Africa Up Close

Factory workers produce shirts for overseas clients. Photo courtesy of the World Bank via Flickr Commons.

What are the perceptions of African workers in Chinese firms? How do these perceptions relate to media criticism of Chinese labor practices and the spirited defense of African leadership and Chinese investors against such criticism? For employees that extol Chinese employment, is their position informed by genuine satisfaction, or is it a case of ‘either this or nothing’? These questions inspired me to interview a group of workers in a Chinese-owned retail firm in Kamwala Market in Lusaka—Zambia’s capital city. I also interviewed representatives of workers in a Chinese-run ceramics plant in Kenya. I will test my findings against a 2011 Human Rights Watch (HRW) report about China’s labor practices in Zambia.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed alongside military commanders. Photo courtesy of the Office of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia via Wikipedia Commons. 

Ethiopia has undergone some crucial political development since the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition elected a new prime minister. Among other achievements, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ended a 20-year conflict with neighboring Eritrea, freed thousands of political prisoners, unfettered the media, and appointed women to 50 percent of cabinet positions. In addition to that, Parliament accepted his female nominees for president and head of the Supreme Court.

President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar at the signing of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ACRSS). Photo courtesy of UNMISS via Flickr Commons.

The signing of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ACRSS) on September 12, 2018, has led to relative peace in South Sudan. Mediated by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)—a regional economic and security bloc—South Sudanese policymakers recently extended the ‘pre-transitional’ period until November 2019 before forming the transitional government of national unity. Given the few months remaining before this new deadline, there are serious concerns that many key tasks remain to be addressed: namely, the issue of the number and boundaries of provinces/states, violent conflicts, a single national army, and securing the funding necessary for implementing the peace agreement. These cumulative factors hamper the peace process, foreshadowing future outbreaks of violence.

A farmer harvesting goods in a farm in Bouar, a town in the Central African Republic. Photo courtesy of the United Nations via Flickr Commons.

The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2019 released on July 15^th is quite alarming. The joint annual report finds that the number of people suffering from hunger or undernourishment continues to increase. This increase has occurred for the past three consecutive years, putting an end to a decade of progress in the global battle against hunger.

A sign display for a Confucius Institute. Photo courtesy of Mark Morgan via Flickr Creative Commons. 

Zambians who have the opportunity should learn Mandarin, fast. In 2019, the Zambian government announced that beginning in 2020, Mandarin Chinese will form part of the Zambian high school curriculum. This move has provoked criticism from those who deem it a sycophantic move by the Zambian government. The accusation finds merit, in part, because the Zambian government is not seen to be introducing Mandarin in good faith, but rather to mollify China, a country to which it is deeply indebted. According to the Jubilee Debt Campaign, a UK-based charity, by 2017 Zambia owed a third of its $9.4bn foreign debt to China. This figure was conservative compared to the $6.4bn established by the China Africa Research Initiative (CARI), of Johns Hopkins University. According to CARI statistics, 73.5 percent of Zambia’s $8.7bn debt is owed to China. These figures do not bode well for perceptions of Sino-Zambian relations, especially among civil society organizations leery of China’s growing presence in Zambia.

The Atlantic Ocean along a shoreline in Ifni, Morrocco. Picture courtesy of mbohl via Flickr Commons. 

African peace and security challenges in relation to the continent’s wider maritime scope and its interplay with external political actors receive little attention. Yet, much of the internal politics that affect peacebuilding in Africa involve interregional actors, such as Europe and the Mideast. This lack of attention is not seen in the South Atlantic where the Zone of Peace and Cooperation in the South Atlantic (ZPCSA), operates as a multilateral platform between some African and South American nations. The ZPCSA’s goal is preserving regional peace and a nuclear-free-zone in regions where documented illegal trafficking flows link South America, West Africa, and Europe, and security challenges plague the Gulf of Guinea, a transport nexus in the Afro-Atlantic oil trade.

H.E. Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa, addresses the General Assembly’s seventy-third session. Photo courtesy of the United Nations. 

South Africa was elected to join the UN Security Council (UNSC) as a non-permanent member on June 8, 2018 for the 2019-2020 term, replacing Ethiopia as the third African Council member and joining Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast. This is the country’s third UNSC membership, following its prior roles in 2007-2008 and 2011-2012.

Children in an IDP Camp in Juba, South Sudan. Photo courtesy of the United Nations via Flickr Commons.

Grievances are often cited as the cause of most civil wars and other forms of conflict. A grievance is a real or a perceived cause for resentment or complaint. It is a feeling of resentment over something wrong or believed to be wrong or unfair. Injustice, marginalization, discrimination, and exclusion are common forms of grievances. Grievances can lead to wars or violent conflicts when left unsettled. Over the last decade, a debate has emerged in development economics and conflict studies linking both greed and grievances to most civil wars.[1]

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Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and H.E. President Isaias Afwerki signing the joint peace agreement. Photo courtesy via Wikipedia Commons.

Reconciliation and the Way Forward

Following the decision passed by the executive committee of the ruling party, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), Ethiopia’s new reformist Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed, announced that Ethiopia would accept the 2002 United Nations backed border demarcation, paving the way for peace between the two nations. Dr. Abiy Ahmed then paid a historic visit in July to Eritrea, during which he and President Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea signed a declaration ending 20 years of hostility and restoring diplomatic relations and normal ties between the countries. President Isaias Afwerki reciprocated with a state visit to Ethiopia just days later.

African youth learn how to build a community center in North Darfur. Photo courtesy of UNAMID via Flickr commons. 

Youth, broadly defined as persons between the ages of 15-35 by the African Union, constitute one-third of the population in Africa. Roughly half of the populations of Nigeria, Egypt, Tunisia, and Kenya are youth. The ten countries in the world with the biggest youth populations are in Africa. However, a large youth population is a double-edged sword in many ways. One example—if the pipeline into labor force participation includes quality education and good employment prospects, youth are likely to contribute to national and continental development. However, when met with an environment infertile for personal and career development, a youth bulge can quickly become a source of instability.