space where largess is shown and good things done to make up in some small way for the messy reality of international diplomacy.

This is not only delusional and self indulgent, but damaging. For emerging power interest is showing that Africa is not a space distinct from the rest of the world. Many of their investments are valuable and welcome, but others are as exploitative and damaging as anything under colonialism.

Without a Western strategic and business engagement – bringing with it a focus on sustainability, regulation and transparency, the progress of the past 10 years is unlikely to be sustained. For the truth is that China’s development policy is first and foremost about China’s development, not Africa’s, and as yet the governments of many emerging powers are not focusing enough on ensuring their investments in Africa are sustainable, and therefore equitable.

African leaders have never faced so much choice, but they need to show more foresight as well, for it is only by combining the energy of the emerging East, with the regulation of the West, that Africa’s, and the world’s interests will be served. That needs Western strategic engagement, but more fundamentally it requires more effective leadership from within Africa itself. Post financial crisis, the opportunities for Africa and the world economy, but also the risks, have never been higher.

These are the main highlights of the report by Chatham House:

• African countries are playing a more strategic role in international affairs. Global players that understand this and develop greater diplomatic and trade relations with African states will be greatly advantaged.


• For many countries, particularly those that have framed their relations with Africa largely in humanitarian terms, this will require an uncomfortable shift in public and policy perceptions. Without this shift, many of Africa's traditional partners, especially in Europe and North America, will lose global influence and trade advantages to the emerging powers in Asia, Africa and South America.


• China's re-engagement is for the most part welcome, as is that of the increasing numbers of emerging powers such as Turkey, South Korea and Brazil that see Africa in terms of opportunities - as a place in which to invest, gain market share and win access to resources.


• Economic fortunes across Africa are now diverging, making it less meaningful to treat Africa as a single entity in international economic negotiations. Despite this, it is in the global interest that the African Union should be granted a permanent place at the G20. In turn, a more focused, sophisticated and strategic African leadership is needed.

Nothing to disagree with, as a matter of fact these are the points that we at Stratsis Incite have been emphasizing all along.

African Economy to Grow 4.5% in 2010, World Cup to help export growth in South Africa.

The African continent will have robust economic growth this year.

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast—Economic growth in Africa will rebound with growth of 4.5% in 2010 and 5.2% in 2011, according to forecasts in a report published Monday.

The African Economic Outlook 2010 report predicts the recovery will remain uneven, with southern Africa—the region hardest hit in 2009—recovering more slowly than the rest of the continent. The report by the African Development Bank, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa said East Africa is predicted to lead the way higher, with growth averaging more than 6% in 2010 and 2011.

"The prospect of only a moderate recovery in a number of African countries makes it even more pressing to address the structural problems, which existed even before the global crisis," said Leonce Ndikumana, Director of the Development Research Department at the African Development Bank.

The report's authors say the world financial crisis slashed growth levels on the continent from an average of 6% in 2006 to 2008 to 2.5% in 2009.

"The good news is that the continent has proved resilient to the crisis," said Henri-Bernard Solignac-Lecomte, Head of the Europe, Africa and Middle East Desk at the OECD Development Center in a press release. Mr. Solignac-Lecomte added that the bad news was that the downturn could make it more difficult for countries to meet their targets of reducing poverty.

The study also studied taxation revenue and found large differences in the performance of individual countries, with some collecting only half the expected revenue given living standards and incomes.

The report was published at the start of the annual meetings of the Board of Governors of the African Development Bank Group.

The economic benefits of hosting a large scale international festival like a World Cup is paying off for South Africa.

South Africa's economy grew at its fastest pace in more than 1 1/2 years as exports grew amid strengthened global demand and the country geared up to host the soccer World Cup, government data for the first quarter showed Tuesday.

The economy should continue to benefit from the World Cup and a slow recovery in domestic consumer spending following last year's recession.

This comes after news showing that African economies have passed the "stress test".

African economies have shown resilience in the face of global financial adversities, have passed the stress test and can be expected to achieve economic growth this year, says Donald Kaberuka, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB).

Addressing African finance ministers April 26 in Washington, Kaberuka acknowledged that the global financial crisis has done some damage, but said African economies are expected to average 5 percent economic growth in 2010 and 6 percent growth in 2011, with some countries forecast to achieve an even higher rate.

In many African countries, he said, the crisis has “only been a setback.”

The entire continent has been subjected to a “stress test and has passed,” he told the ministers, diplomats and finance experts, many of whom were in Washington for World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings.

For sub-Saharan Africa, Kaberuka said, capital inflows to the region swelled from $10 billion in 2001 to $53 billion just before the economic crisis in 2007. He acknowledged however, that much of the inflow has been concentrated in a few countries and dependent on factors such as the size of the market, the level of political stability, the depth of financial markets and the availability of natural resources.

The AfDB president said while the region’s four largest countries accounted for about 88 percent of those capital inflows, there was a “broadening out” of the recipient base just before the crisis.

As conditions improve and investors see more of the changes they like to see — political stability, accountability and economic transparency — Kaberuka predicted, “I think we will see a change.” He added that Africa is changing right now, but acknowledged that many people are not yet seeing it.

As an example, he pointed to Cape Verde, calling it a “miracle” country in Africa. Cape Verde has gone from being very poor to being a middle-income country. It is no longer receiving soft or concessional loans from the AfDB, he said, but is now borrowing money at market rates. Even though it is still in need of foreign aid, investment and tourism, he said, Cape Verde has made great strides through remittances from its expatriate community and by making good choices.

The African Development Bank has worked hard to stimulate development in Africa, he said. Financing activities by the AfDB have increased from a modest $300 million in 2005 to $1.6 billion in 2008 through direct lending and equity participation.

The global financial crisis presented the AfDB with challenges but also the opportunity to innovate, he said, adding that the goal of the AfDB is to make every dollar it puts into the African economy count for five dollars in real terms to help stimulate economic growth and development.

Kaberuka told his audience that he is convinced that “the macroeconomic reforms that took place in Africa in the 1980s — mainly in the areas of public finance and exchange rates — have provided a very firm foundation [on which to build]. Now what we need are reforms in the microeconomic areas and the efficiencies of institutions.”

Questions are often raised about how much more aid can be given to Africa, he said.

“There is another way to look at this problem,” he said, and he identified lack of infrastructure as the biggest hindrance to Africa’s development and a factor “beyond any country or firm” to confront singlehandedly.

He said the explosive growth of telecom markets in Africa has stepped up demand for fiber optics and satellite communication facilities to meet a substantial need. “At the same time,” he added, “growing businesses large and small are hampered by power outages, poorly maintained roads and dilapidated railways.”

Africa — a continent with 1 billion people, 40 percent of whom live in urban areas and are in need of housing, telephones and services of all types — needs infrastructure. And this need for infrastructure is transforming Africa. In response to these needs, he said, 60 percent of AfDB’s financing in Africa goes to infrastructure — roads, rails, water, broadband, etc.

Lat years economic crisis was an opportunity to pass through reform measures and stay on the economic development front tempted to change course that many countries were on. Africa should stay on course, its going in the right direction.

China eyes Africa's resources

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="470" caption="Mamadou Tandja, Niger president (left), who was welcomed in Beijing by Hu Jintao, Chinese president, at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation which gathered representatives of 48 African countries in November 2006, became the first African leader whose downfall could be traced directly to his embrace of Chinese suitors."][/caption]

Here is a detailed look how Africa is viewed through the eyes of Beijing:

T he lions of Niamey are going up in the world. The cramped cats may not know it, but when they move to their spacious new enclosure at the zoo in the capital of landlocked Niger, they will be the latest beneficiaries of a latter-day scramble for Africa.

Their $60,000 (£42,000, €49,000) pen is the merest nicety compared with the rest of the largesse that Beijing and companies acting on its behalf are lavishing on an arid west African nation of 15m people more accustomed to hunger and penury.

Following the same bargain it has struck across the continent – swapping infrastructure and cash for resources to sustain its breakneck growth – China has secured access not only to another source of African oil but also to what is perhaps the single commodity considered more sensitive than crude: uranium. It has also turned Niger into a bellwether for those who fear that the struggle to secure the continent’s resources risks re-creating the ruinous brinkmanship of the cold war.

A few mud-red blocks from the zoo, two colonial thoroughfares converge. One, Avenue du Général de Gaulle, is named for the French leader who ensured his country’s stamp remained on its African colonies long after independence. The other, Avenue de l’Uranium, bears the name of the metal that has made Niger the bedrock of France’s nuclear-powered economy.

China has vied with western groups in Africa for oil and minerals for the best part of a decade. But it also has ambitious nuclear power targets and its quest for uranium – repositories of which are few and far between – has thrown the rivalry into sharper focus.



In the past three years, as China embarked on its new thrust into Africa, relations between Niamey and Paris plunged. The award of uranium concessions to China’s Sino-U and other prospectors broke the de facto 40-year monopoly of Areva, France’s state-controlled nuclear group.

The yellowcake trail

In January 2003 George W. Bush, US president, sought to further the case for war by claiming Saddam Hussein had tried to buy material for a nuclear weapon in Africa. The report on which the claim was based – documenting Iraqi attempts to secure yellowcake, semi-processed uranium ore, from Niger – had one flaw. It was fabricated. As coalition forces failed to find yellowcake in Iraq, the affair rumbled on. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, an aide to vice-president Dick Cheney, was convicted of perjury in 2007, following a probe into the outing of a CIA operative whose husband had worked to debunk the claim.

The competition has seen work start on Niger’s first refinery and a $700m hydroelectric barrage, not to mention hundreds of millions of dollars in “signature bonuses”, courtesy of Beijing. It helped the country wring tougher terms from France before granting permission for Areva’s vast new mine, which will make the country the world’s second-biggest uranium producer after Kazakhstan.

Yet a February coup d’etat heightened the anxiety of those who see danger in a stand-off. Although ethnic rivalries and opportunism played their part in the putsch, Mamadou Tandja became the first African leader whose downfall could be traced directly to his embrace of Chinese suitors. “It was because Tandja had Chinese money that he felt he could mock the European Union, Ecowas [the regional bloc], the US,” says Mohamed Bazoum, a former minister who now serves on the “consultative council” created by the military junta that seized power.

The volatility in Niger is worrying to western intelligence agencies as they contemplate al-Qaeda’s presence in the effectively borderless lands of the Sahara. Drugs, weapons and counterfeit goods flow freely. That uranium destined for a dirty bomb could do the same ranks among the west’s security nightmares. Niger’s uranium could also prove of strategic importance as Europe frets about its dependence on Russian gas and looks to nuclear energy to help combat climate change.

With China's increased presence and quick business deals, this has brought alot of criticism towards Beijing.

Rights groups denounce Beijing for its readiness to do business with authoritarians in Sudan or Angola provided the oil keeps flowing. Yet they note that relationships such as Washington’s cosy ties to Equatorial Guinea’s petro-dictatorship deprive the west of any moral high ground.

Even Mr Tandja’s critics would not liken him to a Mobutu or a Mengistu. But that is partly because he failed to cling to power. “He became arrogant,” says one western diplomat. “He counted too much on the Chinese to be there.”

Perhaps Mr Tandja had not acquainted himself with China’s policy of non-interference in the domestic affairs of African states. When young officers stormed the presidential palace on February 18, Beijing was as silent as it had been while he amassed power. The toppled president remains under lock and key. The junta pledged elections by February and has barred its own members from contesting them – so those overseeing the transition are not themselves participants. The soldiers have signalled they have no plans to break with China, although they intend to audit all Tandja-era mining permits.

If Mr Tandja set too much store by his Chinese allies, perhaps Beijing also invested too much in him – and his family. One son, Ousmane, was Niger’s commercial attaché in China. According to people familiar with the matter, he has close links to Trendfield Holdings, a British Virgin Islands-registered consultancy that helped China secure its uranium permits and is funding the lion enclosure at Niamey zoo. (El-Moctar Ichah, head of Trendfield’s Niger subsidiary, dismisses such claims as “speculation”.)

France’s critics say its subdued criticism of both Mr Tandja’s authoritarianism and the coup undermined democratic forces in Niger. “There is a sense of neo-colonialism – that France has no friends, only interests,” says one French expatriate.

Those interests may remain secure. “Fundamentally, Areva is still the big partner,” says another western diplomat. Olivier Muller, Areva’s managing director in Niger, dismisses talk of damaging rivalry with China. “It’s like in oil: there are enough blocks to produce,” he says. “You might compete for the blocks you want but after [they are assigned] you co-operate. In the next 10 years ... all the so-called ‘competitors’ will share infrastructure.”

Areva’s €1.2bn ($1.5bn, £870m) Imouraren mine is on track to start production in 2013. It is slated to yield 5,000 tonnes of uranium a year, doubling Areva’s output in the country. Mr Muller says the negotiations with Mr Tandja were tough but that Areva’s agreement to increase payments to the government by 50 per cent had more to do with rising global prices than competition. He describes Salou Djibo, the previously unknown officer and former United Nations peacekeeper now heading the junta, as “a nice guy”, adding: “I met the president for an hour this morning ... If you have one hour with the president, it has gone well. If not, you get five minutes. Obviously, we don’t talk politics, just business.”

Xia Huang, China’s ambassador in Niamey, says Beijing’s bonds to Niger are unshaken and that grander projects are in the offing, including pipelines and coal-fired power stations. China, he says, has offered Africa a “more profitable option” than other partners have. With a little overstatement, he adds: “This country has already seen uranium extraction for nearly 40 years. But when one sees that the direct revenues from uranium are more or less equivalent to those derived from the export of onions each year, there’s a problem.”

Beijing’s critics are unbowed. Mr Idrissa, the transparency campaigner, repeats charges heard across the continent. Chinese companies prefer to import their own labour and, when they do employ locals, they do so in poor conditions and at low wages, he says. “They are going to take our riches and go,” Mr Idrissa concludes.

But for others, China’s efforts offer an opportunity for industrialisation on a scale never countenanced by the colonisers of old. Ibrahim Iddi Ango, an industrialist and president of the chamber of commerce, is pushing for regulations that would oblige foreign investors to foster the local private sector. He notes that France’s Total and others including ExxonMobil of the US sat on the Agadem block for years but balked at Niamey’s demands. “Each time the government said, ‘build a refinery’, they said: ‘it’s impossible’. The Chinese came and said: ‘A refinery? What size?’”

The loser in this particular thrust?  France's Areva, which enjoyed a 40-year monopoly on Niger uranium. Given the level of development in Niger, I would say that competition wouldn't be a bad step.

Conclusion: China doesn't take a missionary approach to world affairs, seeking to spread an ideology or a system of government. Moral progress in international affairs is an American goal, not a Chinese one; China's actions abroad are propelled by its need to secure energy, metals and strategic materials in order to support the rising living standards of its immense population, which amounts to about one-fifth of the worlds population.

Google focusing on Africa

Google is now focusing on Africa. The Wall Street Journal reports that:

LAGOS, Nigeria—Despite some of the lowest Internet penetration rates in the world, Africa has enticed Google Inc.

Lured by the continent's growth potential, Google aims to convince entrepreneurs, students and aid workers to make use of its search, mapping and mobile-phone technologies. But Africa—with roughly one billion inhabitants, over 50 countries and many regions that have limited access to electricity—presents huge obstacles.

"The Internet is not an integral part of everyday life for people in Africa," said Joe Mucheru of Google's Kenya office.

Africa lags far behind other big emerging markets in Internet use. Africa has 4% of global Internet users; China has 21%.

The continent also has some of the world's highest costs for mobile-phone and Internet service. In Nigeria, bandwidth for Internet carriers costs $3,000 to $6,000 a month per megabyte, according to Nyimbi Odero of Google's Nigeria office.

By comparison, the cost in the U.K. is about $20 a month per megabyte.

Despite the expense of Internet service, Google executives say Africa represents one of the fastest growth rates for Internet use in the world. Nigeria already has about 24 million users and South Africa and Kenya aren't far behind, according to the World Bank and research sites like Internet World Stats.

"The goal is to get more people online," said Estelle Akofio-Sowah, the Google country head in Ghana.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="442" caption="Workers at Johannesburg's OR Tambo airport take pictures with their mobile phones of one of the seven lions relocated from zoos in Austria and Romania to Lions Rock big cat sanctuary near Bethlehem in South Africa."][/caption]

Google wouldn't disclose how much it has invested in Africa-based operations, and says it doesn't yet have a revenue target for the continent. The company—which has a physical presence in Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa—says it has around 40 employees working on Africa-focused projects, with some based on the continent and others working from elsewhere.

Other technology companies have also set their sights on the continent. Microsoft Corp., International Business MachinesCisco Systems Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. have sales offices throughout Africa, selling laptops, printers and software to fast-growing companies and an emerging middle class. Corp.,

Though there are small-scale Internet service providers, most Internet services in Africa are provided by cellphone companies, who provide data cards that users stick into computers' USB ports.

Mobile-phone use in Africa has grown rapidly in the last decade, and remains the most common way people communicate with each other, as opposed to email or social-networking sites.

"There is a tremendous pent-up demand for connectivity and access," Mr. Odero said.

Among the first Google initiatives on the continent since setting up offices there three years ago was the expansion of Google Maps. Detailed online maps of even the biggest African cities were almost nonexistent five years ago, analysts say. There are now Google maps of 51 African countries.

Tunji Lardner, a consultant in Lagos working with the state government, aims to use Google technology to prevent a common scam: selling homes in Lagos that aren't actually for sale. Hand-painted signs reading "This House is Not For Sale" are ubiquitous on the walls of homes in Lagos and most of the rest of Nigeria, but buyers continue to get cheated.

Google staffers in Nigeria recently provided Mr. Lardner with a phone that uses Google's Android operating system, which he will use to pinpoint houses actually for sale on Google Maps and create a database.

Other initiatives include the nonprofit VetAid, which has started using Android phones donated by Google in Tanzania and Kenya to track the health status of livestock.

In Uganda, Google provides a mobile text-based marketplace for traders.

And independent groups of developers have formed Google Technology User Groups, which meet to share knowledge about Google applications and services in eight African countries, including Cameroon and Egypt.

Not every Google initiative in Africa has been successful. Google staff in Uganda, in partnership with South African telecom giant MTN Group Ltd. and the Grameen Foundation, started three text-based programs for cellphones: Search, Tips and Trader. The free services attracted a large user base when they were first rolled out last summer—2.7 million texts sent in the first six months, according to Google. When MTN started charging for Google Trader, the marketplace text service, usage rates plummeted, according to MTN.

"The problem with offering services alone is that they're at the mercy of the mobile service carriers," said Jon Gossier, the American head of Appfrica, a company that mentors and incubates technology entrepreneurs in East Africa.

Google will be trying to prime interest during the coming World Cup in South Africa by launching a public relations drive through its YouTube unit, which launched a site dedicated to South Africa Monday.

The company is using the Internet video service to sponsor a street soccer tournament that will travel through several African countries and finish in South Africa.

A Google Street View team has also been traveling throughout South Africa to map as much of the country as possible before the World Cup.

Looking at the internet-penetration rates, not so good.  But already, in terms of cellphones, we're talking 30-40% penetration everywhere in Africa save the deep interior.

So Google apparently not waiting on the former to rise and instead targets the latter media device.  Mobiles are a party of everyday life in Africa, but the Internet is not (4% average).  Unfortunately, mobile costs are relatively high in Africa, and internet costs are even worse.

Google clearly takes the path of least resistance, and its aims are noble enough:  increase Internet usage by offering mobile text-based services as the lure.

I think Africa is ripe for a wireless revolution, it will take some ingenuity to find the right model in such a wide open land where there will be vast stretches of wild areas, maybe frame relay towers with point to point transmissions are perfect for this. I also think that wireless is the only option for most areas to start the saturation much like in the frozen countries of the north like Sweden and Finland. This would be an exciting assignment to help with this, I envy the folks who are rolling this out, beautiful land with interesting mixtures of keeping the wildness with allowing the power of the internet to keep folks connected into the global market place.

Being on the internet will become very important to participating in global trade so this is essential for African businesses and if Google can help make this accessible, bravo.

U.S.-Africa Partnering On Infrastructure

Improvement in infrastructure will improve business climate for both U.S. and Africa according to U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson:

Washington, DC — Although the infrastructure problems facing Africa look "daunting," they are "not insurmountable," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson said April 28, adding that infrastructure needs can be addressed by public and private partners worldwide.

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Speaking to the fourth annual Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) U.S.-Africa Infrastructure Conference in Washington, Carson said, "Africa ... cannot hope to close its development gap or to achieve middle-income status without addressing infrastructure as a fundamental impediment to trade, investment and growth. Poor road, rail and harbor infrastructure adds 30 to 40 percent to the cost of goods traded among African countries."

As an example, Carson cited a recent report estimating that transportation inefficiencies amount to an export tax of 80 percent on Ugandan textiles, making it difficult for Ugandan businessmen to compete on the global market.

He added that deficits in telecommunications, electricity and water also present serious challenges to both domestic and overseas investors.

Carson said American companies clearly are interested in investing in Africa, but "when faced with the realities of doing business in many African countries, they ultimately decide to invest elsewhere."

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Infrastructure is only one piece of the overall investment climate picture, he added. "High customs fees, corruption, the absence of reliable legal systems, and burdensome regulatory environments ... can discourage potential investors" as well.

"Doing business requires partners," he said, "good, reliable and predictable partners" and in that regard, both African governments and American companies have responsibilities.

African governments must create a welcoming climate for investors and create a level playing field where businesses can run their operations efficiently without interference. American companies, for their part, must seek a greater understanding of the local markets and conditions. They should also make use of the services offered by the United States government, he added.

"To achieve strong economic growth in Africa, it is critical that we combine and pool our efforts to address the infrastructure deficit that is on the continent. The United States government," he said, "is trying to do its part" having invested millions of dollars in new infrastructure projects through the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) in several African countries.

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In Cape Verde alone, he said, the United States is providing more than $70 million for road and bridge investments that are helping improve transportation links to the port city of Praia. Airport construction there also has been assisted by the United States government, he said.

In Lesotho, the United States is providing more than $164 million to support efforts to clean up the country's water supply. "These projects are important," he said, but cautioned that "they are really just a small drop in the bucket."

Africa still needs billions of dollars for infrastructure development, and funding at that level, he said, can be generated only through public-private partnerships that bring international financial institutions, donors and the private sector together.

Carson saluted the CCA conference, which has as one of its themes "Building Dynamic Growth in Africa," a policy objective "which we in Washington support and a policy objective that is absolutely essential if Africa is to move forward and to take its rightful place as one of the world's great economies."

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As the world moves into the second decade of the 21st century, he said, "Africa stands out as the world's last, great emerging market with 1 billion people spread across 53 nations in an area that is two times the size of the United States. Africa's great potential and enormous promise are as vast as the continent is itself," with reserves of oil and gas, uranium, diamonds, platinum, gold, manganese and iron, to mention just a few. The continent is also blessed with large pockets of arable land, major forests and vast water resources, he said.

"Combined with Africa's enormous potential and capital, the ingredients and mixtures for Africa's success are there."

Carson saluted those African governments that have made wise economic and policy decisions over the past decade and used their wealth to turn their economies around "to slowly steer their countries out of the grip of poverty." But, he added, four decades of poor economic decisionmaking by many African governments is still hampering the continent's progress.

Despite the global economic crisis, Africa as a whole, has still been able to achieve an annual economic growth rate of 6 percent, he told his audience.

"I remain optimistic about Africa's future," Carson said. "I believe in Africa's people. I believe in their promise. I believe in their commitment to open their markets, liberalize their economies and seek out foreign investment and business that will help their economies grow. Together... we can begin to realize the continent's enormous and innate potential."

Carson also announced that the 2010 African Growth and Opportunity (AGOA) Forum, scheduled for the first week of August, will hold its plenary session in Washington, but will add a second segment in Kansas City, Missouri, to help African and U.S. businesses link up in a real business environment, especially in the area of agriculture.

A Look at China's Presence in Africa

There has been a change in ideological sentiment on China’s involvement in Africa. The paradigm shift has been led by Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo’s bestseller, Dead Aid, which gave voice to the possibility of a development model defined by diligent business practices as opposed to the traditional Western model which is driven by foreign aid. If managed prudently the Sino- African relationship could prove to be an empowering change for several African governments and provide the foundation for the continent to take its place as a partner in the global economy. For China, Africa is an excellent complement to its resource and market-seeking global agenda. Since 2000 China-Africa trade has grown at an average annual rate of 33.5 per cent. Although still second to the United States (whose trade with Africa amounted to US$140 billion in 2008), trade rose from US$55 billion in 2006 to around US$107 billion in 2008, accounting for 4.5 per cent of China’s total trade and surpassing the US$100 billion trade target set for 2010 at the 2006 Forum on China- Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).



China has also identified the value of Africa as a political ally in its quest for a greater role in international affairs. The benefits of China’s African diplomacy became clear in 1971 when China’s accession to the UN General Assembly and Security Council was assisted by 26 affirmative votes cast by African countries. Today China has diplomatic relations with 49 of 53 African nations and China’s deepening engagement means that the US, Europe and other emerging partners have little choice but to compete for access to the continent’s emerging markets and resources. In November 2009, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao took the opportunity to declare China’s commitment to African development while challenging the established industrial powers to do the same:

In the global financial crisis, what people tend to easily ignore is the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals … Here I would like to once again appeal to the international community to work hard with firm determination and effective measures to reach the MDGs while tackling the global financial crisis.

This declaration was accompanied by the announcement of US$10 billion in preferential loans to support African countries over the next three years. In light of the OECD’s prediction that the G8 will fall US$23 billion short of its 2005 promise of US$50 billion in foreign aid to the poorest and most vulnerable by 2010 (Africa contains 33 of the 49 Least Developed Countries, as classified by the UN ), it is little wonder China’s diplomacy is gaining traction among African governments.

Although the China-induced resource boom is providing a shortterm fillip to African growth and Moyo’s ambitions for a business-driven model of growth, China alone will not be the continent’s saviour. To avoid destructive competition in the region, a cooperative framework on African issues is required between China, the US and Europe and emerging partners to the continent such as Brazil, India and Russia. This is increasingly important in the context of trade frictions that are present in the current global economic environment.

Legitimate concerns about human rights and exploitative practices surround China’s non-interference based involvement in African nations. The list includes arms dealing with repressive regimes, support for autocratic governments isolated by the West, plundering resources with little concern for environmental issues and importing unskilled Chinese labour who are culturally ignorant and unwilling to integrate.

Many of these issues highlight what seem to be self-serving political and strategic motives behind China’s activity in Africa. Many are fuelled by Western hypocrisy. The West’s involvement on the continent has been, and continues to be, littered with tales of mismanagement, exploitation and funding despots. Furthermore, China is hardly alone in marrying political and strategic considerations to its aid agenda. In December last year the US President, Barack Obama, signed off on a deal with Israel worth US$2.77 billion in 2010 (worth a total of US$30 billion over the next decade) with 75 per cent tied to the purchase of US-made military hardware.

Defending exploitative behaviour is not the issue. The business-driven model of development provides new opportunities to several African nations long overlooked as legitimate trading and investment partners. African countries and the African Union need coherent, longterm strategies to apply leverage to international commercial interests and to create opportunities for enduring economic competitiveness and growth. With the prediction by the International Energy Agency that China’s oil imports will increase four-fold by 2030, it is vital for Africa itself to respond strategically to the opportunity that China offers the continent. Although the FOCAC provides an effective forum to develop diplomatic and commercial relations, the issues cited above will continue to bedevil China’s involvement with the continent if strong institutional frameworks of governance and dispute resolution mechanisms are not properly implemented.

In the latest issue of The Atlantic magazine, China's resource play in Africa and development pledges are discussed in vivid detail and questions are asked.

All across Africa, new tracks are being laid, highways built,ports deepened, commercial contracts signed—all on an unprecedented scale, and led by China, whose appetite for commodities seems insatiable. Do China’s grand designs promise the transformation,at last, of a star-crossed continent? Or merely its exploitation?

At some point, at sometime, Africans are going to have to take control of their own destinies. Howard is very descriptive in regards to what Chinese laborers and business men are doing in Africa. However, one ends up asking: "What are Africans doing to advance their own needs?"

Surely they can't all be reading the paper and taking a nap?

All joking aside, the cold reality is that foreign attempts to develop Africa have spectacularly failed. No one disputes that developmental polices have traditionally been short sighted. Nevertheless, development projects are only as good as the repairman has money, skills, ambition, a society that encourages entrepreneurship, and the will to see the service they manage succeed.

The only people that can - and should - save Africa at the end of the day, are Africans.

Africa, the new emerging market(s)