Is China trying to colonise Africa with free gifts?

Is China trying to colonise Africa with free gifts?

China has raised eyebrows after announcing a $31.6 million grant for a regional headquarters in Nigeria.

The Economic Community of West African States is to use these funds for a new building in Abuja.

A press release said Jean-Claude Brou, President of ECOWAS, called it “a mark of goodwill” from China.

However, critics are questioning the motives behind the donation, saying that the move positions China at the center of African politics.

Earlier this year, a published report in the French daily, Le Monde, alleged that Beijing spied on the African Union through the computer systems it helped install.

Citing anonymous sources, Le Monde reported that data was transferred from the AU systems in Ethiopia to its servers in Shanghai.

China’s foreign ministry termed the report as “groundless accusations”  as the AU maintained it as “baseless.”

“People will interpret this as a symbolic expression of China’s growing presence in Africa,” says Ian Taylor, a professor in international relations and African political economics at the University of St. Andrews, in Scotland.

Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line in Tsavo, Kenya
Workers building railway track sections for the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line in Tsavo, Kenya. Photo/CNN

“But the real question is 60 years after independence (for most member states), why does ECOWAS think it’s acceptable for a foreign power to build its headquarters?” he posed.

ECOWAS did not respond to a request for comment. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it has consistently supported the organisation “in enhancing its capacity building and playing a bigger role in peaceful development in West Africa and Africa.”

“Our projects are welcomed in Africa,” MOFA spokesman Lu Kang said, adding he had “noticed some western media’s groundless accusations.”

It’s not the first time China has constructed buildings at the heart of Sub-Saharan African politics for free.

In 2012, it handed over the ultra-modern African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

With a price-tag of $200 million, it was China’s largest aid construction project since the 1970s. Last year, China broke ground on a fully-funded $58 million parliament in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.

“Obviously, the (ECOWAS) building itself doesn’t mean that China is going to extend its influence, but it does send a signal that China is positioning itself as a trusted friend of African presidents,” says Taylor.

“That influences all sorts of decision making processes … there’s no such thing as a free gift.”

Giving developing nations buildings designed to help their political institutions prosper is part of that expanded aid program, says Aaron Tesfaye, a professor in political science at William Paterson University, New Jersey.

“We are now seeing China being a responsible nation, with peacekeeping forces in Darfur and Mali,” he says. “So I can see where financing ECOWAS is a step forward in that responsibility.”

Taylor agrees that in some African nations, such as Ethiopia, Chinese construction projects are viewed as “positive.”

Chinese employees of the new railway which links Addis Ababa to Djibouti. Photo/CNN
Chinese employees of the new railway which links Addis Ababa to Djibouti. Photo/CNN

“The cultural power of China in the world today is a reality and something that is being embraced, given its economy cannot be ignored,” says Olayoku. “I don’t see anything wrong with China building the ECOWAS headquarters, as long as it does not impose its values.”

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