An evaluation of the west & east interest in Africa

An evaluation of the west & east interest in Africa Western countries as well as the far East have increased their presence in Africa over a couple of decades.

The East, especially China's economic interest and investments in Africa have particularly been under scrutiny.

However, while some are optimistic, others are concerned as to what the East and West's real interest in Africa is all about.

Many have argued that the engagement of the Far East is apparently meant to repeat what western countries did decades ago when they exploited African resources through imperialism.

This has led many to question whether countries like China are the new colonisers, an exploiter or a partner in development. This shows that the East's involvement with Africa is not new. The first phase of East's engagement with Africa began during the Bandung Conference of Non-Aligned Nations in 1955 led by the Chinese.

There was a substantial improvement in the relationship towards the end of 1950s as a result of China's deteriorating ties with the Soviet Union. China was then looking for allies in Africa to establish a counter balance against Soviet hegemony and western imperialism. This relationship with Africa plummeted in the 1980s when China shifted its focus to domestic economic development.

Many Africans have mixed feelings about African politics regarding the problems, solutions and the improvements the continent has and is currently facing. As always there are diverse and numerous way to solve problems and find solutions. It can safely be said that the one thing we need as Africans is to determine our own fate without external forces and do so on our own behalf.

African countries mostly get the short end of the stick when it comes to international relations and foreign policy as they are deemed inferior at these platforms.

African countries soon after they gained independence had one party states and failing if not stagnant economies, which allowed the West to once again to infiltrate Africa through Economic Structural Adjustment Programmes – Structural Adjustment Programmes with specific conditions for African countries such as the multi-party elections and reducing government control of markets and financial institutions.

These Structural Adjustment programmes helped African countries that were in dire straits because of loans from International Financial Institutions such as the World Bank, the IMF and aid from USAID. It led to investment by multinational companies which boosted the economies and much needed job creation at the time.

The common denominator for African countries when dealing with the West however, is that they is a guarantee that the West wants to have a say in the domestic policies of African countries and this has become the norm with reference to Libya that can now be placed among failing or failed states, and the involvement of the West forms a large part of the blame. This undermines the Governments in place in African countries which causes more harm than good. Once the sovereignty of countries is challenged and undermined it leads to political and economic unrest, which has been the case with Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, post 2011.

The rise of the East specifically China and India and the coming together of B.R.I.C.S (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) have helped create some equilibrium.

Mixed feelings and notions towards China investing in Africa however, cannot be ignored as they have injected much into Africa. The vast infrastructural developments across the continent can be attributed to African leaders accepting the “look East” policy over the past decade.

The look East policy can be deemed as neo-colonialism by pro-Africa pundits that have the perception that the Chinese are here to do more harm than good.

It is no secret that the African continent is the cradle of mankind and has an abundance of raw materials that are not accessible to the rest of the world. In any investment transaction the investing party must be sold on why they should invest and in Africa's case, raw materials and minerals is what we bring to the table when seeking investment.

Besides military power and supremacy, the African continent can be deemed to be at the centre of the feud between East and West through trade relations and investment.

The stance taken by the East in their foreign policy has given them a strong hold on the African continent.

The Chinese do not interfere in the domestic politics of any country where they are investing or invest in. Could this be the reason that African leaders have looked east for socio-economic development for their countries?

The matter at hand is that Africa determines its future without interference from the rest of the world, to not just sit at the bargaining table, but bargain as well.

The reality is no matter what ally we as Africans choose to partner and conduct trade with, none of them have the raw material potential that the African continent has.

It is a fact that everyone that does business with Africa has noticed and to this end, Africa needs to move towards manufacturing the goods it needs from the raw materials extracted and determine the market the value of products produced. The future needs our own input to ensure that we add value to our raw materials and own the means of production.



*Farai Munoriarwa is fourth year student studying towards a Bachelors in Media and Political Studies (Honours) at the University of Namibia.