Chinese FM begins high-powered Africa tour
January 10, 2015, 8:40 am

Critics of Chinese investment in Africa have said the Asian giant harbours neo-colonial intentions [Xinhua]

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi is due in Kenya on Saturday for the start of a 5-nation African tour till 17 January.

Chinese Foreign Ministers have made Africa the first port of call every year since 1991.

“Africa has been the place where each Chinese Foreign Minister chooses to visit first at the outset of a new year, showcasing the great importance attached by the Chinese side to Africa,” said Hong Lei, spokesman of Chinese foreign ministry on Thursday in Beijing.

During his Africa tour, the Chinese Foreign Minister will visit Kenya, Sudan, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Chinese President Xi Jinping had also chosen Africa for his first official visit after he took office, in March 2013.

Xi said last year that China, which has long been accused of using Africa as a source of natural resources and a market for its goods, will aim to make the continent more self-reliant.

China will “teach them how to fish instead of giving them fishes directly,” to help them realize independent and sustainable development, Xi noted.

Beijing’s relations with Africa have flourished in the past decade with massive Chinese investment across the continent.

China has announced it is increasing its loans for African countries by $10 billion, bringing the total to $30 billion, and will also expand the China-Africa development fund by $2 billion to $5 billion.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang outlined China’s Africa policy in an address at the African Union headquarters in May last year.

China-Africa trade totaled more than $200 billion in 2013, and Chinese direct investment in Africa grew 44 per cent. The number has doubled from $100 billion in 2008.

Through its BRICS partner, South Africa, Beijing is already consolidating ties with African countries, where China is increasingly turning for resources, markets and diplomatic influence.

South Africa is hosting the regional African center of the newly announced BRICS Bank.

Critics of Chinese investment in Africa have said the Asian giant harbours neo-colonial intentions.

“We welcome foreign direct investment (FDI), we are not discriminating…We’ve taken money from Germany, the U.K. the United States – why was it not a story, why is it a story when the Chinese do so?” South African President Jacob Zuma said last year.

According to the African Development Bank, some 85 per cent of China’s exports from Africa are raw materials, such as oil and minerals.

The Chinese government has been battling to address these concerns raised by an unbalanced pattern of trade, even as it finances massive infrastructure projects in the continent.

Despite rising security risks posed by violent groups like Boko Haram and the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus, African countries are registering growth rates surpassing the global average.

Sub-Saharan African growth should top 5 per cent this year, the International Monetary Fund forecasts, rising to 5.8 percent in 2015.

Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, should grow 7.3 per cent next year, whilst Kenya is in line for a 6.2 per cent boost.

TBP and Agencies