CHINA WILL ASSIST IN AFRICA'S DEV'T (P.3) 15-09-08

Story: Kofi Yeboah

THE emergence of Chinese businesses and investors in Africa has brightened the prospects of the continent’s development, some international researchers on Sino-Afro relations have observed.
According to them, the presence of China in Africa had renewed and invigorated development projects on the continent, but they cautioned against the dominance of Chinese businesses in a manner that would kill local businesses.
The researchers made the remark at a regional workshop on “China’s role in Africa: Development and governance implications”, organised by the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) in Accra today.
Making a presentation on the topic, “China and Africa: An overview”, the Project Director of China and Africa Project, Dr Chris Alden, said the rise of China was a global phenomenon and its presence in Africa had been very huge.
He said trade between China and Africa in 2007 amounted to $72 billion, adding that Africa was home to some of the largest Chinese investors in the world.
Dr Alden mentioned infrastructure as one of the development needs in Africa where China had made a huge impact by way of investment.
In another presentation on the topic, “Ghana and China - A case study of engagement”, a researcher at the Cambridge University, Mr Isaac Idun-Arkhurst, said relations between Ghana and China date back to the 1960s, which relations had, over the years, improved from diplomacy whereby Ghana supported China in international politics, to mutually-driven economic interests.
He said Ghana’s current political stability and economic growth provided safe grounds for Chinese investors.
Mr Idun-Arkhurst mentioned the $562-million Bui Dam project and the Ofankor-Nsawam Road project as some of the development initiatives the Chinese government had supported in Ghana.
He stressed the need for Ghanaian industries to diversify and modernise their products in order to take advantage of the opportunities that the relationship between the two countries offered.
Mr Idun-Arkhurst, however, noted that the influx of Chinese businesses and products was killing some local businesses, citing the textile industry.
He, therefore, called for measures that would help address those challenges.
Giving a perspective of Chinese investment in the energy sector in Kenya, an economist, Mr Tsidiso Disenyana, said the energy sector in Kenya had been going through challenges, including power outages.
However, he said, with the recent Chinese investment in the sector, particularly solar energy production, there was hope of an improvement.
In another presentation on “Banking in Africa: The role of Chinese financial institutions”, a financial consultant, Mr Riaan Meyer, said the China Exim Bank and the China Development Bank had played key roles in the development aspirations of Africa.
He said the presence of the Chinese banks in Africa had gingered banks from the West to grow.
The Executive Director of CDD-Ghana, Prof Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi, said the prospects of Africa’s development had been bolstered by the presence of China on the continent.