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China in Africa: Mandarin Translation of the Week

Chinese Financial Investment Stimulates Development in Africa

“According to the Africa Attractiveness Survey 2013 produced by Ernst & Young PPL, in the past five years, FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) in Africa grew from 3.2% to 5.6%. Since 2012, the total amount of FDI from emerging markets exceeded the total amount of FDI from developed countries. These investments from the emerging markets effectively promoted the overall development in Africa, opened up more employment opportunities, developed skill training programs, reduced poverty and eliminated inequalities. China has been playing a very important role in these investments and developments.”

“安永会计师事务所5月6日发布的《2013非洲吸引力调查报告》指出，过去5年，非洲吸引全球外国直接投资份额从3.2%上升到5.6%。2012年，来自新兴市场国家的直接投资超过发达国家对非投资，这些投资有力促进了非洲发展，推动了非洲创造就业、技能开发、减贫和消除不平等，其中中国投资作用毋庸置疑。”

This article has been translated from Mandarin. Click here to read the original version on 163.com

Continue reading for stories including Pan-Africa Insurance shares reaching new heights, Egyptian president calling for parliamentary elections in April, Kenyatta and Odinga tied in polling, and learning Chinese as a lucrative investment in Zimbabwe.

By Francis A. Kornegay
Senior Fellow, Institute for Global Dialogue, Pretoria

Before Daniel M. Kliman and Richard Fontaine of the German Marshall Fund (GMF) and the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) unveiled their foreign policy advice to the re-elected Obama administration, perhaps they could have saved themselves the effort by going over the speeches of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Indeed, what may have been Secretary Clinton’s valedictory address at the Foreign Policy Group’s “Transformational Trends 2013” Forum on the 29^th of November might serve as a counterpoint to Global Swing States: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Turkey and the Future of International Order by Messers Kliman and Fontaine. In other words, the administration might do better to continue doing what it has already been doing than get itself think-tanked into a foreign policy modeled on American ‘swing state’ electoral politics.

December 12, 2012

Recent stories including an assessment of African leaders in 2012, coalitions formed in Kenya, troubles for the DRC peace negotiations, new prime minister appointed in Mali, the need for support of small farmers in Africa, Museveni placed to take a pan-African leadership role, and investment in Somaliland.

By Dr. Mzukisi Qobo

There continues to be a growing interest in Africa’s development challenges and the continent’s future prospects. The commodity boom that took place from 1997 to 2007 accounts for much of this positive commentary.

Coincidentally, Africa’s new emerging partners, China and India, have also helped to spur its growth, due to the vast amount of vital resources found within the continent that are seen as strategic necessities to power their own growth and modernization. Beyond natural resources, the involvement of these new partners in Africa spans diverse sectors, such as infrastructure, agriculture, and finance, with state-driven capital fueling acquisitions in the case of China, and intensifying private sector engagement in the case of India.

By Steve McDonald

So, here we are.  We have weathered one of the most divisive American election campaigns in recent memory.  What does this mean for Africa?  Current signals coming from high level administration officials are that the President will pay a great deal more attention to Africa in his second term than he did in his first.  The White House is already beginning to plan for a major Africa trip that will most likely be scheduled in the spring of 2013.  While dates and countries are far from being set, a great deal of thought will go into this trip in terms of what the focus will be, and what signals or messages the President wants to impart. Even though the trip alone will be an important statement, the key is going to be in finding the substance behind the rhetoric and fanfare.  No doubt, as Africa welcomes back the first U.S. President of direct African heritage, the ceremony and celebration will be exceptional.  However, if the June 14, 2012 Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) on Sub-Saharan Africa continues to maintain its status as the ruling policy document towards the continent, not much will change.

By Ambassador David Shinn 

There is agreement among those who follow China-Africa relations that state-owned and private Chinese companies have become major investors in Africa over the past 10 years.  Even Chinese individuals are investing small amounts in enterprises ranging from restaurants to acupuncture clinics.  It is possible that in the past several years, China was the single largest bilateral source of annual foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa’s 54 countries.

There is, however, considerable confusion as to what constitutes Chinese investment in Africa.  Many analyses, especially journalistic accounts, conflate investment with multi-billion dollar loans from China to African governments that often use the loans to build infrastructure by Chinese construction companies.  These loans tend to go to resource rich countries such as Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ghana and are usually repaid by shipping natural resources to China.  These loans are not FDI; they are commercial deals, albeit often with a concessionary loan component.  It is important to keep them separate from investment.

So how much have Chinese companies and individuals invested in Africa?  I have concluded that no one, including no one in China, knows the answer to this question.