The Economist - UK (2022-05-28)

8 Special report China in Africa The Economist May 28th 2022

Politicallinks

Thepriceoffriendship

I

n 2019yawosafomaafo, a Ghanaianminister,spokeinWash­

ington,dc, tohiscountrymenabroad.Hewasaskedwhya Chi­

nesewomanarrestedforillegalgold­miningwassentbacktoChi­

nainsteadofbeingprosecuted.Hisanswerbecameanational

scandal.“Wehavea verygoodrelationshipwithChina,”hesaid.

“Sowhentherearethesekindsofarrangements,thereareother

thingsbehindthescenes.PuttingthatladyinjailinGhanaisnot

goingtosolveyoureconomicproblems.”

ToGhanaianslikeBrightAckwerh,a cartoonist,thecomments

merelyconfirmedthatChinahastoomuchpoliticalinfluencein

Africa.Thenotionhasinspiredhisart.Inoneposterhedepictsa

smilingNanaAkufo­Addo,Ghana’spresident,beingpeeledoffto

revealthesmugfaceofXiJinping.Inanother,whichtheartistcalls

wedeybeg(wearebegging),MrXipourspollutedwaterintoa bowl

heldbya supplicantMrAkufo­AddoastheChineseambassadorto

Ghanagleefullydisplaysa goldbar.

MrAckwerh’sartissuffusedwiththeimageofChinaasa

skilled,ruthlesspractitionerofpowerpoliticsinAfrica.China’s

fraternitywithAfricangovernments,rootedina Mao­erarevolu­

tionaryalignment,hasevolvedintoa newformofpatronage.Chi­

nainthe21stcenturyisricher,butalsomoredemandingthanit

wasunderMao.It hasmoretooffer,butwantsmoreinreturn.Civ­

il societyinAfricafretsabouttheimplications.

Forauthoritarianregimes,Chinesepatronageandtiestothe

politicalelitecanbesourcesofstrength.InTanzaniaonemember

oftherulingpartyproudlycallshiscountrythe“entrydoor”for

ChinaintoAfrica.InEthiopiaChinahasweathereda tumultuous

changeingovernment,andwonfreshgoodwillfromtheruling

partybyhelpingit inthefightagainstTigrayanrebels.

Chinatakesa moresophisticatedapproachinAfrica’smulti­

partydemocracies.Itisnothinderedbyideology.Inplaceslike

GhanaandKenyatheinternationaldepartmentoftheChinese

CommunistPartyhasspentyearscultivatingtieswithnotjustthe

rulingpartybutwithanyrivalsthathavea chanceofwinning

power.JoshuaEisenmanoftheUniversityofNotreDamefound

that,inGhana,thedepartmenthadcourtedtheNewPatrioticPar­

ty(npp) evenwhenit wasoutofgovernment.Thatpaiddividends

in2016,whenGhanaiansvotedthenppintooffice.

Helpingthepowerful

Officials  say  China  is  more  adept  than  Western  rivals  at  helping

politicians  stay  in  power,  especially  by  financing  infrastructure

projects.  This is most obvious in one­party states, but even demo­

cratic leaders acknowledge it. Gabby Asare Otchere­Darko, a mem­

ber of Ghana’s ruling party, argues that China helps governments

respond to “the pressures of delivering in a democracy”. Yet polls

suggest that ordinary Africans are less convinced. In a survey con­

ducted for The Economist, Premise found majorities in seven coun­

tries  (some  authoritarian,  some  democratic)  thinking  that  their

country benefited from the relationship, but China gained more.

In  Ghana  62%  of  respondents  agreed.  Ghana  also  registered  the

second­highest share of respondents saying their country did not

benefit at all, at 25% (against 35% in Congo). 

Episodes  like  the  minister’s  comment  about  not  prosecuting

the Chinese gold­miner hint at some reasons for such discontent.

Tens of thousands of Chinese entrepreneurs have arrived over the

years  to  conduct  illegal  gold­mining,  often  hiring  Ghanaians.

They  have  industrialised  the  practice,  importing  excavators,

churning up earth and polluting rivers. Some Chinese miners are

armed with guns, and there are occasional reports of firefights. Yet

for  years  Chinese  miners  were  rarely  arrested  or  imprisoned

(though in a rare crackdown in June and July 2013, 4,592 Chinese

miners were deported).

This  pattern  is  repeated  elsewhere.  In  June  2019  another  Chi­

nese businesswoman was sent home, not prosecuted, for illegally

stripping Ghana of rosewood. In the Gulf of Guinea Chinese traw­

lers have for years scooped up fish far beyond legal limits to ship

back to China, depleting stocks for Ghanaian fishermen. In such

cases,  environmentalists  say  Chinese  entrepreneurs  break  laws

with impunity, exploiting weak regulators. Ghanaians have grown

so  used  to  this  that,  when  the  attorney­general  announced  last

year that ten Chinese nationals arrested for illegal mining would

be prosecuted and imprisoned, it made headlines. 

Ghanaians might worry more about Chinese gold­mining and

overfishing if their economy were not so shambolic, with high in­

flation and a depreciating currency. In the Premise survey, 74% of

Ghanaians said their country was on the wrong track. For the rul­

ing  party,  a  boost  of  Chinese  investment  is  politically  helpful.

“That’s when you go and see what you can negotiate. So you can

get things done. So you can stay in office, you can deliver for the

people,” says Mr Otchere­Darko.

Good­governance  advocates  worry  that,  although  China’s  po­

litical  and  financial  clout  may  help  to  win  elections,  it  weakens

China has much to offer African governments,

but it also seeks much in return

A troublesome cartoonist