China has been building roads, schools and factories in Africa for years. They promised Africans the jobs but what happens is they set up mini Chinese cities on African soil and hire only a few Africans at slave wages.
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The opening of China’s first military base in Africa gives an additional foothold in a region where it already has much sway, thanks to economic ties. Some commentators see Africa as Beijing’s chance to preserve its manufacturing dominance for future generations.
In a joint ceremony with a local honor guard, Chinese troops last week opened their new naval base in Djibouti, a tiny nation in East Africa which already leases land to several facilities of foreign militaries. The Chinese troops are stationed right next to the Pentagon’s only permanent base in Africa, as well as Japanese, French and Italian forces.
Shortly before the opening, Beijing suggested that it may deploy its troops on Djibouti’s border with Eritrea in the north, where the two African nations contest sovereignty over a mountain and an island. The hypothetical deployment would fill a vacuum left behind by some 450 Qatari peacekeeping troops, who were withdrawn in June amid the kingdom’s diplomatic spat with other Arab nations.
Chinese sailors stand on the deck of a Navy destroyer leaving Djibouti base for the Gulf of Aden © Global Look Press China’s 1st foreign naval base officially opens in Djibouti
Beijing stressed that the deployment has nothing to do with the opening of the base and would only be done under a UN mandate and with both parties to the conflict agreeing to this mediation.
China is already taking part in several UN peacekeeping missions in Africa, including in South Sudan, Mali and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and prides itself on being the biggest contributor of peacekeepers among permanent members of the UN Security Council, with over 2,500 people participating. Sceptics say Beijing milks its “minimal investment” in UN missions for propaganda effort.
China insists its military advances in Africa are purely logistical and aimed at supporting missions such as fighting piracy and providing humanitarian relief, although some experts see a potential for additional tension coming from increased militarization of the continent.
“The Americans have similar bases, not to mention the Europeans. So, on the ground itself, ultimately the African continent is becoming the staging ground for the next possibly-violent confrontation between the superpowers of the world in their so-called proxy battles,” African journalist and documentary filmmaker Ayo Johnson told RT.
Journalist Finian Cunningham concurs that the Chinese base may feed “American anxieties that Beijing is flexing its muscles globally,” but doubts it will go any further.
“China has legitimate concerns to safeguard its shipping routes through one of the globe's choke points via the Red Sea. The move is unlikely to spark a US-China military clash anytime soon, but the setting up of Chinese military base in Africa will add to American strategic fears that their global power is being undermined,” he told RT.
Investment protection
The trade route through the Gulf of Aden is far from the only thing the Chinese deem worth protecting in Africa. Over the past decade, China has significantly boosted its trade with the Dark Continent, rising from less than $5 billion in 2000 to over $103 billion during the 2015 peak, after which a drop in commodity prices tanked Africa’s exports, according to China Africa Research Initiative (CARI), a Johns Hopkins University research project.
The Chinese government has been heavily investing in African infrastructure projects. Even the HQ of the African Union, which opened in 2012 in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, was a $200 million gift from Beijing. Among other notable examples are the Merowe Hydropower Dam in Sudan, the Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway and Algeria’s East–West Highway, in all of which Chinese funding and contractors played a crucial part.
Private Chinese money is playing a significant role in African economies too – bigger than previously believed, according to a recent report by McKinsey & Company. The consulting firm estimates that over 10,000 businesses owned by Chinese capital are operating in Africa today, 3.7 times more than listed by the Chinese Commerce Ministry. The report says 90 percent of those firms are private, challenging the view that the Chinese government is leading an African investment drive.
Among Chinese success stories in Africa is mobile phone producer Tecno, which won over the market with innovations targeting the specific needs of the local market. These include a phone featuring keyboard in Amharic, Ethiopia’s official language, camera software adapted to better capture darker skin tones, or longer-lasting batteries in budget models. The company is estimated to have more than 40 percent market share in Sub-Saharan Africa.
