Africa the spectator as titans US, China clash

US President Barack Obama (right) with Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao. The battle for Africa is not one for present resources but future potential. The real contest is between China’s hard power and America’s soft power. Photo/REUTERS 

By DANIEL K. KALINAKI The EastAfrican

In Summary

• US President Barack Obama, scheduled to speak at the University of Cape Town on Sunday, is expected to outline his vision of America’s engagement with a resource-rich continent where China’s influence has potential implications for not only economic growth and development, but the nascent experiment with democracy and institution-building.
• China overtook the US as sub-Saharan Africa’s largest trading partner in 2009 but both remain key markets, with total trade between the three regions increasing every year over the past decade or so.

As the Chinese make deep inroads into Africa, America is counting on soft power — and the continent’s young people — to stay on top.

When the United States ambassador to Uganda, Scott Delisi, arrived in Kampala last year, it took about four weeks before a slot could be found for him to present his credentials to President Yoweri Museveni.

When his Chinese counterpart, Zhao Yali, arrived in Kampala, it took only four days. There is perhaps little to read in such minor details beyond scheduling difficulties but there is no doubt that China’s influence in Africa has grown significantly, on the back of Beijing’s infrastructure diplomacy.

US President Barack Obama, scheduled to speak at the University of Cape Town on Sunday, is expected to outline his vision of America’s engagement with a resource-rich continent where China’s influence has potential implications for not only economic growth and development, but the nascent experiment with democracy and institution-building.

China overtook the US as sub-Saharan Africa’s largest trading partner in 2009 but both remain key markets, with total trade between the three regions increasing every year over the past decade or so.

America’s trade with Africa rose from about $30 billion in 2001 to just over $100 billion 10 years later, while China’s grew more dramatically, from about $10 billion to about $130 billion over the same period, according to collated figures from the UN and other official sources.

President Obama is unlikely to announce any major departures from the existing US policy towards sub-Saharan Africa, which has at its core an emphasis on building democracy, promoting development, supporting commerce, and strengthening security.

The US already has major policy instruments in its dealings with Africa, including the President’s Emergency Fund for Aids Relief (Pepfar), the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), the Millennium Challenge Act and at least two more recent initiatives on food security and climate change.

A lot has been made of China’s growing influence in Africa and its policy of non-interference in domestic political affairs, which makes it an attractive partner for many of the continent’s less-than-democratic leaders.

However, the political and economic parallels between China and the US in Africa need to be put into context.

In reality, there is very little direct competition between Chinese and American firms in Africa. Most of the US firms are involved in the higher-end of the market, such as renewable energy, computer software and medical equipment, while Chinese firms dominate the lower, consumer-goods category.

The point of confluence is oil. But here again both the US and China simply dominate the trade in Africa’s natural resources. A lot of the growth in trade over the past decade has been fuelled by an increase in exports of crude oil from Africa to the two powers.

The difference is that China has diversified its appetite for other natural resources and grown its exports to Africa much faster, overtaking the US in this area a decade ago in 2003.

The bigger story about China and US interest in Africa is actually the lack of effective African presence in the US and China markets.

Although the two countries have gradually opened the door to duty-free exports to their markets, African countries still export very little and when they do it is mostly raw materials like crude oil, timber and mineral ores.