Chinese dictator Xi Jinping promised on Thursday that more than $50 billion in financing would be made available for African nations over the next three years, making an expensive bid to increase Beijing’s influence in Africa even as the Chinese economy sputters.
Xi made his pledge during the opening ceremony of the China-Africa Forum in Beijing, an event that dozens of African leaders, as well as U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, attended.
“China is ready to deepen cooperation with African countries in industry, agriculture, infrastructure, trade and investment,” Xi said during the opening ceremony.
Xi said China’s support for Africa would include a mix of credit guarantees, Chinese business investments, and about $11 billion in “various types of assistance.” He said China’s support would “create at least one million jobs for Africa.”
The Chinese dictator declared relations between his country and African nations were “at their best in history.” Xi said he wanted to elevate those relations to a “strategic” level — to which end he announced $140 million in military aid to African governments.
Guterres aided Xi’s sales pitch by proclaiming that Chinese investment could “drive the renewable energy revolution” in Africa.
“China’s remarkable record of development — including on eradicating poverty — provides a wealth of experience and expertise,” the U.N. chief gushed.
Some African officials attending the forum, including representatives from Zambia, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, announced major deals with Chinese entities. Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, for example, announced a deal between his state-owned ZESCO power company and PowerChina to build more solar panels.
President William Ruto of Kenya said he obtained a promise from Xi to open China’s markets to agricultural exports from his country and to provide more Chinese financing for the long-stalled Standard Gauge Railway project.
Xi’s address to the China-Africa Forum included some fairly explicit encouragement for Africa to align itself more strongly with China as the United States fades as a hegemonic global power. He contrasted China’s ostensible offer of no-strings-attached financial support with the “immense sufferings” of developing nations under Western influence.
The New York Times saw Xi using the forum to pitch China as “the Global South’s defender,” an objective that could put China more directly in conflict with India than the United States. India has long presented itself as the leading power among the developing nations collectively known as the Global South, a group that feels it is under-represented at Western-dominated international institutions.
“The event is also an opportunity for China to defend its engagement in Africa. It has come under criticism for offering financing without environmental, financial, or human rights conditions, leading to projects tainted by corruption, pollution, or labor abuses,” the Times observed. “China, one of the world’s largest creditors, has also been reluctant to offer debt relief to most countries despite the crippling load that some are carrying.”
