China is slowly but steadily filling the aid gap in Africa. Traditional ways in which the West has engaged with African nations is being undermined primarily through Chinese infrastructure investment within the region. China has been economically interfering with Africa since the 1970s, when they helped fund the Tazara railway from Zambia to Tanzania. The Chinese process of investment in Africa sees China providing loans to African countries, which are then used for construction projects executed by Chinese contractors. Today China is currently involved in 35 African nations building infrastructure projects and has invested a total estimated $5 million in 2021.
The West is currently warning of “debt-trap diplomacy,” accrediting Chinese investment on the continent as a neo-colonial power grab. While true that these African nations are expected to side with China on geopolitical issues, these projects seem greatly popular in contrast to Western alternatives. African countries are receptive to Chinese investment as it gives them concrete, tangible infrastructure, a stark contrast with the Western model which sees the dumping of aid mostly into social services.
The real neo-colonial power grab is coming from the West. France notoriously still controls monetary policy of many West African nations through the West African Franc, which is still pegged to the Euro. Many national reserves are handily located in French banks. There are ongoing Western military operations in various African nations with the French having a strong troop presence in their former colonies.
This display of hard power and economic control that hinder the sovereignty of African nations only makes Chinese offerings of investment seem more attractive. The fallout of these neo-colonial attitudes in policy has only hurt Western interests, as seen with the series of coups in Western Africa where Western-backed democracies were toppled by anti-West oriented despots in direct response to Western involvement in the region. If the West wants to have a chance in garnering important relations with African states, it has to reorientate its policy. Instead of perpetuating neo-colonial institutions and military intervention, the West should begin investing in soft power across the continent and engaging with African states as partners to see where investment is needed.
“Leaders at the China-Africa Summit.” by GovernmentZA is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.