Role Of Imperialism In Africa

Altruistic or Imperialist: Does China’s Economic Involvement in Africa Constitute Imperialism? Over the past few decades, as China’s economy has grown during its transition into a burgeoning world power, a desire for natural resources, primarily oil, to support this economic boom has led to increasing Chinese involvement and investment in African markets. Since 2009, China has been the African continent’s largest trade partner, having surpassed the United States. Chinese presence in Africa takes the form of a multi-faceted approach, with the Chinese offering developmental loans, investing in agriculture and industry, and funding the construction of public infrastructure such as roads, railways, airports, and hospitals (Council on Foreign Relations).

However, China’s increasing control over African economies has been controversial, as it has raised concerns among many about China’s true intentions. Critics often point to the lack of development of independent African industries or job-training for African workers, claiming that China is only investing in Africa to obtain natural resources on the cheap. In addition, many have argued that the structure of the trade deals, in which Africa exports raw materials in exchange for China’s manufactured goods, are similar to the deals African colonies had with European imperial powers such as England and France in the 19th and 20th centuries (Harvard Political Review). China’s increasing involvement in Africa’s economic markets constitutes imperialism because despite short-term benefits to African lives, China is doing little to promote African economic complexity and development and its trade deals are set up in a way that

China’s trade deals are not purely altruistic, as Beijing claims them to be. China’s economic activity in Africa is all driven by the aim of obtaining natural resources, most-notably oil. China is the world’s largest importer of petroleum (EIA.gov) and has less proven oil reserves than other world powers such as Russia and the United States despite having about 3 times the population of those two nations combined (CIA World Factbook). Thus, Beijing has been in constant search of low-priced oil and other natural resources to fuel the country’s growth. They do this through their trade deals with countries such as Angola, for whom crude oil made up 96% of exports in 2014 (Center for International Development at Harvard University). The nations in Africa who are recipients of low-interest loans from China used to build infrastructure are often forced to use commodities such as minerals and oil as collateral for the loans due to poor international credit rating and a resulting difficulty in finding international support elsewhere (Brookings Institute). Effectively, these countries are forced into trading with China, as they are the only country willing to offer them loans. These loans have helped Chinese countries gain a great measure of control over African oil