Lecture 10- New Powers In The Region Flashcards
Why is diplomatic support fir African states a feature?
Strategic interests Africa is 54 countries with a 1/4 of the worlds states
Easy to get their support (poverty stricken)
A way of influencing UN
India needed support from African states to be a member of the UN Security Council
What is being sought for in the ‘new’ scramble fore Africa?
1) commodities (oil, copper, Colton etc)
2) trade - Africa as a market
3) geo politics international support from African states
What are some of the main commodity interests in Africa?
Zambia- copper (china)
Mozambique- coal (brazil)
Angola- oil (everyone mainly china)
How has Africa as a ‘market place’ been described?
African nations have access to cheap international markets (contrast n. Korean-Chang)
Neoliberal SAPs made them open markets
What are some of the problems with resource rich nations (especially in Africa)?
Dutch disease (concentration on resource sector at the cost of everything else)
Enclave economies (doesn’t benefit everyone…Zambia Copperbelt and Lusaka)
Not value added products 3/4 is unprocessed products (SA is trying to get into manufacturing industry)
Primary products are highly volatile on the markets (Zambia copper, 2008)
The way Africa incorporated into the world economy- they are not the main beneficiaries of resource extraction
Politicians as gatekeeper of resources (corruption prone)
What interests does brazil have in Mozambique?
Coal - Vale tete Brazilian company
What are some of the benefits of Brazilian engagement in Mozambique?
Creating jobs with good wages (4x average salary)
Large investments made in infrastructure (beira railway will bring other opportunities)
Previously neglected and impoverished areas
What have been some of the problems with Vale Mozambique tete?
People have been uprooted and protests over compensation for these people
Environmental degradation
What have been some of the reasons brazil has engaged with Mozambique?
Soft power over moz Cultural connections (language, colonial history)
How has Mozambique government supported vale tete?
Take breaks
What are some of the Indian interests in Africa?
2006 12% gold imports 91% of nuts 16% of copper And
What are characteristics of the diamond imports from Africa to India?
80% of rough diamonds come from Africa, they are then cut and processed in India
India has made attempts to remove all middle men (De beers) in diamond purchases directly from Bostwana
Some have argued that Africa is more important for India than it is for china, what stats support this claim?
1990-2007 Indian trade with Africa doubled (7.7% whilst china was 3%)
75% of oil to India comes from Africa (whilst in china it is only 1/3 of its total)
What makes the new scramble for Africa different from the first one?
Separation of judiciary and economic interests - legal ‘looting’
What are the smile relied between the first scramble and the second one?
Economic interests still the same
Increasing inequalities are still evident
Multiple companies and countries involved (joint ventures between countries)
New set of players
How has jeffery Sachs and paul collier explained why Africa is impoverished?
Africa said to be impoverished because of physical environments and and markets have bypassed Africa because of this
And that Africa is cursed by its resources and bad neighbours
But these arguments have lack of socio-economic consideration
Is china Africa’s biggest trading partner?
Debatable- some resources say yes,
But trade figures show that US is still the largest
And Chinese trades with Africa only represent 3% of its total international trade
Why have the Chinese got a presence in Africa? 7 reasons
1) assure the supply of raw material
2) create market for Chinese goods
3) obtain land for agriculture purposes
4) channel migration
5) gain diplomatic support
6) present and alternative to the western model
7) provide development and emphasis chinas as a superpower
What percentage of chinas oil come from Africa?
31% (mainly from Angola)
What have been some of the problems with Chinese engagement in Africa?
Chinas No questions asked policy (promoting bad governments Zimbabwe)
Controversial labour relations
Accumulation by dispossession (David Harvey)
Chinese have been outcompeting domestic African companies in their own markets (think about Chang and n Korea)
Ironically, How has the ‘west’ aided chinas access to Africa
It was the western neo liberal policies that led to opening up of African markets (trade barriers removed or lowered, labour costs reduced and currencies made convertible)
Why was Chinese engagement with Africa a good proposition for the African elites?
1) resentment to SAPS in 80s and 90s and the fact that they were accompanied by ‘good governance’ conditions
China became an attractive Alternative partner to the west
Has the coming of china removed Africa’s dependency on the us?
No- but Africa presents an ideological battle ground between these two powers
What are special economic zones (SEZ) ?
Industrial hubs with tax incentives for Chinese companies to set up base there
There are 7 Chinese ones built around the continent
How do SEZ resemble colonial pasts?
French colonial powers use to set up
What are the characteristics of Chinese flexigemony?
Adapting their strategies to suit particular histories and geographies of African states
(Compared to the us less flexible hegemonic vision of ‘free market democracies’
How has Chinese engagement been different from the west’s?
The west an neoliberal systems was about policy and institutions flexibility- seen to prevent excessive state intervention
Chinese engagement in Africa much less concerned about political ans economic governance arrangements
What have been some of chinas soft power methods of engagement with Africa?
Through aid ($75bn in the last decade) Discussions and diplomatic relations
Cancelling debt (Hu cancelled bilateral debt)
Is china important to Zambia ?
Zambia is the third largest recipient of Chinese foreign investment
Is Zambia important to china?
China is the largest consumer of copper placing Zambia as a strategic significance
What have been some of problems in Chinese engagement in Zambia?
Controversial labour relations
Making jobs but not good ones
Enclave economies (not benefiting everyone)
Hostility amongst the population
What happened in the Chinese chanbishi copper mine in 2005?
49 workers died in an explosion
Were getting paid under $30 and month
No safety equipment or guidance was provided
What was the anti-Chinese events during the Zambian elections in 2006?
Michael sata was the main opposition and ran very anti Chinese ideas “we need investors not infestors”
Chinese ambassador threatened to cut off diplomatic relations if sata won
Where did sata have the most votes?
Copperbelt and Lusaka (where Chinese involvement was the highest)
Does public perceptions of Chinese resemble the way the politicians see Chinese?
No, Chinese relationships with politicians remains good (Zambian president went on holiday with Chinese finance minister)
Has there been improvements in conditions for the Zambians with Chinese investments?
Yes, copper belt and Lusaka where Chinese investment is greatest has seen dramatic reductions in poverty
Not for everyone though. (Enclave economies)
Indian economic engagement with Africa is a little blurred compared to the Chinese, how so?
China many of the largest companies are state owned easier to examine and theorise the links between the govts geoeconomic strategy
India clear separation between state and courage interests
How does India maintain soft power with Africa?
It gives aid (this is questionable as India has proportionally more malnourished children)
Expresses the importance to maintain good relations with Africa)
What was the first example of Zambian and Chinese relationship?
Tan-zam railway line (benefiting the land locked Zambia) (1970s)
Built to facilitate copper exports after the closure of traditional route by sanctions made by SA and southern Rhodesia
Did the 2008 economic down turn lead to fewer Chinese investments of more Chinese investments in Zambia?
More- Chinese companies buying up other foreign investment for bargain prices
How did the volatile nature of primary resources on markets impact Zambia?
When copper prices were high, Zambian workers had better leverage to negotiate agreements of work contracts but since the 2008 price drop in copper - lost this power
Though Chinese have invested in Zambia, creating jobs- what have been the negatives of this? 4 reasons
Created poor quality jobs and little if anything towards raising the living standards
Enclave economies- not benefiting the masses
Environmental impacts (copper depleted - Chinese get up and setup some place else)
Thousands of Chinese national have been brought to do jobs that Zambians could do (bricklaying in Chinese and Zambian stadium)
Investing in natural resources sectors will not promote development in Zambia?
Copper is a huge part of the Zambian economy, when there ate changes in the copper prices there are changes In the kwacha (national currency) value
So in 2008 it had massive impacts on the local population
Too much of a dependency on copper exports which is undermining other investments (Dutch disease)
