China and Land in Africa

History shows that Africans and Chinese people had relations in ancient times.

There is evidence of medieval linkages, including the 14th century journeys of Somali scholar (and explorer) Sa’id of Mogadishu and the Moroccan scholar Ibn Battuta.

Also, in the 15th century the Ming Dynasty voyages of Chinese admiral Zheng involved sailing to Africa.

Modern socio-political and economic relations between Africa and the People’s Republic of China were established during the era of Mao Zedong (the founder of modern-day China).

Fifty-two years ago, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly voted to expel the Republic of China (then the official name for Taiwan) and replace it with the People’s Republic of China ((simply known as China).

Chinese nationalist president Chiang Kai-shek, who fled to Taiwan after losing the civil war, held the UN seat for China until 1971.

That year, under UN Resolution 2758, China received voting support from 26 African nations to take over the seat of president Chiang Kai-shek (Taiwan).

It prompted Mao Zedong to state “it is our African brothers who have carried us into the UN”.

Today, Eswatini and the Republic of Somaliland are the only African states to have official relations with Taiwan.

If this does not make people understand how much support African states give to China, I don’t know what will.

SINOPHOBIA

In the West’s mind, China’s gift-giving behaviour in Africa is unacceptable.

They describe it with nomenclatures such as strategic bribery, weaponised corruption, rogue aid and strategic corruption.

Western scholars and politicians try hard to link it to violence, poverty or human rights failures in Africa.

To them, gift-giving must come with gift reciprocation.

So, on behalf of Africa (yet unsolicited by Africa), they worry about what the payback entails.

The idea that Europe would place itself as a comparison to China in terms of imperialism is ridiculous.

It is like expecting Africans to suddenly wipe out 500 years of exploitative relations with Europe and replace them with modern-day Sino-African relations that began in the 1970s.

Even among those who do not support the direction of current Sino-African relations (like me), it is infuriating. So that it may appear as though Africans support exploitative Sino-African relations.

We don’t, and we are pestering our governments to negotiate better and insert our interests into these dealings.

I also think there is no such thing as African Sinophobia. We are open to all, as we have always been with Europe and the United States.

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

There is a link between attractiveness to foreign investors and uncultivated land.

Africa’s strength is that it accounts for about 60% of the world’s arable land.

Its weakness is that most African countries do not achieve 25% of their potential yield.

It is not surprising there is increased interest in large-scale investment in agriculture in Africa.

China is not alone in the scramble for African land for mining.

Other countries include Germany (green hydrogen), the US and Western European countries (oil and gas and mining), China and Iran (extraterritorial cultivation), Canada and Australia (oil and gas and mining), and the list goes on.

International pressures, not just that of China, contribute to why Africa cannot feed Africa.

Europe and the US criticise African countries for their loan deals with China. While I think these deals should stop, I am sure if European countries were economically poor and needed funds, they would, like most African countries, not reject those deals.

CREDITOR CLOUT

As of 2020, the top five countries most indebted to China are not all in Africa. They were Djibouti (43%), Angola (41%), Maldives (38%), Laos (30%) and the Republic of Congo (29%).

Additional information from the Harvard Business Review indicates that as of 2020, “the Chinese state and its subsidiaries have lent about US$1,5 trillion in direct loans and trade credits to more than 150 countries around the globe.

“This has turned China into the world’s largest official creditor – surpassing traditional official lenders such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund or all Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and creditor governments combined.”

China rules the world financially, not only in Africa.

African governments must embrace their responsibilities on how to deal with this situation.

One should not accept all gifts. Politically and economically, nothing in life is free.

There must be some sort of payback for “gifts” African countries receive from China.

How African leaders use Chinese loans and aid has good, bad and ugly sides.

In all things, our governments have a duty to use it for the good of our citizens.

• Uchendu Eugene Chigbu is associate professor (land administration), department of land and spatial sciences at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (Nust). The views expressed here are entirely his, and not those of Nust.