One continent, two different approaches

Obama visit, perhaps inevitably, invites comparisons with Xi's trip earlier this year

On Nov 4, 2008, when Barack Obama won the US presidential election and became the country's first African-American president, Africa ecstatically hailed his success, and the country of his ancestors, Kenya, even made Nov 4 a national holiday.

However, in the ensuing four years Obama's attitude toward Africa as the US president disappointed many Africans as the continent was neither a diplomatic priority for the US nor a significant trade partner. So when Obama was reelected last year, Africans remained cool, having realized that above all else he is American; but they continued to nurse goodwill toward him.

National interest is of course diplomacy's top priority, so Obama represents the interests of the US, not of Africa. Nevertheless, millions of Africans warmly welcomed his recent trip to Africa, taking in Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania. Many outside Africa have, perhaps inevitably, made comparisons between Obama's visit and that of China's President Xi Jinping earlier this year, particularly because both visited South Africa and Tanzania.

One school of thought is that in regards to influence in Africa, China has long since left the US in its wake, and Washington is now making an effort to catch up.

But that argument is far from being true, because the US is still attractive to tens of millions of Africans, especially the young, because of its dominance politically, economically and culturally.

In South Africa, Obama said that China's investment in Africa did not pose a threat and the more players coming in, the merrier for Africa. But his cabinet members including the Secretary of State John Kerry have said the US will beat China in the continent.

Undeniably China has surpassed the US to be Africa's biggest trade partner, but in some key areas including oil and mineral resources, the USand Europe remain dominant. That is why the US has extended the preferential policy embodied in the African Growth and Opportunity Act to certain African countries with rich resources.

But natural resources are not the be all and end all of Africa's future, and Washington and Beijing know this fully well. The continent's development now comes down to industrialization and jobs, and in this infrastructure plays a vital role. Both want to focus on this field and prepare for Africa's economic boom.

Questions have been raised over why China is not investing in factories in Africa to create more jobs and cultivate the continent's industrial capabilities. Chinese business people say few African countries have a developed investment environment, including basic infrastructure, security and properly drawn-up and set-out policies.

Thus since China re-engaged with Africa after the reform and opening-up policy began in the late 1970s, it has concentrated on infrastructure projects, the very first step in getting Africa to develop.

Obama has announced a $7 billion five-year program that promises better electricity networks in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria and Tanzania. In doing so he is trying to draw a contrast between what the US and China are doing in the continent, not only with business, but with good governance and democracy.

Beijing reacted calmly to Obama's visit as it focused on its own business with Africa without any political strings, which has benefited many countries despite the cynicism many in the West have voiced over China's motives.

Increasingly more African countries are choosing to develop their own solutions in politics, and they can do this because they can choose who they want to be in partnership with, whether it be China, India, Brazil, Malaysia or someone else.

Africa has decided that the star of the stage should not be the US or China, but Africa itself.

The author is China Daily's correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.

(China Daily Africa 07/05/2013 page10)