Africans had suffered a lot from colonization and have been suffered from neo-colonization. In most parts of the African continent, the trauma of grief and pain from colonizers is still lingering in the minds and hearts of many Africans. Everyone can understand how the bondage affects the whole picture of black people in the eyes of the whites.
In comparison, the rest of the world has gone far from Africa as the continent has been confined serving the developed world by providing its raw materials for their development. In return, the continent has got billions of dollars as an aid. However, the people and the continent have seen so little improvement in terms of economy as compared with the aids and funds poured down from the developed countries. The providers use it as a weapon for their modern strategy of neocolonialism thought. They want to create a kind of ‘lord and servant’ relation, but not this time.
In the world of globalization, no country can live long without a hand from the other side. As Africa is one of the homes of the poorest, it needs to have contacts with the rest of the world as almost all Africans become much dependent on them. Unfortunately, in the past few years, the world accepted America as a power shell, and many things were performed in favor of its interest.
Time flies, and the world now has different powerhouses apart from the US. Russia and China are the best contenders in the world’s power struggle. This paves a way for African countries to look for another partner. Now a days, China has appeared as the best partner to most African countries with economic and development assistance and short and long term funds.
Initiated by the good-will of developed countries, Africans set agreements on various bilateral and multilateral relations. One of the major ones is China initiative, Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) which is founded in 2000. As China has become one of the powerhouses of the world, this initiative has been used by African countries for their development.
Days ago, on his opening ceremony speech at the Eighth Ministerial Conference of The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, H.E. Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China, announced, “China-Africa friendship and cooperation forged between the two sides, which features sincere friendship and equality, win-win for mutual benefit and common development, fairness and justice, and progress with the times and openness and inclusiveness.”
The President also remarked that the People’s Republic of China plans to fund 10 billion Dollar in the coming three years. Jointly, the plan has nine programs that will be the part of the China- Africa Cooperation Vision 2035.
Recently, some African countries including Ethiopia have been suspended from the US initiative AGOA. As mentioned above, currently, the world has many powerhouses that African countries can form various agreements with. China is one of the few countries that Africans can rely upon.
From the President’s opening ceremony speech, from the nine programs that are incorporated in China-Africa Cooperation, the third program is the ‘trade promotion program’. Under this, the China government has planned to open ‘Green Lanes’ for African agricultural exports to China. The President also mentioned this further increases the scope of products enjoying zero-tariff treatment for the least developed countries (LDCs) that have diplomatic relation with China. Besides, the plan is to reach 300 billion US dollars in total imports from Africa in the next three years.
Having a stay with the Ethiopian Press Agency, Research Associate Professor at Hawassa University, Berhanu Borji said that like AGOA, Ethiopia’s products should fit the China’s market with quality and quantity as needed. He further mentioned that Ethiopia can substitute the income from AGOA with the new opportunity from China, but to get the best out of this agreement, Ethiopia’s products should be qualified both in terms of quality and quantity. This opportunity is a kind of compensation to the loss from the US Initiative.
Jemal Mohammed (PhD), an economist, on his part said that the initiative “Green Lanes” from the China Government is one of the best ways to support the economy as Ethiopia’s economy is highly dependent on the agriculture sector. It will solve the challenges of getting foreign currency.
Exporting agricultural products in places like Europe, the Economist said, Ethiopia faces different challenges regarding their criteria; even they want to have trade relation with some countries that they have some connection like South Africa. Ethiopian products may not be the ultimate choice for those countries. So that this initiative from China is good news for Africans as a whole and for Ethiopia in particular. However, agricultural products might answer a short-term problems. It is better again to focus on the manufacturing sector. Jemal also mentioned that the ‘Green Lanes’ will be used as escape route from AGOA.
Regarding the China’s plan towards funding 10 billion USD in the coming three years, Jemal said that any foreign currency fund from any government is essential for a developing country like Ethiopia. What matters the most is the country’s situation and the holes that it wants to lock using the money it borrows.
“We need to invest the money on an investment that can generate the income to pay the debt. For instance, if we borrow one billion USD, we need to invest this money on a sector that can generate two billion. Such loans should be used to support other sectors that need to be improved. We need to invest directly on sectors that bring foreign remittance. Therefore, our usage will determine the outcome of the loans,” he suggested.
In countries where corruption is spreading all around, such funds are good for the government but worse for the people. If the government does not use the money wisely, it becomes debt for the people. Moreover, these funds are essential for countries like Ethiopia that are on the path of development, Jemal added.
To wrap up the idea, Africans have seen various relations with the rest of the world. Unfortunately, most of the agreements were supposed to exploit the continent as it is rich with natural resources. But, when it comes to agreements like the China-Africa Corporation, it is not China who is responsible to evaluate things carefully; rather the leaders of Africa are the ones who should carefully examine the whole nature of the agreement. Such agreements and loans from the other side have their own advantages and disadvantages. These loans will be either paves the way to development or they will detain the people from going anywhere. To reap the best out of such agreements, government officials should be responsible to work for the betterment of the people, and they should exclude themselves from bad habits like corruption.
BY DANIEL ALEMAYEHU
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD DECEMBER 8/2021
