stickwithanose

Neo-Colonialism Chinese Style
Sunday November 26th 2006, 12:51 pm
Filed under: Economy, Global

With the signing of an agreement between India and the US over the nuclear issue, the Bush administration was clearly aligning itself with India in its competition with China as the economic and military powerhouse of Asia. While the world is focused on the unfolding disasters in the Middle East, a gradual realignment of geo-political power is unfolding in Asia that points to the possibility of a new poly-centric core in competition to gain access to world resources and markets throughout the Global South.

China clearly has the advantage at the moment. It is taking large strides toward gaining access to Africa’s abundant resources and untapped markets, and India’s business elite are beginning to take notice…

Economic Times:

China’s increasing economic and political presence in Africa — with all its potential for oil, consumer and manufacturing markets and supplier of natural resources — is something that’s often missed by Indian business and policy-makers.

But it’s being very closely monitored by the developed nations, with quite a lot of consternation. First, just some basic figures. China’s trade with Africa has jumped to top $50 bn this year, compared with just $11 bn in ’00, when Beijing and the African nations first announced their partnership. It’s expected to top $100 bn by ’10. In the third China Africa summit concluded in early November, which was attended by 35 heads of African state, China has pledged to provide African nations with $ 3 bn in ‘soft’ loans in the next three years, $2 bn in credit, train 15,000 African professionals, establish trade and economic cooperation zones in Africa, and set up a China-Africa development fund of $3bn. China has doled out a whopping $5 bn in loans and credit, and promised to double aid by ’09.

It has not only cancelled $1.3 bn in African debt, it has extended a further $1bn debt to Angola. The Chinese authorities described the meeting as ‘historic’, something they’re unlikely to say about the visit to India.

And just by the way signed 16 deals between Chinese companies and African nations, worth a total of $1.9 bn, in areas such as infrastructure, telecom, technological equipment, mineral resource development and insurance.

[Posted by: Stick]