The Impact of the Chinese Presence in Africa

China’s recent push into Africa is driven by a desperate need to find oil and industrial raw materials to feed its resource-guzzling, and the world’s fastest growing, economy. China’s economy has grown by an average of 9 per cent per annum in the last 25 years and its energy consumption has doubled and outstripped domestic energy production. Within the decade from 1990 and 2000, China’s combined share of the world’s consumption of aluminium, copper, nickel and iron ore more than increased from 7 per cent to 15 per cent and has been rapidly growing. Rapid industrialisation has also led to industrial overproduction and Chinese firms are equally in need to cultivate new export markets for their manufactured goods.

Africa Practice

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The Libyan Uprising: An Uncertain Trajectory

Libya is not vital to the US strategic interest - the country is primarily within the European strategic orbit. But Libya is an important energy exporter and the failure of the NATO intervention over the long-term can have important ramifications on US regional and international interests.

Varun Vira, Anthony Cordesman and Arleigh Burke, CSIS

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AFRICOM’s Relationship to Oil, Terrorism and China

Why a combatant command for Africa? I argue that AFRICOM was formed to implement the U.S. national security strategy that seeks to strengthen states and eliminate ungoverned space, as well as establish relationships with African states that offer a means to greater state stability and foster economic development. In so doing, it counters global jihadist by denying them haven among weak governments or in ungoverned areas. It protects U.S. interests in resources by helping governments become more stable. And it competes with the Chinese approach that could worsen the status quo of ineffective states and ungoverned space. Indeed, the U.S. approach of increasing state effectiveness makes African countries less susceptible to the problems that may arise from the Chinese approach and so serves China’s interests in access to natural resources.

Carmel Davis, Orbis

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