Africa’s Engagement with External Powers
Recent years have seen a greater focus on the African continent from external powers for various geopolitical and geoeconomic reasons. While the continent has consistently been home to six or seven of the fastest growing economies in the world in the last two decades, it is also home to significant demographic and technological changes that promise to propel it towards greater strategic importance in global politics. Indeed the population of the continent is set to grow towards two billion people by the year 2050, making it central to some of the relocation of production centres taking place in the global economy. Various countries have stepped up their engagements with the continent through both bilateral relations and through the now fashionable ‘Africa summits’. China, India, Turkey, Japan, the EU and South Korea are just some of the global actors courting the continent through Africa summits. The summits cover a range of issue areas from the economy, international politics, migration, climate change, development finance, peace and security, and enhancing cultural and people to people exchanges. This phenomenon has thus caused many on the continent to question their utility, and whether African counterparts have actively used the summits to advance their strategic interests and priorities.
While focused on Africa’s relations with China, the following book is just as relevant for Africa’s engagement with other external powers in a changing geopolitical environment. The often simplistic view of China’s influence on the African continent often downplays the influence of the United States and European powers on the continent, which have maintained deep economic, political and cultural relations with African countries after the colonial period. In an evolving multipolar world order that is still taking shape, most African countries do not have the luxury of choosing which relations to have, instead relying on cooperation with countries in the global North and South (Mthembu 2020: 3). It is thus ultimately up to African countries and institutions to use their relations with the world to advance their development aspirations as captured in documents such as Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want (AU Commission 2015).
As a continent playing host to the largest number of individual countries, most of which are landlocked, the question of Africa’s relations with external powers will remain important in the years to come. While bilateral relations will remain a key element of Africa’s relations with external powers, it is important to reflect on the various possibilities available for engaging with external powers in order to enhance African priorities as agreed to by the various regional economic communities (RECs) and the African Union (AU). It is argued that African countries and pan-African institutions could use the various Africa summits to coordinate their positions and development priorities in order to support regional continental and maritime interconnectivity projects on the continent, thus further catalysing regional interconnectivity and integration on the continent. The Africa summits should thus be used to enhance agreed upon priorities articulated by the regional economic communities (RECs) and the African Union (AU). The increased coordination would assist in enhancing African agency and build capacity for implementing regional infrastructure projects as seen through Agenda 2063 and the twelve flagship projects of the AU. The first mid-year coordination meeting of the African Union and the Regional Economic Communities was held in July 2019 in Niger, in a move that aims to build greater cohesion and coordination across the continent (Mthembu 2020: 2).
While the contributors to this publication do not advocate for any singular approach or policy to govern Africa’s engagement with external powers, they do agree on the utility of enhanced coordination between the individual nation-states, regional economic communities and the African Union when it comes to the continent’s relations with external powers in an evolving multipolar world order. They also agree that greater coordination will enhance Africa’s agency in global politics, ensuring that the various summits converge around the implementation of Africa’s outlined development priorities. Various authors do however disagree on the degree to which nation-states, regional economic communities or the African Union should take the lead. Indeed instead of embarking on a path towards an Africa wide policy or strategy, some would prefer to see common positions on specific issue areas or to rather see sub-regional strategies at the level of the regional economic communities. There is also an important debate about the role of larger African economies, and to what extent they should be leading efforts towards continental autonomy and better coordination. This is a healthy conversation, and one that should involve not only the scholarly community, but also include the various diplomatic tracks involved in Africa’s international relations.
Why the Rise of China Matters for Africa’s Changing Geopolitics
The contemporary rise of China to assume a geopolitical position more in line with its strong historical role in global politics and the global economy is significant for the African continent given the exponential growth in Africa’s relations with China on all the various diplomatic tracks in recent decades. This is especially significant given the different manner in which China has established and deepened relations with its African counterparts, putting forward the mantra of win-win partnerships, mutual benefit and the respect for principles such as sovereignty and the non-interference in the domestic affairs of African countries, which was welcomed on the continent (Mthembu 2018, 2020).
At a time when much of the Western world looked at Africa through the lens of official development assistance (ODA), thus mostly relating to it through a donor–recipient type of relationship, the Chinese state was rolling out the red carpet for African leaders in the establishment of the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation in Beijing in the year 2000. This Forum was also clearly not just about development cooperation, but about cooperation at multilateral fora, peace and security, trade and investment, and about encouraging Chinese state and non-state enterprises to move beyond the border of China to seek trade and investment opportunities on the African continent in their efforts to become not only Chinese enterprises, but global enterprises. China thus saw various economic and political opportunities despite the known challenges that plagued the continent. The ascendance of China in Africa’s international relations thus forced Western countries to refocus their gaze on Africa since they immediately became worried about being displaced on the continent they had long dominated (Mthembu 2018, 2020). Indeed China’s growing role in Africa can be seen as an important factor in providing more options for African stakeholders in their engagements with external powers. Rather than replacing or displacing Africa’s relations with the West, it has arguably forced Western partners to think about ways in which they can also intensify their engagements with the continent through various economic and political tools.
China’s prominence in global affairs and the extensive reach of its political and economic footprint reinforces its status as a global power in the international arena. At the core of global China is a comprehensive grand strategy that frames its economic, foreign policy and military strategies in pursuit of great power status, as well as the advancement of national interests across a range of strategic domains. China views Africa as a pivotal partner in the realisation of its grand strategy goals, in alignment with its peaceful rise and proclaimed orientation as a responsible power.
A growing amount of scholarly analysis on China’s strategic thinking highlights the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as the centrepiece of China’s foreign policy, a transcontinental endeavour to enhance connectivity across Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. The implementation of the BRI has seen the development of hard and soft infrastructure, expansion of investment and promotion of cross-cultural ties. Africa stands to benefit from the BRI given the glaring need for infrastructure development, development cooperation, increased trade and improved competitiveness across the continent. For China, Africa’s geostrategic importance translates into access to the continent’s vast natural resources and mineral wealth and harnessing opportunities for further projection of its soft power.
China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative is set to connect over 65 countries at a cost of approximately $1 trillion, with the aim of improving the connectivity between China, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa in a process closely linked with the domestic ch...