China’s approach in Africa beats the West’s

• In fact, China is everywhere in Africa these days, both exploiting the continent’s vast natural resources and pursuing infrastructure projects the West has long promised but never quite delivered.
• With the ability to deliver projects on time and on budget, China’s leaders are offering their African counterparts a clean-cut deal: If you work with us, we will build it – period. Given that Africa’s economic growth has long been stunted by a lack of dependable transportation infrastructure, this is more than a tempting offer. It’s a historic opportunity.
• Without making light of the drawbacks of China’s development methods in Africa – such as relying mostly on its own workforce even for projects deep in the African interior – China’s vision is very distinct from the West’s.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent 10-day tour across Africa represented a strategic caving-in of sorts. In many of the places she visited, China had gotten there first.

In fact, China is everywhere in Africa these days, both exploiting the continent’s vast natural resources and pursuing infrastructure projects the West has long promised but never quite delivered.

With the ability to deliver projects on time and on budget, China’s leaders are offering their African counterparts a clean-cut deal: If you work with us, we will build it – period.

Given that Africa’s economic growth has long been stunted by a lack of dependable transportation infrastructure, this is more than a tempting offer. It’s a historic opportunity.

Without making light of the drawbacks of China’s development methods in Africa – such as relying mostly on its own workforce even for projects deep in the African interior – China’s vision is very distinct from the West’s.

In post-colonial Africa, the West focused on democracy-building over market-building. The Chinese approach switches those priorities. And whatever the preferences of Westerners, it is Africans who must ultimately make the choice of whether to embrace democracy or markets first.

In the abstract, it is always preferable to focus on democratic structures. However, in countries where poverty remains rampant, an uncomfortable counterargument can be made, based on the West’s poor track record of the last 50 years. In much of Africa, political growth remains as stunted as the economy.

Focusing on market-building first can empower a budding middle class – which provides a counterbalance to the vestiges of clan-based feudalism. In this approach, economic development promotes political development.

And in fact, that is more or less what happened in Europe over the last few centuries. Economic empowerment led the merchant classes to demand increased political rights, which eventually put the Continent on the road to full democracy.

As Communist China keeps building bridges, railroads and conference centres across Africa, it is, ironically, the Chinese people – not the Americans – who can make a compelling case that their focus in Africa hasn’t been on spreading ideology but on the practical business of securing natural resources and creating future customers.

Richter is publisher and editor-in-chief of The Globalist