Pushing the African agenda at the Shanghai Expo

China’s soft power is being show cased once again with the current Shanghai Expo that was officially launched on April 30th. The Expo follows closely on the heels of Beijing’s spectacular hosting of the 2008 Olympics. Both these events signal that China’s geo-political footprint and influence is extending further than what some mainstream commentators have come to identify the Middle Kingdom as being the ‘workshop of the world’.

Like with previous Expos, which marked a coming of age of emerging Western powers to demonstrate their global outreach in productivity and economic innovation, the Shanghai extravaganza is tipped to catapult Beijing into a global trendsetter and strengthen the world’s fastest growing economy through design, tourism and cultural diplomacy by thrusting the Asian giant further up the global value chain. In some ways, the Expo provides a platform for China to announce its global arrival but in a much more muted way that aligns with what has been the overarching philosophy of successive Chinese leadership, namely: peaceful rise and harmonious development. And this message is clear: "China is doing better and better. There is no limit to what China can do," says Shen Dingli, director of the Center for American Studies at Shanghai's Fudan University. "It is a form of power, the power of persuasion rather than of gunpowder."More

Of course, hosting the Shanghai Expo also means that Beijing has come full circle to where it was in the past when Beijing had to sit on the sidelines and watch because of its own structural weaknesses or because of external domination. Perhaps what makes the Shanghai Expo so sweet for the Chinese state is the fact that it has finally fought its way into the global club where it can compete on the same stage with economies from the West. But not everyone is convinced that the Expo will have the desired results in projecting China’s soft power.

According to Li Xiguang, head of the International Center for Communications Studies at Tsinghua University in Beijing : “The United States has built its soft power by making its value and political system … universal values,” he says. “China will not beat the US in soft power until we have a better and newer form of democracy, freedom, and human rights”.

While this conveys that Beijing’s soft power identity is still in its infancy, the one place where it can be explicitly seen is in the developing world and more especially in Africa. The success of China’s infrastructure investments, social development projects and humanitarian assistance in many African countries has found resonance with African governments seeking to gain traction in their political leadership and engagement with China.

As one Nairobi based analyst noted: “China’s rapid economic development is an inspiration to many Africans. The Chinese are selling themselves as having experienced catch-up and offering to help African governments do the same”. More

So is the Shanghai Expo going to be that platform that enables Africa to improve its economic development and propel the continent’s integration into the global economy by catching up? Or is it going to be an extension of deals and investment projects that only focuses on one aspect of Africa’s development conundrum?

It is clear like with the history of Expos and world fairs that the main attraction is of course the wheeling and dealing. It becomes a veritable stage where the host country not only strives to increase its own inward foreign direct investment (FDI) but also boost its outward FDI. And in the Chinese case the ‘going global’ strategy is going to enhanced through the deals, joint ventures, contracts, mergers and acquisitions, and greenfield and brownfield investments the Chinese corporates are going to negotiate with global inc with the Chinese leadership hosting meetings on the sidelines with strategic actors.

And for Africa this will be no exception.

Already we have seen the Sh1.2 billion grant that President Kibaki of Kenya had secured after returning from the opening ceremony of the Expo and following a meeting with President Hu Jintao. Tagged as a development grant from China, the main thrust of this grant is to prioritise the construction of the Lamu port and assist Kenya in its Vision 2030, which is the development blue print for the country’s long-term plan.

Similarly, the President of Seychelles returned to the island state ‘completely satisfied’ following the four-day visit to Shanghai where he also attended the opening of the Expo.

But perhaps it was the meeting conducted on the sidelines of the Expo with President Hu that was the catalyst for President Michel’s satisfaction since it produced a bag of goodies worth approximately US$6 million for development projects that will be agreed upon by both sides. More

And these are just some of the deals listed to date with probably more to be signed with other African countries that are present at the Expo. In some respects the Expo could be seen as being an extension of the FOCAC Summit hosted last year in Sharm el Sheik. But more than that maybe we should be asking whether these ‘new’ development grants are part of the FOCAC commitments or is it new grants independent of the FOCAC measures. This is definitely something that must be monitored so that we can understand how much investment is being channeled into Africa and through what mechanisms.

Yet understanding the dynamics of where these grants are coming from is not enough. What is more critical is what Africa brings to the Expo. Is the African presence about more trade and investment deals or is there something more tangible that will benefit Africa and its people? How is the Expo going to change Africa’s development trajectory? What impact will it have on ordinary Africans and to what extent does the theme Better City; Better Life find synergies within African societies towards this goal? In short who is benefiting from the Expo: African elites or the economically indigent and impoverished?

These are hard questions to answer since some commentators and African leaders would like to argue that China is offering Africa an opportunity to improve its structural conditions through the development grants and investment projects and trade its way of out poverty. And it cannot be denied that creating an enabling environment that allows communities to engage in market transactions can assist in improving livelihoods and material circumstances. Perhaps we should be asking whether the nature of the trade deals, investment projects and the grants will create a Better City, Better Life in African towns and cities? What does a Better City, Better Life mean for ordinary Africans? How do we reconcile the environmental costs that these projects create on our cities or the medical issues it unleashes on people’s healthcare where a better life is no longer a human right?

It is a fact that the highest levels of slums is to be found in urban areas across the developing world. And it is these slum-dwellers surviving on the margins of the urban centre for whom a Better City, Better Life is significant. But it is not clear whether they will benefit from this since we have new urban development projects driven by political and economic elites that push these people further from the urban centre by demolishing their homes to make way for these mega modern day structures and high rise buildings. So where is the better city and better life for all?

So what do the Africans get out of this? This was captured by the South African delegation during the opening of the SA pavilion. With the theme ‘Its time’, the SA delegation is hoping that given its geo-strategic advantage as a gateway into Africa, participation at the Expo would be further strengthen bilateral ties with China and other countries wanting to position themselves in South Africa to take advantage of investment and trade opportunities North of the Limpopo River.

Perhaps it is about the business of business is business and less to do with a Better City, Better Life. Or if it is then it is about whose city and whose life.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Sanusha Naidu is research director of the Emerging Powers in Africa programme based with Fahamu in South Africa.
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at Pambazuka News.