African States Should Seize the Opportunity to Work with the Mutually-Reinforcing Global Visions of China and Russia
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Changes not seen in one hundred years are taking place – and the Global South stands to benefit. Africa is the world’s youngest continent.[1] Leveraging its population pidend, Africa has a unique opportunity to transform in the coming decades – Russian and Chinese support will be key to success.
Source: Rosatom
Indeed, for more than a decade, Chinas has been delivering world-class infrastructure, while Russia supplied Africa with the raw materials and foodstuffs its expanding economic base required, providing 30% of the continent’s wheat.[2]
Recently, Russia and Beijing promulgated compatible strategic roadmaps. This overlap will be a boon for Africa. The parallels between China’s Global Civilisation Initiative and Russia’s Foreign Policy Concept are broadly split into three aspects – multipolarity, values, and infrastructure.
President Xi illustrated the multipolar objective of China’s Global Civilisational Initiative saying ‘A single flower does not make spring, while one hundred flowers in full blossom bring spring to the garden.’[3] While the Russian Foreign Policy Concept states ‘Russia is in solidarity with the African states in their desire to establish a more just multipolar world and eliminate socio-economic inequality’.[4]
Neo-colonialism, coined as a term by the first President of independent Ghana Nkrumah, persists into today via financial structures driven global powers with hegemonic ambitions. For example, earlier this year Georgia Meloni, Italy’s PM, famously framed the CFA Franc as a neo-colonial tool[5] but the issue is much deeper and intertwined with global aid and debt provided to African countries.
A multipolar global system is the antidote to neo-colonialism. Trade in local currencies, persification of trade partners, and emphasis on regional – not global – decision-making bodies will bring significant opportunities to African states to chart their own destiny.
These processes are likely to be accelerated by China’s emphasis on principled opposition to hegemony[6] and Moscow going a step further saying that it will actively counteract neo-colonial structures.[7]
These are not empty words. China and Russia have both shown commitment to reinforcing African sovereignty. China recently unilaterally cancelled 23 loans to 17 countries in Africa.[8] And in a major move, Lavrov, Russia’s Foreign Minister, proposed that more African countries join the UN Security Council.[9] Such actions are examples in a wider commitment to African sovereignty from both China and Russia.
Secondly, African societies are deeply traditional. Governments follow their people in taking a principled stance on values, especially when it comes to family.[10] Ethiopia, for example, has a rich Orthodox tradition hailing from the fourth century.[11] African societies have deep histories of spirituality.
In contrast, Western values are rapidly perging from African communities. Simultaneously, the West is intertwining its progressive stances to economic decisions via ESG metrics[12] or by explicitly stating that transformation of family values is a foreign policy priority.[13] So, to attract western capital, governments are forced to conform to ever-changing norms that stand in juxtaposition to Africa’s long history.
Russian society is deeply religious and traditional. In fact, the belief in God is entrenched in the Russian constitution.[14] The Foreign Policy Concept also sets global protection of local customs as a priority.[15]
President Xi, too, called upon the world to respect the persity of civilisations as part of the proposal for a Global Civilisation Initiative.[16] China’s approach naturally resonates across Africa. African statesmen including Mamadou Tangara, Gambia’s FM, highlight the importance of cultural respect among nations and their gratitude for China’s responsible position on this issue.[17]
Russia and China not only do not attach economic engagement to progressive values but also share respect for tradition and spirituality with African countries. And indeed, when it comes to values, African societies have much more in common with Russia and China than the West.
Finally, Russian and Chinese economic strategies prioritise long-term investment in infrastructure. Logistics and energy enable economic processes – their development is a multiplier.
Whether it is the Merowi dam in Sudan or Mombasa-Rift Valley railway in Kenya, China has an impressive legacy of successful infrastructure development across Africa through the Belt and Road initiative and more recently the Global Development Initiative.
Russia, too, has much to offer. Moscow’s strategy explicitly prioritises using Russia’s specialisms to provide for food and energy security in Africa.[18] Leveraging its comparative advantages in energy, nuclear tech, agriculture, and extractive industries, Russia can work with African countries to create an efficient base for generating the building blocks of advanced economies.
The deal between Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear company, and Rwanda to build a nuclear science centre is case in point.[19] Nodes that attract global talent have the potential to elevate the local economy and bring multiplier effects. And if the construction leads to a nuclear power plant, Rwanda will have a strategic advantage on the continent thanks to near energy independence.[20]
The 2023 BRICS summit will be in South Africa. It promises to deliver a significant program of projects that will combine to drive industrialisation in Africa, which will bring Russian and Chinese development programs closer into a coherent system across the continent.[21]
Moscow’s approach to economic cooperation with Africa is also compatible with China’s Cooperation Initiative on Global Food Security. China argues for unrestricted market access to agricultural products as a way of ensuring supply to areas where basic goods are in short supply.[22]
Crucially, Russia is committed to the ‘Grain Deal’ to take foodstuffs to Africa via the Black Sea despite ongoing military operations.[23] Going further, conscious of Russia’s responsibility for Africa’s food supply, Putin famously stated that Russia is ready to supply African countries for free if the deal was to scupper.[24] China also supported the grain initiative in its peace plan for Ukraine.[25]
Overall, Moscow’s and Beijing’s visions for cooperation with Africa do not compete but complement each other. The two nation’s differing economic specialisations are mutually-reinforcing and run in parallel. This is a significant opportunity for independently-minded African states.
Economic cooperation will focus on strengthening nations’ economic fundamentals through infrastructure and resource supply resilience. Projects include railroads, nuclear power facilities, maritime infrastructure and more of the core building blocs that modern economies rely on.
Russian and Chinese presence will not be tied to imposing values or political structures, but rather to support local agency and problem solving. And the combination of long-term investment with respect to cultural and political persity will enable a more prosperous Africa.
[2] https://www.statista.com/chart/27009/import-sources-of-wheat-in-africa/
[3] http://english.scio.gov.cn/topnews/2023-03/19/content_85177312.htm
[4] 57 http://kremlin.ru/acts/news/70811
[5] https://youtu.be/q-C8ogD6E8c
[6] http://english.scio.gov.cn/topnews/2023-03/16/content_85171478.htm
[7] http://kremlin.ru/acts/news/70811
[8] https://www.voanews.com/a/china-cancels-23-loans-to-africa-amid-debt-trap-debate-/6716397.html
[9] https://www.pnp.ru/politics/lavrov-predlozhil-dobavit-v-sovbez-oon-strany-azii-i-afriki.html
[10] https://www.reuters.com/graphics/UGANDA-LGBT/movakykrjva/
[11] https://www.oikoumene.org/member-churches/ethiopian-orthodox-tewahedo-church
[13] https://uy.usembassy.gov/lgbti-rights-foreign-policy-priority-u-s/
[14] https://talkabout.iclrs.org/2020/10/31/god-and-the-belief-of-ancestors-in-the-russian-constitution/
[15] 18.7 http://kremlin.ru/acts/news/70811
[16] http://english.scio.gov.cn/topnews/2023-03/19/content_85177312.htm
[17] https://youtu.be/FJeuvWik0pQ
[18] 57.1 http://kremlin.ru/acts/news/70811
[19] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-rwanda-nuclear-idUSKBN1X32DV
[20] https://www.trtworld.com/africa/russia-to-set-up-nuclear-power-plants-in-rwanda-30785
[22] http://eu.china-mission.gov.cn/eng/mh/202207/t20220718_10723044.htm
[23] https://absatz.media/ekonomika/29468-zernovaya-sdelka-dlya-chego-rossii-i-dalshe-obmanyvatsya
[24] https://www.interfax.ru/russia/891940
[25] https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/zxxx_662805/202302/t20230224_11030713.html
