La présence de la Chine en Afrique

III. China’s presence on the African continent

To a Chinafrica?

Since the beginning of the 2000s, the Chinese presence in Africa is more and more noticed.

At first, China became interested in Africa as a supplier of raw materials, oil and some metals, which were necessary for its growth as a "factory of the world". Today, the conquest of Africa is part of the leading role that China wants to play in the world.

China has become Africa's largest trading partner.

According to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, Chinese imports from the continent were $ 75 billion in 2017 for exports of $ 95 billion. China imports oil, minerals and timber from Africa and exports consumer goods, including mobile phones, medicines, machinery and vehicles.

In ten years, more than 1 million Chinese settled there, while their country invested nearly 120 billion dollars. Relations, already almost fraternal, are warming up between China and Africa. In 2000, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation was created to strengthen their economic and trade relations.

The billions of dollars poured by China on the African continent have helped sustain growth. "China has helped generate endogenous growth in African countries. Thanks to it, Africa has emerged from its heavy reliance on raw materials. Be it the tremendous development of mobile telephony, the transport revolution and the construction of infrastructures opening up part of their territory, African countries owe much of this to China.

African leaders do not fail to praise the benefits of Chinese money. Already in 2008, the then Senegalese president, Abdoulaye Wade, "China has helped African nations to build infrastructure projects in record time ... a contract that would have five years to discuss, negotiate and sign with the World Bank takes three months with the Chinese authorities.”

A “win-win” project

There are several reasons for China's attractiveness for the African continent.

First, China has the largest foreign exchange reserves in the world, more than $ 3 trillion. Until now, a large portion of these reserves have been invested in treasury bills, but China is experiencing more in addition to the need to diversify these reserves given the precarious situation of the dollar and worries related to the US debt.

China's booming economy is becoming increasingly greedy for natural mineral resources, including oil, copper, nickel and gold. Whether for mineral resources or food, Africa offers great potential. Indeed, the continent is full of all types of minerals such as oil or copper, and the large amount of arable land.

Africa is also interested in China. Indeed, China is a developing country with a successful growth model. African leaders see it as an opportunity to learn from it. China's financial resources enable it to import resources from Africa and in return, help it finance its urgent need for infrastructure, including roads, railways, ports and electrical systems.

The project of the new Silk road:

For now, the project's maps show mainly investment programs on the East African coast, particularly in Kenya, Djibouti and Egypt.

In Djibouti, the construction of the giant port of Doraleh, but especially the opening of the first external military base of the People's Liberation Army This military settlement at the entrance to the Bab el-Mandeb strait allows China to secure the maritime component of the OBOR project, especially its imports in hydrocarbure.

China is no longer just investing in local infrastructure, it is also seeking to develop intermodal transport corridors to link and integrate the different territories and African states

China plans to connect the ports of East Africa to those of West Africa by rail. this network would link the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean.

What profit?

It is certain, however, that Chinese investments imply several potential gains for the continent. First, the scale of Africa's infrastructure needs is substantial: it would amount to nearly US $ 38 billion a year. China helps to meet this need in part. The lower costs of transporting goods and people are expected to benefit the local economy, in addition to the potential job creation of these Chinese investments.