battlefield next - africa

8/3/2019 Battlefield Next - Africa

1/3

If time plays in a cycle then perhaps the next destination is Africa. With Asia

already bursting with development, Africa will play a crucial role in running

the engines of the giants India and China. The question is whether it will be

able to accommodate the two giants simultaneously and fairly. The concern

is also about sustainable development of the native African population and

their secure futures. And for a long time it will be unclear whose futures are

more at stake than others.

The gravest requirement and investment is in the field of infrastructure

which is blooming at a frantic pace. The Chinese are building presidential

palaces (as souvenirs to the governments), railway tracks, roads and ports

across the continent. With their advent into strategic areas like mining,

railways and ports the Chinese investment might well be beyond 90 billion

US dollars (counting unrecorded deals) while its bilateral trade stands at 130

billion dollars.

Just as the reasons for Chinas interest in Africa are complex, so too are the

reasons that so many African leaders are receptive to Beijings entreaties.

First, China can provide much-needed funds for development (or simply to

avoid become more impoverished). This is important because many African

states are desperate for investment and aid, and, (promises to the contrary

notwithstanding) because many Western countries are providing relatively

less aid or providing aid in ways that are less appealing to recipient

countries. Second, Chinas approach to providing aid or investment is a

congenial one to many African leaders. China generally requires only that therecipient country refuse to recognize Taiwan. Beyond this, Chinas approach

is, to many African leaders, refreshing: it is pure capitalism, without

attempts to work social or political changes through the pursuit of wealth.

Besides, the Chinese do seem to cut their way through labyrinthine

government policies no meetings, no environmental impact assessment, no

demand for anti-corruption measures and no check on private benefits for

local leaders.

Long ignoring this case of Dutch Disease, the after effects of this in-pour of

wealth have been neglected. The cases of over reliability on one goods(banana republic), a marginalized manufacturing sector, over dependency on

FDI from a single source shall culminate into a deep hangover for the over-

zealous countries.

Contrast this with Indian investments - mainly in the private sector, notably

in telecom, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing. Interestingly, some Punjabi


2/3

farmers have got farming outsourced from the Kenyan farms where the

natives find themselves unable of being able to handle vast stretches of

land. Besides, we are doing, what we do best being a soft power. Despite

the relatively neglected role of India in Africa compared with that of China,

Indias trade with the continent has grown ten-fold over 4 years to $39.5

billion in 2008-09 (over half of the USs $77 billion). The turning point, came

in 2008 with the India-Africa summit in Delhi, which led to a doubling of

credit to Africa (to $5.4 billion over 5 years), a focus on African human

capital development programs, and a duty free preferential tariff scheme for

the 34 least developed countries in Africa (with 94% of all tariff lines

opened).

The young population, the second fastest growth rate of any continent, and

the possession of nearly a third of the worlds natural resource value are the

main motivations for Indias interest in Africa. While Chinese investments

were merely extractive in purpose, Indias were more transformative,

focusing on small and medium businesses, agricultural productivity,

information technology, and investments in health care.

The mounting investments in Africa specially come into limelight by the

name of expenditure on development. Vastly simplified, the theory is that if

rich countries provide a big push of aid, and if the aid is used to address a

wide range of problems simultaneously, then people in poor countries will, in

a generation or so, begin to enjoy the kind of economic development that

those in the west have seen. Broadly speaking, this approach emphasizesthe transfer of wealth from rich to poor countries, the targeting of aid to

meet human needs, and a strong role for rich and poor governments. A

second model is similar to the first, but with much less faith in the power of

governments and aid agencies to meet the needs of people. Argued most

provocatively by William Easterly, this model accepts the need for Western

countriesincluding governmentsto contribute generously to the

development needs of those in poor countries. And it accepts a limited role

for Western aid agencies in fostering economic development. But it is

deeply skeptical of the efficacy of conventional aid programs because they

rely on plans developed by outside experts and provide little room for aidrecipients to influence the programs designed to help them.

Recent time brought an unpredicted change to the African black waters

social revolution. Prima facie it has over thrown authoritative governments,

but on second thoughts it has triggered something bigger. The Africans are

more aware of their place in the world than ever. The policies of neo-


3/3

colonialism cannot fool them forever. The issues of drainage of wealth and

resources from Africa can no longer be put on back burner. But equally true

is that the rate of development can only be accelerated by putting certain

industries on accelerated rate while ensuring that the development process

in all the areas goes along simultaneously.

As an African official candidly put the Chinese are investing in the

present of Africa while the Indians are investing in its future. Sooner

or later, the Africans will rise enough to judge what is right for them; none of

the players in their development process would want to show a laggard

performance.

battlefield next - africa

Documents