- Il
presidente Hu Jintao ha detto che la Cina offrirà 5 miliardi $ in
prestito, crediti e raddoppierà gli aiuti entro il 2009. - Dal
3 al 5 Novembre, rappresentanti del governo di 48 delle 53 nazioni che
costituiscono l’Africa, inclusi molti capi di stato, si sono incontrati a
Pechino - La
svolta della Cina verso l’Africa è il risultato della sua crescita
economica in espansione e del suo bisogno di materie prime. Sotto Mao la
Cina ha instaurato rapporti con alcuni stati africani durante la Guerra
Fredda, incluso l’addestramento militare allo Zimbabwe. Ma il suo nuovo
coinvolgimento risale alla metà degli anni ’90, quando è iniziato il
decollo economico. - Il suo interesse maggiore in Africa è quello del
petrolio, da quando l’accesso alle riserve in MO è stato limitato dagli
interessi europei e americani. - La
Cina è stata interessata al Sudan dalla metà degli anni ’90, e la China
National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), di proprietà dello stato, ha
trasformato il paese da importatore netto di petrolio a esportatore da 2
miliardi $ di petrolio all’anno. Metà di questa somma va alla Cina. - In
Nigeria, la Cina ha sborsato 2,7 miliardi $ (la sua maggiore spesa estera
sinora) per comprare una partecipazione in un oleodotto con diritti di
esplorazione per altri 4. - L’Angola,
alla quale è stato dato accesso a 2 miliardi $ di credito, è ora il
maggiore fornitore di petrolio della Cina, oltrepassando l’Arabia Saudita.
- La
Cina ha inoltre interessi petroliferi nella Guinea Equatoriale, in
Congo-Brazzaville e Gabon. - Le
importazioni della Cina includono cotone greggio dall’Africa occidentale,
rame e cobalto dalla Repubblica Democratica del Congo, minerale ferroso e
platino dalla Zambia, legname dal Gabon, Camerun e Congo-Brazzaville. Ha
inoltre fatto investimenti in progetti di infrastrutture, come linee
ferroviarie ricostruite in Angola, compresa una fino al porto in Benguela
usato per trasportare rame dallo Zambia. Nuovi progetti di diga sono stati
finanziati in Zambia, Sudan, Congo-Brazzaville e Etiopia. E la Cina sta
inoltre finanziando progetti di sviluppo come ospedali e scuole. - La
fine dell’Accordo di Multi-Fibre (MFA), che ha offerto una certa
protezione ai produttori in paesi “sottosviluppati”, ha colpito fortemente
il tessile manifatturiero africano. Il Primo Ministro etiope Meles Zenawi
ha riportato che oggi il 90 % della merce in vendita nel maggiore mercato
di Addis Abeba è di origine cinese. - L’industria
cinese e il personale si sono anche stabiliti in Africa. Secondo il NYT
del 3 Novembre, circa 80 000 cinesi vivono e lavorano in Africa. Un
dipartimento del linguaggio mandarino sta per essere istituito
all’università Harare dello Zimbabwe. - Il
commercio della Cina con l’Africa, che nel ’95 era di 3 miliardi $, è ora
intorno ai 40 miliardi $. - All’inizio
dell’anno, il ministro degli esteri cinese Li Zhaoxing ha visitato la
Nigeria, la Liberia, il Mali e il Senegal. In Aprile, il presidente Hu
Jintao ha visitato il Marocco, la Nigeria e il Kenya. A Giugno, il Primo
Ministro Wen Jiabao ha visitato l’Egitto, il Ghana, il Congo-Brazzaville,
l’Angola, il Sud Africa, la Tanzania e l’Uganda. - Al
vertice, che ha attirato più di 2000 delegati e persone dell’ambiente
industriale e finanziario, sono stati firmati 16 accordi di commercio e
investimento da 2 miliardi $. - Il presidente Hu Jintao ha detto al vertice che nei
prossimi 3 anni, la Cina darà ai paesi africani 3 miliardi $ in prestiti
preferenziali e 2 miliardi $ in credito preferenziale. - Tra
i progetti c’è la costruzione di una fabbrica produttrice di alluminio da
300 milioni $ in Egitto, e una fabbrica di rame da 200 milioni $ in Zambia
insieme al progetto da 300 milioni $ di promuovere un’autostrada
nigeriana. La Cina prevede di raddoppiare l’ammontare del suo commercio
attuale annuale di 50 miliardi $ a 100 miliardi $ entro il 2009. - La Cina è inoltre d’accordo a togliere le tariffe sulle
merci africane dall’attuale cifra di 190 a 440, ma non da nessun dettaglio di
quali saranno queste merci. - La
Cina è ora il terzo maggior partner commerciale dell’Africa dopo Usa e
Francia. Complessivamente il commercio europeo è diminuito, ma è aumentato
quello degli Usa. Gli Usa hanno seguito aggressivamente gli stati
africani, in particolare gli stati africani occidentali, per stabilire
rifornimenti sicuri di petrolio per controbilanciare la sua dipendenza
dall’instabile MO. - Il Financial Times ha lamentato il
fatto che le banche cinesi non hanno seguito il “Principio dell’Equatore”.
Queste sono un insieme di regole che forniscono un parametro per
determinare, valutare e gestire rischi sociali e ambientali nel
finanziamento di progetti. Ha fatto presente che l’azione delle banche
cinesi “minaccia non solo il prestito etico ma la direzione della politica
di sviluppo in Africa. Due di queste caratteristiche sono la remissione
del debito e il legame degli aiuti a governi migliori. La remissione del
debito è minata se le banche cinesi prestano più denaro. I governi
corrotti, nel frattempo, non si correggeranno se l’aiuto cinese è
l’alternativa più facile”. - La
Banca Mondiale e le banche commerciali occidentali come anche i governi
hanno fatto qualche prestito durante la Guerra Fredda. Facendo ciò, hanno
alimentato l’elite corrotte che sono ancora al potere e che ora
condannano. - Gli
effetti dei prestiti cinesi sono simili. C’è una forte disparità tra la
parte ricca di Khartoum, la capitale sudanese, e le altre parti del paese.
Perfino la maggior parte dei residenti di Khartoum non hanno partecipato
al boom petrolifero. - La
Banca Mondiale ha avuto dialoghi molto diretti con la Cina sulla
questione, ma non è stata in grado di trovare un accordo.
China steps up trade and investment in Africa
By Barry Mason
15 November 2006
President Hu Jintao has said that China will
offer US$5 billion in loans and credits and double aid to Africa by 2009.
Over the
weekend of November 3-5, senior government figures from 48 of the 53 nations
that constitute Africa, including many heads of state, met in the Chinese
capital Beijing.
The Chinese regime pulled out all the stops to
make the summit an impressive event. Billboards were stripped of ads and
instead carried pictures of African wild animals. Iconic African symbols such
as pyramids and tribesmen adorned the walls of building sites. Models of
savannah animals were placed in the main shopping area. Posters declared,
“Africa, the Land of Myth and Miracles.”
Heavily polluting industry was shut down to
improve the air quality, cars banned from the city and many of the city’s
inhabitants organised as neighborhood committees to decorate trees. All police
leave was cancelled, and the prestigious Hongqiao market was opened for the
exclusive use of the wives of African delegates.
Luxury hotels and fleets of cars were
commandeered. Hotel rooms were customised in African décor and special African
menus provided. Meanne Dizerent Lau, a representative of the Shangrila hotel,
which paid host to delegates from Tanzania, told the British Guardian newspaper, “We have hosted big
groups of officials before, but never like this. The government has never been
so involved.”
The elaborate and momentous forum was aimed at
enhancing China’s influence in and penetration of Africa.
China’s
turn to Africa is in response to its booming economic growth and its need to
access raw materials. Under Mao Zedong, China had established relations with
some African countries in the Cold War era, including providing military
training to Zimbabwe. But its renewed involvement dates back to the mid-1990s,
when economic growth took off. Its growing involvement
can be seen from reviewing trade statistics. China’s main interest in Africa has been as an energy
source, oil, as access to Middle East oil supplies has been restricted by
European and American interests.
China
has been involved in Sudan since the mid-1990s, and the state-owned China
National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) has turned the country from a net importer
of oil to one exporting US$2 billion of oil per year. Half this amount goes to
China. In Nigeria, China paid out US$2.7 billion (its largest overseas
expenditure to date) to buy an interest in one oilfield with exploration rights
to four others. Angola, which was given access to US$2 billion worth of credit,
is now the biggest supplier of oil to China, overtaking Saudi Arabia. China
also has oil interests in Equatorial Guinea, Congo-Brazzaville and Gabon.
Aside from oil, China’s imports include raw cotton from West Africa,
copper and cobalt from the Democratic Congo Republic, iron ore and platinum
from Zambia and timber from Gabon, Cameroon and Congo-Brazzaville. It has also
made investments in infrastructure projects, such as rebuilding railway lines
in Angola, including one to the port in Benguela used to carry copper from
Zambia. New dam projects are being funded in Zambia, Sudan, Congo-Brazzaville
and Ethiopia. And China is also funding development projects such as hospitals
and schools.
In addition to importing raw materials, China
has been able to penetrate the African market with its goods. The ending of the Multi-Fibre
Agreement (MFA) in particular, which had offered some protection to producers in
“underdeveloped” countries, hit African textile manufacturing hard. Ethiopian
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi made the point that, today, 90 percent of goods on
sale in Addis Ababa’s largest market were of Chinese origin.
Chinese
businesses and personnel have also been settling in Africa. According to a
November 3 New York Times article,
around 80,000 Chinese are living and working in Africa. A Mandarin language
department is to be established at Harare University in Zimbabwe.
China’s
trade with Africa, which in 1995 was worth around US$3 billion, is now in the
region of US$40 billion. It aims to vastly increase
its African investment and trade in the coming period.
The Beijing summit was preceded throughout this
year by visits to Africa by various Chinese leaders. At the beginning of the year, Foreign Minister Li
Zhaoxing visited Nigeria, Liberia, Mali and Senegal. In April, President Hu
Jintao visited Morocco, Nigeria and Kenya. In June, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao
visited Egypt, Ghana, Congo-Brazzaville, Angola, South Africa, Tanzania and
Uganda.
At the
summit, which attracted more than 2,000 delegates and Chinese business people,
16 trade and investment deals worth around US$2 billion were agreed on.
President Hu told the summit that over the next three years, China would give
US$3 billion in preferential loans and US$2 billion in preferential credit to
African countries, pledging that by 2009 its current level of
annual aid would be doubled.
Amongst
the proposals are the building of a US$300 million aluminium production plant
in Egypt, and US$200 million for a copper plant in Zambia together with a
US$300 million project to upgrade a Nigerian highway. China expects to double
its expected current year trade figure of US$50 billion to US$100 billion by
2009. China also agreed to lift tariffs on African goods from the current
figure of 190 to 440, but did not give any details of what those goods would
be.
China is
now Africa’s third largest trading partner after the United States and France.
Overall African trade with Europe has declined, but has increased with the US.
The US has aggressively pursued African countries, mainly in West Africa, to
establish secure oil supplies to counter its dependence on the unstable Middle
East.
The inroad made by China has sounded warning
bells amongst all the major powers. The Financial
Times ran a series of articles earlier this year on China’s growing
involvement in Africa. Admitting its tardiness in recognising the role of
China, it noted that it was “only just beginning to grapple with the
implications.”
In an October 25 editorial headed “Wolves in
Africa,” the FT bemoaned the fact that Chinese banks
do not follow the “Equator Principles.” These are a set of codes that provide a
benchmark for determining, assessing and managing social and environmental risk
in project financing. It noted that the action of Chinese banks “threatens not
just ethical lending but the direction of development policy in Africa. Two of
its features are debt forgiveness and the linking of aid to better governance.
Debt forgiveness is undermined if Chinese banks simply turn around and lend
more money. Corrupt governments, meanwhile, will not reform if Chinese aid is
an easier alternative.”
In an FT
article of November 1, Geoff Lamb, a former vice president of the World Bank,
wrote, “China’s commercial encroachment on the terrain of traditional aid
providers has caused consternation among western policymakers…. [T]here are
legitimate concerns that these deals—on mostly opaque terms—will support
dubious regimes and produce a new cycle of unsustainable debt.”
An article in the FT’s French sister paper Les
Echos reports Paul Wolfowitz, president of the World Bank, as slamming
China’s bank lending to Africa. He criticised what he called “soft loans.” But the World Bank and Western
commercial banks as well as governments made just such loans during the Cold
War. In doing so, it fed the corrupt elites that are still in power and which
it now condemns.
The
effect of China’s loans is similar. There is a huge disparity between the
affluent parts of Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, where new villas are being
constructed for the wealthy, and others parts of the country. Even most of the
residents of Khartoum do not share in the oil boom.
The same article also
indicated that the World
Bank had held “very direct” talks with China on this issue, but had not been
able to reach agreement. In a subsequent letter to the FT, Wolfowitz tried to row back by
stating he was not singling out China for condemnation, but it is clear that
China’s interventions in Africa and other parts of the world are seen by rival
imperialist powers as a major threat.