COVID-19 and The New Scramble for Africa

Photo: U.S. first lady Melania Trump interacts with children in Accra, Ghana, Carlo Allegri. Reuters, 2018.

Covid-19 and The New Scramble for Africa: How the global Coronavirus crisis has become the latest stage in the battle Between China and the United States for Influence in Africa

written by Ayanda Tambo

China’s rise to international significance came about as the result of exponential economic and geopolitical growth in the 1980s, aided by the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. These shifts in the global balance of power led China to engage in a Cold War-Esque rivalry with the US. In the twenty-first century, the US and the PRC have firmly held their positions as the most powerful nations on the global geopolitical, economic and military stages.

To understand the centrality of Africa to the rivalry between the US and China, and conversely, the impact of foreign influence on the continent, it is vital to comprehend the history this is grounded in. From the fifteenth to the twentieth century, African history was dominated by the events and effects of European colonialism and native African resistance. Between the 1880s and the beginning of the First World War, European powers negotiated the territorial division of the continent amongst themselves. This period is widely known as the “Scramble for Africa”. The natural resources and power this domination granted them fueled much of Europe’s economic growth in the twentieth century; the impact of which those in the West continue to benefit from today.

As European colonial power was diminished in the twentieth century, dozens of independent nations arose from the ruins of European dominance. Direct imperial control disappeared, and subsequently, a new type of relationship between African nations and the West emerged. This was defined as “neo-colonialism” by former Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah. The neo-colonial state, Nkrumah argued, despite presenting the “outward trappings of international sovereignty”, continued to be under externally directed economic, monetary, and political control within the form of loans and debt, imposed currencies, and aid policies which create structures of dependency. Africa has thus remained at the centre of international bids for influence and hegemony.

In the twenty-first century, European nations are no same tactic against one another. Pompeo claimed that longer the only source of foreign influence in Africa. most US foreign assistance is grant-based rather than China, in particular, has been the dominant player in loan-based, intending to promote “transparent, private what can be considered to be a ‘new scramble’ for pow- sector-led economic growth that benefits all parties” in er on the continent. The People’s Republic has rushed to contrast to the manipulative dependency dynamics he strengthen diplomatic and economic ties in an attempt accuses China of fostering. to gain material benefits domestically, and supersede the influence of the U.S, their biggest geopolitical rival. In this way, Covid-19 has become the latest battleChina’s most visible project in Africa has been the Belt ground in this fight for international predominance. and Road Initiative (BRI), a trillion-dollar global infra- It is a battle, as the ongoing struggle to strengthen structure project designed to strengthen Chinese trade economic ties, that the US appears to be losing. The within Asia, Europe and Africa. Forty out of fifty-five Trump administration has proclaimed itself to be “AfAfrican states have signed agreements with the Chi- rica’s most committed partner in promoting transparnese government to become part of the Belt and Road ency and combating the scourge of infectious disease”, economic corridor, welcoming Chinese financial aid whilst attempting to further discredit China by calling and construction of infrastructures, such as new roads, Covid-19 the “China Virus”, and even “Kung-Flu”. Despite railways and airports. East Af- these efforts to disparage China’s rica was the initial focus, with railway and road projects be- “Such a statement apposition, Chinese influence and the reach of the BRI remains. While ing the most high-profile elements of BRI action. The BRI pears to accuse China of Covid-19 may have strengthened political competition and fueled has overseen the construction economic rising Sinophobia, the pandemic of a railway between Ethiopia and Djibouti, internal railways neo-colonialism” has not eroded Beijing’s relationship with African governments and within Kenya, and the cre- ruling elites. African governments ation of the Kampala-Entebbe have eagerly accepted aid from the Expressway, Uganda’s first-ever toll road. Moreover, Chi- Chinese government and private sector donors. The na has eclipsed the previous dominance of the US and Alibaba Foundation, the Jack Ma Foundation, and Jack EU as it has become Africa’s biggest trading partners; Ma himself have put a huge emphasis on public health in 2017 Sino-African trade was valued at a whopping assistance in Africa during the Covid-19 crisis. In April, $148 billion, compared to the US which was valued at the Africa CDC received its third donation of medical only $39 billion. equipment and supplies from the Jack Ma and Alibaba foundations including 4.6 million masks, 500,000 The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has pushed to dis- swabs and test kits, 200,000 face shields and more. pel the idea that their involvement in Africa is a neo-co- Alibaba Group is the world’s twelfth most significant lonialist project by framing their economic relationship contributor to coronavirus relief efforts, having donatas a counter to Western neo-colonialism and a source of ed $144,200,0000 worldwide. The Alibaba founder has native empowerment in Africa. China Daily, a state-con- been a CCP member since the 1980s, and some think trolled newspaper, described the BRI as an “emancipat- the Party’s influence on his actions may be more extening” initiative that spurs “economic pan-Africanism” and sive than is widely admitted. Whether directly involved strengthens “bonds of solidarity between all indigenous in Ma and Alibaba’s philanthropic decisions or not, the and diaspora ethnic groups of African descent”. The US Chinese government has certainly seized the opporgovernment, however, has made no secret of its strong tunity to make Ma a symbol of positive Chinese fordisagreement with this characterisation. Mike Pompeo, eign involvement, giving legitimacy to China’s claims the US Secretary of State, warned that “countries should of partnership with African countries. These efforts by be wary of authoritarian regimes with empty promis- governmental and private sector donors place China at es”, warning that Chinese lending to Africa creates an the forefront of the international response to the pan“unsustainable debt burden”. Such a statement ap- demic, suggesting that Pompeo’s dismissal of China as pears to accuse China of economic neo-colonialism, full of “empty promises” towards Africa, is more political highlighting how the US and China have employed the rhetoric than truth.