La Cina offre all’Africa miliardi di nuovi prestiti
+ The Guardian,
+ Reuters, La Cina vorrebbe modificare le percezioni sugli investimenti in Africa
+ Brookings, Il Forum sulla Cooperazione Cina-Africa (FOCAC) e le prospettive di uno sviluppo “Trilaterale”
– WSJ: Negli ultimi anni la Cina è entrata aggressivamente in Africa.
– Quinto Forum triennale Cina-Africa, a Pechino: La Cina si è impegnata a investire $20 MD in prestiti a paesi africani per lo sviluppo di infrastrutture, agricoltura, manifatturiero e PMI, il doppio degli impegni presi nel precedente Forum del 2009.
o Presenti al Forum leader africani: il primo ministro del Kenya, Raila Amollo Odinga, il presidente della Guinea Equatoriale, Nguema Mbasogo, quello del Niger Mahmadou Issoufou; della Costa d’Avorio, Alassane Dramane e del Benin, Yavi Boni, oltre che del Sudafrica, Jacob Zuma.
– Per la Cina l’Africa è una della maggiori fonti di petrolio, metalli ed altre materie prime;
o l’interscambio Cina-Africa è raddoppiato negli ultimi sei anni, giunto a $166,3 MD nel 2011; gli Investimenti Esteri diretti cinesi hanno raggiunto i $15MD, in oltre 50 paesi.
o Il fondo per lo sviluppo Cina-Africa, sostenuto dalla China Development Bank, si è impegnato a investire $2MD, per 60 progetti in 30 paesi africani.
o Nell’ultimo decennio l’export africano verso la Cina è passato da $5,6MD a $93,2MD.
– Il presidente sudafricano, Zuma, chiede che l’interscambio dei paesi africani con la Cina sia più equilibrato, la tendenza attuale non è sostenibile a lungo:
o dall’Africa grandi quantità di materie prime, dalla Cina prodotti del manifatturiero, compresi macchinari e tessili.
– L’interscambio sino-africano avvantaggia la Cina che vende sui mercati africani le merci della sua manifattura e acquista materie prime con poco valore aggiunto per l’Africa (Centro per gli studi cinesi, università di Stellenbosch, Sudafrica).
o L’aumento del potere d’acquisto dei cinesi e lo spostamento della crescita verso i beni di consumo possono consentire un interscambio più equilibrato.
o Con la modificazione dell’economia cinese, che sposta l’industria ad intensità di lavoro a regioni esterne alla Cina, si presentano opportunità di produzione, che i paesi africani dovrebbero cogliere; camminare nel solco tracciato in passato dalla Cina per sviluppare la propria industria (l’inviato speciale cinese in Africa).
o Anche se le società cinesi si spostano in Africa avranno ugualmente la competizone da produttori a basso costo, come India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Messico e Turchia, oltre che dalle regioni cinesi interne.
– I gruppi cinesi essi si impegnano ad aiutare le industrie africane ad aggiornarsi, in modo che possano esportare prodotti finiti, e maggior attenzione alle questioni ambientali.
– I gruppi cinesi sono criticati anche per lo scarso rispetto ambientale e per la gestione della forza lavoro:
o da una parte utilizzano forza lavoro importata per la costruzione di progetti finanziati dai governi, come strade e ospedali; estraggono risorse lasciano poco alle economie locali;
o dall’altra reprimono le lotte operaie, scoppiate negli ultimi anni, in particolare in Zambia dove nel 2010 nel corso di una lotta salariale in una miniera di proprietà cinese, alcuni manager cinesi hanno sparato a 13 minatori, ferendoli.
– Grandi opportunità di affari per gruppi cinesi in Africa, soprattutto nel settore energia; il gruppo Sinohydro Corp. (quello che ha costruito gran parte della diga delle Tre gole in Cina) ha sviluppato progetti in 21 paesi africani nel campo energia idroelettrica.
– China Petrochemical Corp. e China National Petroleum Corp. hanno grandi investimenti per petrolio e gas in Angola, Sudan e Libia, importanti esportatori di greggio in Cina.
–
– Può emergere un approccio trilaterale allo sviluppo africano può dai forum americani e cinesi con l’Africa?
– la Conferenza Cina-Africa, adombra la prospettiva del coordinamento dei programmi cinesi con altri attori, come gli USA.
– Dopo la scissione del Sudsudan, dove c’è la gran parte del petrolio, la Cina ha bisogno di una sponda diplomatica con il Sud. Era stato avanzato un piano di visita congiunta, Cina e Usa, nelle due capitali sudanese e sud sudanese. Ha prevalso la cautela nella cooperazione in Africa e il piano è fallito.
– Gli africani non hanno interesse alla cooperazione Usa-Cina, traggono maggiori vantaggi dalla loro competizione.
– Possono servire a allentare le tensioni le istituzioni multilaterali di cui fanno parte sia la Cina che gli Usa (FMI, BM, Onu, WHO).
– Gli Usa forniscono il maggior finanziamento per le missioni Onu e Unione Africana in Africa;
– la Cina ha recentemente aderito alle missioni multinazionali, e inviato quasi 1500 soldati e personale in sette missioni in Africa.
Marine di Usa e Cina hanno cooperato nel Golfo di Aden e al largo delle coste somale, contro la pirateria.
China Offers Africa Billions in New Loans
Beijing, Seeking Stronger Economic Relations With the Resource-Rich Continent, Pledges to Address Trade Imbalances
– BEIJING – China pledged billions of dollars in new aid to Africa and said Chinese companies doing business there would act responsibly, as the country seeks smooth relations with the resource-rich continent despite emerging trade and social tensions.
– China will offer $20 billion in loans to African countries to develop infrastructure, agriculture, manufacturing and small and midsize enterprises, Chinese President Hu Jintao said Thursday during a gathering of African leaders in Beijing. That figure is double what China committed in 2009.
– Chinese officials also stressed deepening economic ties with Africa, a major source of China’s oil, metals and other commodities. Mr. Hu said trade between China and Africa doubled in the past six years and totaled $166.3 billion in 2011, while its direct investment there has reached $15 billion.
– But South Africa President Jacob Zuma said China’s trade with African nations should be better balanced. While Africa ships large volumes of raw materials to China, China’s exports often include manufactured goods such as machinery and textiles.
"Africa’s commitment to China’s development has been demonstrated by the supply of raw materials, other products and technology transfer," Mr. Zuma said, addressing Mr. Hu at the gathering following the aid pledge. "As we all agree, your excellency, this trade pattern is unsustainable in the long term."
– China pledged that its companies could help address the imbalance. "Chinese companies have expressed their willingness to undertake social responsibility," said Yu Ping, vice president of the China Council for Promotion of International Trade, at a news conference. He said that effort would include answering African calls for help in upgrading local industries so countries can export finished products, as well as having China pay greater attention to the environment.
– In recent years, China has moved aggressively into Africa. Unlike the U.S. and other countries, China hasn’t attached political or environmental strings to much of its aid.
Though China has gathered political clout in Africa as a result, some have begun to question the country’s role there.
– "This trend in Sino-African trade benefits China, which enters African markets to sell its manufactured goods and buys primary products with little added value for Africa," said Daouda Cisse, a researcher at the Center for Chinese Studies at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, in a note. "With the rising purchasing power among Chinese and a shift towards consumer-driven growth in China, opportunities are presented to move towards a more balanced trade between China and Africa."
– Chinese companies have also been criticized for their environmental and labor practices in Africa.
"China’s central government is very limited in what it can do to control the huge proportion of Chinese activity in Africa," said Ian Taylor, a professor at the University of St. Andrews in the U.K. "A lot of Chinese corporations don’t take into account environmental sustainability in China itself—why should they be any different in Africa?"
– Labor tensions have risen to the fore in recent years, particularly in Zambia, where 13 miners were shot and wounded by some Chinese managers at a Chinese-owned mine during a wage dispute in 2010. The mine has been under scrutiny since over safety and labor issues, and earlier this year a government official threatened to close it.
Responding to a question about how social responsibility would be enforced by Chinese officials, Mr. Yu, the Chinese trade official, said it is a "matter of ethics rather than law, so the best way to strengthen social responsibility is through education and guidance." He also referred to what he said were "incorrect news reports" about Chinese business there.
– Africa has provided huge opportunities for Chinese companies, especially those involved in energy. Sinohydro Corp., which built most of China’s Three Gorges Dam, has capitalized on the continent’s vast hydropower resources by developing projects in 21 African countries.
– Big companies such as China Petrochemical Corp. and China National Petroleum Corp. have major oil and gas investments in Angola, Sudan and Libya, all of which are important exporters of crude oil to China.
The two-day gathering in Beijing also included African leaders such as Kenya Prime Minister Raila Amollo Odinga, Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Nguema Mbasogo, Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou, Ivory Coast President Alassane Dramane and Benin President Yavi Boni.
—Shangguan Zhoudong and Sarah Chen contributed to this article.
The Guardian 120719
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 19 July 2012 07.43 BST
– Chinese President Hu Jintao has offered $20bn (£12bn) in loans to African countries over the next three years, boosting a relationship that has been criticised by the west and given Beijing growing access to the resource-rich continent.
– The loans offered were double the amount China pledged for the previous three-year period in 2009 and is the latest in a string of aid and credit provided to African countries.
The pledge is likely to boost China’s good relations with Africa, which supplies it with oil and raw materials such as copper and uranium.
– But the loans could add to discomfort in the west, which criticises China for overlooking human rights abuses in its business dealings with Africa, especially in Beijing’s desire to feed its booming economy.
Hu brushed off such concerns in his speech at the Great Hall of the People, attended by leaders including South African president Jacob Zuma and Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema, a man widely condemned by rights groups as one of the world’s most corrupt leaders.
"China wholeheartedly and sincerely supports African countries to choose their own development path, and will wholeheartedly and sincerely support them to raise their development ability," Hu said.
China will "continue to steadfastly stand together with the African people, and will forever be a good friend, a good partner and a good brother", he added at the summit held every three years since 2000.
– Hu also pledged to "continue to expand aid to Africa, so that the benefits of development can be realised by the African people". He did not provide an amount.
– Hu said the new loans would support infrastructure, agriculture, manufacturing and development of small and medium-sized businesses in Africa.
Critics say China supports African governments with dubious human rights records as a means to get access to resources.
– The EU has rejected what they call China’s cheque book approach to doing business with Africa, saying it would continue to demand good governance and the transparent use of funds from its trading partners.
– Such criticism draws rebukes from China that the west still views Africa as though it were a colony. Many African countries say they appreciate China’s no-strings approach to aid.
– "Africa’s past economic experience with Europe dictates a need to be cautious when entering into partnerships with other countries," Zuma told the forum.
– "We are particularly pleased that in our relationship with China we are equals and that agreements entered into are for mutual gain," Zuma added.
– "We certainly are convinced that China’s intention is different to that of Europe, which to date continues to intend to influence African countries for their sole benefit."
– China’s friendship with Africa dates back to the 1950s, when Beijing backed liberation movements in the continent fighting to throw off western colonial rule.
– Chinese state-owned firms in Africa also face criticism for using imported labour to build government-financed projects such as roads and hospitals, while pumping out raw resources and processing them in China, leaving little for local economies.
"Certainly quite a number of us are thinking we need to move into more value addition," South African’s trade and industry minister Rob Davies said.
– "We need to export mineral products in a more processed form … We need to bite this bullet very seriously."
– Trade has jumped in the past decade, driven by Chinese hunger for resources to power its economic boom and African demand for cheap Chinese products.
– China’s trade with Africa reached $166.3 billion in 2011, according to Chinese statistics. In the past decade, African exports to China rose to $93.2 billion from $5.6 billion.
© 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
July 19, 2012, 3:04 a.m. ET
BEIJING – China extended further economic commitments to African leaders during a regional summit on Thursday, as the fast-growing nation seeks to smooth relations with the resource-rich continent.
– China will offer $20 billion in loans to African countries to support the development of their infrastructure, agriculture, manufacturing and small and medium-sized enterprises, Chinese President Hu Jintao said Thursday during the gathering in Beijing. The figure is double what China committed to in 2009.
– Mr. Hu was speaking on the first day of a two-day gathering on China-Africa nations that included the leaders of some of the continent’s biggest countries , including South Africa President Jacob Zuma; Kenya Prime Minister Raila Amollo Odinga; Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Nguema Mbasogo; Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou; and Ivory Coast President Alassane Dramane.
– Chinese officials this week have stressed the amount of aid Beijing has extended to Africa. Mr. Hu said trade between China and Africa has doubled in the past six years, and totaled $166.3 billion in 2011. China’s direct investment in Africa has reached $15 billion in more than 50 countries, he said.
– The state-run Xinhua news agency also said a China-Africa development fund backed by the China Development Bank has made investment commitments worth $2 billion in Africa, including investments in 60 projects across 30 African countries.
– In recent years China has moved aggressively into the resource-rich region as it seeks more oil, metals and other commodities it needs to fuel growth. Unlike the U.S. and other countries, China hasn’t attached political or environmental strings to much of its aid.
– Africa has provided huge opportunities for Chinese companies, especially those involved in energy. Sinohydro Corp., which built most of China’s Three Gorges Dam, has capitalized on the continent’s vast hydropower resources by developing projects in 21 African countries.
– Big companies such as China Petrochemical Corp. and China National Petroleum Corp. have major oil and gas investments in Angola, Sudan and Libya, all of which are important exporters of crude oil to China.
– Still, some in Africa have started to question China’s growing presence, amid criticism over how some Chinese firms treat workers and the environment there. "China’s central government is very limited in what it can do to control the huge proportion of Chinese activity in Africa," said Ian Taylor, a professor at the University of St. Andrews in the U.K.
"A lot of Chinese corporations don’t take into account environmental sustainability in China itself—why should they be any different in Africa?" he said.
– Underscoring the labor issues, a Chinese-owned miner last year fired 1,000 workers from a Zambian copper mine for participating in a strike over wages, drawing criticism from policymakers there.
– Trade is also a growing issue. China’s main imports from Africa include crude oil, copper, coal and iron-ore products, while Africa is a large buyer of products such as machinery and textiles.
– "This trend in Sino-African trade benefits China, which enters African markets to sell its manufactured goods and buys primary products with little added value for Africa," according to Daouda Cisse, a researcher at the Center for Chinese Studies at Stellenbosch University, in a note. "With the rising purchasing power among Chinese and a shift towards consumer-driven growth in China, opportunities are presented to move towards a more balanced trade between China and Africa," he said.
China has struck back on the public relations front. A Xinhua commentary this week said critics are "warning of the ‘new colonialism’ looming on the continent in a veiled swipe at Beijing’s efforts to forge closer ties with Africa.
"A retrospect of the more than a decade of bilateral cooperation would easily defeat such a biased and ill-grounded viewpoint," it said.
Copyright 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
By Michael Martina
BEIJING (Reuters) – Beijing is eager to rewrite negative perceptions of its growing ties with Africa at a summit this week, citing expanding private investment and a push to shift low-end manufacturing to the continent long seen as a commodities and energy cache for China.
– Chinese state-owned firms in Africa face criticism for using imported labour to build government-financed projects like roads and hospitals, while pumping out resources and leaving little for local economies, an image Beijing wants to change at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation beginning on Thursday.
– "As China’s economy transitions, shifting labour intensive industry to regions outside of China offers production opportunities," Zhong Jianhua, China’s special envoy to Africa, told Reuters this week.
– "African countries should seize this opportunity," he added. "They can step into a track that China has taken in the past to develop their own industry."
– Chinese President Hu Jintao will speak at the summit’s opening day and is expected to announce a new set of loans for the continent. At the last meeting held three years ago, China pledged $10 billion.
– China’s economic trade with Africa reached $166.3 billion in 2011, according to Chinese statistics. In the past decade, African exports to China rose to $93.2 billion from $5.6 billion.
– Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, for example, the world’s most valuable lender, has invested more than $7 billion in various projects across the continent.
– The China Non-Ferrous Metals Mining Corporation however became the maligned face of Chinese investment during a bitter election campaign last year in Zambia, where it owns several lucrative copper deposits.
– Along with the state-run firms, a growing number of smaller private Chinese businesses are looking to frontier markets like Africa to sell consumer goods and join in on promising growth prospects.
– "A lot of African growth is no longer just commodity growth. It is growth in telecoms, services, and consumer products," said Diana Layfield, Standard Chartered Bank’s CEO for Africa.
An official with Africa’s multilateral lender however said concern remains that countries will just shovel resources out and not look to diversify.
"They (African nations) are thinking about the immediate resources that could get them billions" of dollars, said Anthony Nyong, manager of the compliance and safeguard division at the African Development Bank. "We need to gradually work at building the capacities of African countries to see how they can negotiate good deals and know what is important for them."
– China has also found it difficult to navigate tricky political and conflict problems in Africa, particularly as the main oil investor in both Sudan and South Sudan.
– China still faces a struggle to encourage companies to invest and shift production to Africa even if labour costs are lower. Smaller firms in particular are overwhelmed by the world’s second largest continent with more than 50 U.N. member states that have diverse languages, cultures and income levels.
– "The idea that it will happen quickly, except in selected circumstances, is probably far-fetched," said Layfield, with Standard Chartered, adding that one factor accelerating some trade now is a sharp drop in container transport costs following the 2008 financial crisis.
– Jeremy Stevens, a Beijing-based China economist at Standard Bank, said even if Chinese firms move to Africa they face competition from other low-cost producers such as India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Mexico and Turkey — and inland China.
– "It is more costly to make something in Africa because of bottlenecks in infrastructure, human capital and access to finance, which have been exacerbated by poor governance and mismanagement," he said.
Opinion | July 17, 2012
The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and the Prospects for “Trilateral” Development
– This week, African leaders will descend upon Beijing for the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). Hosted alternately every three years by China or an African nation, the FOCAC is a spectacle – sometimes over-the-top and sometimes more muted – where heads of state extol the economic, political, and social ties between country and continent.
– The FOCAC serves to reinforce China’s image of an emerging commercial and diplomatic power in Africa. It also overshadows the prospect for coordinating Chinese programs with other players, such as the United States, in support of Africa’s development objectives. Given that Africa is a recurring topic of discussion in the U.S.-Chinese Strategic & Economic Dialogue, it is timely to ask how a “trilateral” approach to economic development might emerge from these parallel but separate forums among senior U.S., Chinese and African officials.
– For all of Beijing’s assertiveness on the African continent, there is no question that there is scope for enhanced diplomatic dialogue on Africa between Beijing and Washington, especially on critical issues.
– In fact, when Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visited Washington earlier this year, South Sudan was at the top of his agenda. Given China’s long-term support for Khartoum and its reliance on Sudanese oil, when South Sudan gained its independence in July 2011 and took most of the oil reserves with it, Beijing found itself uncharacteristically with few diplomatic cards to play; since then, it has been trying to play diplomatic catch-up with South Sudan.
– In February, as rising tensions between Sudan and South Sudan threatened the stability of South Sudan and oil exports were disrupted, a plan was hatched between Xi and senior White House officials over the course of two days of meetings in Washington. It was proposed that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and China’s foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, travel together to Khartoum and Juba in an effort to normalize relations and persuade South Sudan to resume oil production.
– The plan, which was ultimately aborted, demonstrates the instinct of Washington and Beijing to look for areas of cooperation while also exercising caution when it comes to implementation in Africa. Nevertheless, the U.S. special envoy for Sudan, Ambassador Princeton Lyman, remains in close contact with his Chinese counterpart, Zhong Jianhua.
– There are fundamental differences between the U.S. and China on major issues such as transparency, human rights, democratization and corruption.
– The South Sudan example underscores some of the significant challenges to finding tangible and meaningful ways to cooperate. First, the Chinese are sensitive to African opinions and do not want to be perceived as aligned with the West. Some observers argue that Africans are better off without cooperation between the U.S. and China because what is perceived as “competition” between the two countries provides African countries with diplomatic and programmatic options.
– Second, the ebb and flow of U.S.-Chinese relations could lead to an inconsistent implementation of coordinated development programs which hurt Africa’s development and growth. Finally, there are fundamental differences between the U.S. and China on major issues such as transparency, human rights, democratization and corruption.
– On the other hand, these challenges are not insurmountable with the right approach. In order to mitigate the tensions between the United States and China, engagement through multilateral institutions – both international and regional – is critical. The fact that China is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Health Organization, and is a partner to African sub-regional bodies, makes these organizations prime platforms for engagement.
– Moreover, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), now embedded in the African Union, which articulates priorities for Africa’s development that both the U.S. and China support, makes the AU an appropriate partner for indentifying areas for “trilateral” initiatives. In order to put Africans at ease, any proposed projects or initiatives should include extensive consultation with stakeholders in the relevant African countries. Finally, any effort to collaborate must be truly mutually beneficial, and perceived as such by all parties.
– With these principles in mind, there are a number of areas in which Chinese, Americans and Africans have overlapping interests and goals. While there is also potential in agriculture, resource extraction and infrastructure, the following areas are among the most promising and critical:
– Improving outcomes in health is one of the greatest priorities for many African countries, and because the U.S. and China both have comparative advantages in the sector, the advancement of African healthcare is a promising priority for U.S.-China collaboration.
– Through USAID, PEPFAR, the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the President’s Malaria Initiative, the U.S. government has worked closely with local partners in Africa to fight malaria and HIV/AIDS as well as reduce maternal and child mortality.
– China has sent experienced medical teams to work in African countries for decades and more recently has trained thousands of African health professionals, distributed anti-malarial medications, and invested in 30 malaria treatment facilities across the continent.
– Further cooperation between the U.S. and China in improving public health in African countries could be directed toward lowering the cost of medicines, combating neglected tropical diseases, and investing in water and sanitation systems. In addition, stronger U.S.-Chinese ties could be fostered through partnerships with multilateral institutions that have health mandates such as AFRO (the Africa region of the World Health Organization), UNAIDS and the Global Fund. Ultimately, sufficient planning and coordination needs to be carried out among the U.S., China, and African countries to improve healthcare systems on a collaborative and sustainable basis.
– In the Obama administration’s June 2012 “U.S. Strategy toward Sub-Saharan Africa,” one of the four pillars is to “advance peace and security.” This is clearly a common interest for China and African nations alike. Toward this end, the United States provides the largest amount of funding for UN and AU peacekeeping missions. For its part, China has recently embraced multinational peacekeeping efforts by sending nearly 1,500 military and civilian personnel on seven missions in Africa. In addition, China has expressed a desire to work with the international community to counter the illicit proliferation of small arms, drug-smuggling, and threats to off-shore oil facilities. In recent years, both the U.S. Navy and Chinese Navy have worked together in the Gulf of Aden and other waters off the coast of Somalia as part of the international effort to counter piracy. Clearly, these actions provide a basis for a deeper collaboration in responding to globally recognized security threats in Africa.
With a new administration in both Beijing and Washington early next year, and now at the AU, the time may be appropriate to explore deeper cooperation between the U.S. and China in Africa.
– In 2013, China’s President Hu and Premier Wen will be stepping down, which means the 2012 FOCAC is the last for this regime. Over the years, this particular regime has overseen an unprecedented rise in stronger relations between China and Africa countries. Some observers in Beijing, however, expect that Africa policy under Xi Jinping, China’s next presumptive president, will be just as active if not more so.
With a new administration in both Beijing and Washington early next year, and now at the AU, the time may be appropriate to explore deeper cooperation between the U.S. and China in Africa. As long as cooperation is closely aligned with African objectives and integrated with African partners, taking advantage of overlapping diplomatic interests and exploring the areas of health and peace and security are good places to start.