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Africa has rarely been high on the global agenda, but despite its lack of obvious economic or strategic weight, many African countries are being courted by countries as diverse as Turkey, Brazil and Russia. The interest of these “middle powers” – reflected in the proliferation of Turkish embassies, swanky African summits and high-profile visits – offers African leaders greater options for investment and strategic partners.
As the Financial Times says series This world of multiple choices creates opportunities, he said, that if used wisely, could help countries out of poverty. They could secure better deals on vital infrastructure projects or insist that commodity deals be accompanied by domestic processing of raw materials. Leaders should speed up the largely theoretical African Continental Free Trade Area, which alone can transform the fragmentation of countries. economies in a single attractive market.
For many years, former colonial powers have struggled to engage productively with the continent. Outside of a few industries such as oil and mining, Britain treated Africa largely as a recipient of aid administered through the now-abolished Department for International Development. The French clung on more tenaciously, interfering in politics and business. They have paid the price. In recent years, an anti-Francophone wave has swept the Sahel. French troops have been driven out of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
Americans became increasingly estranged after the Cold War. Investors were deterred by distance and strict anti-bribery legislation. Washington viewed Africa almost exclusively through the prism of security. There have been hesitant signs of this happening. US Reactivation under President Joe Biden.
Still, the relative decline of American and European influence has created a vacuum, which was initially filled by China and, in its wake, by a Host of middle powersAfrica is a continent home to 2.5 billion Africans, including India and the Gulf states. It offers resources and votes at the UN. In the long term, it promises markets. By 2050, there will be 2.5 billion Africans, half of them under the age of 25. If they achieve even a modest standard of living, that means a lot of consumers. Competition has also intensified for energy transition minerals, such as cobalt, lithium, manganese and copper.
From Africa’s perspective, the new interest means options: Tanzania chose a port operated by Dubai; Ghana and Niger, a Turkish made airport terminal; and the Central African Republic and Mali Russian mercenaries.
The decisions carry dangers. The history of exploitation by colonial powers is real, but European investments in Africa are subject to domestic scrutiny that is entirely lacking in, say, China. While Chinese investors have built valuable infrastructure, their logging companies and fishing fleets have been rapacious.
China’s debt pile has also contributed to a wave of defaults from Zambia to Ethiopia. Too many investments have been white elephants. A $4 billion Chinese railway in Kenya has done more for political cronies than for economic productivity.
Middle powers also bring new security problems. The United Arab Emirates’ meddling in the Sudanese war is prolonging one of the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophes. Russian mercenaries, paid in gold and diamonds, offer nothing in terms of economic or social development. As protesters in Kenya have pointed out, African leaders too often act in their own interests, not in the interests of national development.
Competition in Africa offers the prospect of higher growth, more output and more jobs, but if new models of interaction offer an opportunity, it is one that, so far, most African governments are missing.