As the Chinese continue their plans of expansionism and dig in their heels across Africa with the aim of developing Africa, it is worth posing the question: is this the noble truth or is it a ploy? If so, what are the Chineses' real intentions?

Before we get into China's expansionism into Africa, it's important to get a relative brief introduction into China (given that the Chinese Dynasty has been around for 4000 years). During that time, they have mastered diplomacy, strategy, politics, economics, military might and more. Although they have been around for 4000 years, the solidification of Chinese power into the modern world has been evident only in the last 100 years.

ECONOMIC REFORMS IN 1970s

Over the past forty plus years, and after the death of Chairman Mao Zedong in 1976 (the founder of modern Communist China), the Chinese began to work to restore their country into its former dynastic glory of the past. In 1978, the Communist Chinese government introduced major economic reforms to curb poverty, and its economic and political stagnations. The reforms first targeted the agriculture sector and peasant farmers to privatize land ownership with the caveat that the farmers provided a portion of their produce to the State for redistribution. This in turn increased the crop yield by 25% overtime as farmers began to work harder thereby setting the precedent to privatize other sections of the Communist Chinese economy which would later follow suit.

Chinese peasants turned into land owning farms in 1978 resulting in increase in productivity yield.

As a result of these reforms of 1978, and despite a growing population, the Chinese never went hungry again.

MODERN CHINA EMERGES (2000s)

Fast forward 40 years since the economic reforms, China has managed to creep up the world rankings on many matrices including (most notably) lifting nearly 700+ million of its citizens out of poverty and by becoming the second economic powerhouse, second only to the US. China has also managed to increase literacy rate to a staggering 96.4% of its 1.4+ billion population. It has further amassed the largest military power on earth in terms of manpower.

Further, in 2008, China began to develop its public transportation networks at home to help better move its people around the country given the limited space in the skies for air travel and its ever increasing population. As a result, in 2008, China began working on the largest rail project in the world until they perfected the costing structure and technology.

CHINA TODAY

Fast forward 11 years later, China now has nearly 30,000 km of railway connecting nearly all of China together and enabling the transport of millions of people.

Those are astonishing accomplishments and numbers by all accounts.

Railway Map of China as of January 2019.

AFRICA, THE LAND OF OPPORTUNITY:

Africa has immense potential given its young and growing population, abundance of natural resources such as oil, minerals, fertile lands, fresh water, ocean access, and strategic seaports and chokepoints and much more. Africa by many accounts is the last truly still unrealized continental market waiting to be globalized and China sees this opportunity. Further, by most indices, the African governments are fairly unsophisticated, where power is often held at the hands of the few and corruption is rampant.

China has recognized these weaknesses and they are digging all the way in for the long haul, despite these risks. Further serving Chinese interests in Africa is the US and EU being entangled with the conflicts across the Middle East (Syria, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon and Yemen), and distracted by trade wars and indirect conflict with Russia to name but a few. This is further exacerbated by the uncertain policies of the Trump administration affecting allies and foes.

THE WEST IS DISTRACTED, CHINA IS EXCITED

For the first time ever, the US has actually began to slowly reduce its troop numbers and pulling out of Africa and China has started filling in this vacuum. Although China had slowly started working in Africa by providing troops for peace-keeping missions, developing commercial opportunities and building economic ties, it has further increased its foothold by building its first ever overseas military base in Djibouti to secure those interests. An unprecedented move for the Chinese.

China has become a global superpower but it is yet to be tested militarily due to its strategic use of soft power. Given the apparent positive and unlimited cashflow that it has access to, China is not likely to have to resort to military force in Africa to achieve its strategic objectives across the continent.

A Chinese Naval Base in Djibouti, China's first overseas military base.

China has also been filling economic void by tapping into the needs and insecurities of African governments who so desperately need backing, cash, goods and services. China is busy digging into Africa metaphorically and literally. Since 2010, they have begun major infrastructure projects across every country in Africa (except for Swaziland) at the cost of local populations.

In 2018, the China-Africa Forum for Cooperation (FOCAC) summit was held in Beijing where China announced that it had set up a new $60 billion USD fund meant for Africa’s development. They have also secured more than ten major infrastructure and development projects in Africa including building refineries in Nigeria to building new cities in Egypt, laying the corner stone for Zimbabwe's new parliament, to building a cement factory in Zambia and building a special economic zone in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

These are major projects that the US nor EU could dream of building because the costs associated with these projects are so immense that the West lacks the financial capacity and political continuity to be able to achieve any such long term projects.

Further, in Angola, China has began building a massive 2000+ megawatt hydro plant meant to supply electricity to the entire country. All while having signed a massive exploration deal with Ghana to find the mineral Bauxite (a major ingredient in aluminum). In East Africa, next to its Naval base in Djibouti, China has began laying the foundation work for building more railways in Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti. They have also sponsored and funded railway projects in Nigeria and Angola.

When it comes to China, the West seems to be playing dice in the Middle East for short-term gain while China plays chess in Africa by setting long-term roots.

For many of these projects, China actually exports its own labour force to kickstart and finish the projects and handing over the upkeep and training of the local workforce over time.

A GAME OF CHESS: CHINA'S REAL INTENTIONS

The aggressive efforts in developing Africa has come at an ethical cost. With a growing population and the majority out of poverty, China hopes to export its labour intensive industries and manufacturing from China to the African underdeveloped countries where labour is even cheaper than in China. Further, China wants to free up its human capital and resources to focus on advancing other industries that will further contribute to China leaping forward well ahead of any developed country.

The security of natural resources is also becoming increasingly more important for China as it works to guarantee its economic and political dominance for the next 100 years. With a growing population China needs to have unlimited access to oil, farming lands, and metal minerals to secure its long term objectives of increasing its political and economic power.

This does not come without controversy. China has been criticized for providing extensive loans to corruption ridden countries, building major critical infrastructure across Africa where it is nearly impossible for these countries to either maintain the loans or payback the loans in any meaningful way. As a result, forcing sovereign countries to handing over the critical infrastructure (i.e. seaports, oil wells, mineral rights) to the Chinese government and the Chinese businesses who will actually take over the ownership of the seaports, airports and major plots of strategic land in order to secure the repayment of the loan. Sometimes forcing governments to sign over 99 year lease agreements until loan is repaid, as has been witnessed in parts of Asia Pacific.

This type of development is close to loan sharking where loans are given to vulnerable clients by Mafiosos knowing full well that the loan will never be repaid and therefore leveraging on the unbeknownst victims.

It is clear that China is using its soft power to incentivize governments to willingly give up the building of their infrastructure, at the cost of their sovereignty. No doubt, the Chinese government has elevated millions of its own citizens from poverty and obscurity into the working limelight, but its strategic objectives and outlook are not the same for the working poor African: Africa will be buried in debt for generations to come all while having to eventually give up critical national infrastructure to secure a Chinese future at the cost of Africans.