Opinion
Obama Africa visit too late: China leads the United States in Africa race
Yet to shine
Obama could have stepped on the gas during his second term, and the fact that he did not is a big minus. Especially considering the extent to which Africa will continue to play a role in the future. People will ask why Obama did not understand this earlier. The initiatives that he announced with great rhetorical brilliance – Power Africa, to bring electricity to the whole continent, and the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), to offer tax advantages to African goods on the U.S. market – have yet to shine.
The United States cannot offer as much as China or India to Africa in terms of developing infrastructure – apart from oil infrastructure. When it comes to bridges, roads, rails, ports and water plants, Asian companies have more knowledge because they are currently helping to build up their own countries.
China has political reasons for wanting to finance projects in Africa – Chinese companies can bring money in fast and with no red tape. Moreover, in recent years China has profited from the fact that its relationship with the African continent is not historically loaded. This is in contrast to the United States, which engaged in the trading of slaves from Africa from its days as a British colony until well after independence. That history has had the United States on the defensive with Africa from the outset.
China and India have firsthand experience of many of the problems developing countries in Africa are facing. Therefore, they have pragmatic solutions to offer. Last but not least, China – like it or not – has not based its development policy and support on conditions such as democracy or human rights, as the United States and many European nations have done.
China is present in Africa. Though Obama might have achieved a great deal with Iran and Cuba, he has achieved very little in Africa, not compared with Asia, at least – not even compared with many European states, which are not always very quick on the mark either.
In 50 years’ time, when Africa is playing a central role as the world’s factory and has a huge middle class that is happy to consume, historians will wonder how of all people Barack Obama was able to flub cooperation with the world’s last emerging continent.
Frank Sieren is a German author, journalist and correspondent based in Beijing, China. An original version of this article was first published in Deutsche Welle.
