GAMBIA-SENEGAL TIMBER UNDERHAND DEAL FEEDS CHINA

While some youths in the sister countries of Senegal and The Gambia, as well as dealers in the illegal felling and selling of timbers in these countries, are making a living from the crumbs of the proceeds of the deal, big brother China, the rapidly growing investor and donor partner to Africa, is getting the lion’s share of the deal.

For centuries people in rural Gambia and Cassamance have lived a semi-buoyant life with their dense and rich forests, not really realizing the potential these forests have in store for them.

Whilst a new generation of wealth-starved youth has emerged and erratic rains that rendered poor harvests have left no light at the end of the tunnel for them and their families to grow what they eat, the youth segments of these regions have, for the past two years, been looking to the forest for survival.

About five years ago, at this time of the year, the proletariats and those living in the bottom of the heaps started hoarding, saving for the rainy days, and managing their seasonal earnings amidst soaring food prices in both local and regional markets.

Africa's forests have been robbed off their resources to fed China's burgeoning market


This time around, the scene of life is a whole lot of a new ballgame: villagers at the Gambia-Cassamance border are living a glamorous life, driving luxurious motorbikes (Fedemco Riders), and many of them have jumped from the life of hand to mouth and have rather developed an extravagant lifestyle tantamount to that of Khlestakov in Nicolai Gogol’s 1836 satirical play – The government Inspector.

As it clearly appeared, many people situated at the border ends of Gambia-Cassamance are enjoying the cake at the disposal of their grandparents had they exploited the resources in its decades ago.

Middle-class and poor households have found solace in the business: they would purchase enough bags of rice and condiments to cover the next two to three months, when the food crisis will be at its peak.

The whole story goes and comes: the illegal business starts in Cassamance and ends in The Gambia. In Cassamance, energetic youth fell timbers illegally - illegally because Senegal has banned it - to make ‘fast-money’, as they call it.
“You can see every timber I [illegally] fell to the ground, I am expecting to earn a minimum of D500,” Malick Camara, a youth in his mid-twenties, told this paper.

In the illegal logging business, there is a division of labour. Those that fell the trees are not responsible for smuggling the logs into The Gambia; those that smuggle them do not load them in trucks; and those who load them do not own them, neither do they go and sell them.

Thus, to smuggle them into The Gambia, men use donkey and horse carts to ply 15-20km to have the logs into the country, where trucks are on the wait with other groups of young men to off-load from the carts and load in the trucks that are bound for the city. The centre for activities has now shifted from some parts of CRR South to URR, around the Jimara district.

The logging now also include trees of the Mahogany species


Therefore, this tripartite choreography of the movement of the business is a clear indication that the real people fuelling this illegal business are pulling the strings behind doors: they do not want to be seen doing the real job, yet they cannot also let loose the gains in the business – a kick in the teeth for some people.
“They [the Senegalese authority] do appear surreptitiously and threaten to arrest us, but when we put our hands in our pockets, they let us go with a caution: ‘Don’t come back again’,” Musa Jallow, 23, told MarketPlace.

Musa’s job is to smuggle the timbers to The Gambia, but like many others, he is better off and now he buys five to ten logs of timber on the spot and smuggles them for himself into The Gambia and sells them at high cost.

“Sometimes when I am to smuggle for somebody with my donkey-cart, it takes me maximum two trips a day; and each trip costs a minimum of D700,” he added.
Jallow, like Camara, came from Saradou, a village in Cassamance, 5km from The Gambia, and settled in Sare-moussa in Cassamance purposely to smuggle logs to The Gambia.
We make money very quickly, but you can see when the Senegalese forest officials come, we have to run into the bush and hide, otherwise, we will rot in jails in Kolda – this shows you that we are in an illegal business,” Jallow explained.
Both Senegal and The Gambia have banned the illegal trading of timbers, yet the business has not ceased, and not without the knowledge of both governments’ responsible authorities.

A recent China-Africa meeting include among others, economic coopration


A journey through the length and breadth of the country, using trans-Gambia highway will be an eye-opener to many that the timber business is gaining momentum: lines of timbers lying along the road, waiting to be transported to the city for China.
Whilst the face of poverty is gradually fading for three-thirds of these communities that have benefitted from the trade, important questions are: how long will this continue to impact on the people, and what negative impact does this have on the socio-economic lives of the few that have not benefitted.

Abdoulie Barry, a timber-made tycoon, tried to say something: “I know we have touched the lives of few people, by putting it in limbo: the rain shows no sign of giving farmers good harvest and this is partly blamed on our activities, that we have rendered the bush empty.
“If there would be a prolonged dry spell, the food crisis situation is feared coming again.

However, despite many farmers are tightening their belts and keeping fingers through bones in order to avert a replica of the previous season, a good number of them, especially those that have not benefitted from the logging, are having their hands on their heads, waiting to see the endgame.

Fears mounted in Cassamance that the Gambia government has said it will close its border to illegal timbers at the end of this month.

STANDARD CHARTERED BANK AT RISK OF LOSING BANKING LICENCE

Authors: Amat JENG and Lamin JAHATEH, both reporters with MarketPlace Business Newspaper of The Gambia


The parent company of Standard Chartered Bank Gambia has been asked to tell why its banking licence should not be revoked after it was alleged to have involved in a "scheme" with the Iranian government and hid from law-enforcement officials 60,000 secret transactions in order to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in fees, the MarketPlace has gathered.

In a rare move, New York's top bank regulator threatened to strip the banking licence of Standard Chartered Plc, saying it was a "rogue institution" that hid US$250 billion in transactions tied to Iran, in violation of US law that sanctioned Iranian Government.

The loss of a New York banking licence would be a devastating blow to Standard Chartered, effectively cutting off direct access to the US bank market.
The New York State Department of Financial Services said that in a 30-page report released on 6 August this year, Standard Chartered, by scheming with the Iranian government, exposed the US banking system to terrorists, drug traffickers and corrupt states.

SCB UK


Some analysts opined that it’s unlikely that Standard Chartered would be stripped of its licence. “It’s difficult to think that the bank could lose its licence, but you can’t rule it out,” one of the analysts is quoted to have said.
The New York bank regulator is also demanding that the international bank pay for an independent monitor “to ensure compliance with rules governing the international transfer of funds.”

Since a US-led sanction on Iranian banks took effect, many banks in the West are not allowed to deal with banks representing the interest of the Islamic Republic of Iran – a move aimed at handicapping the Iranian economy, in order to halt its nuclear programme, which the US and Israel perceive as a potential threat.

SHARES TUMBLES

The London share prices of Standard Chartered tumbled as much as 20 per cent after the New York State financial regulator’s accusation.
According to analysts, Standard Chartered’s shares dived on fears that the bank could lose its licence for US dollars, which could wipe 30-40 per cent off the group’s earnings.

The Guardian, a London-based newspaper, has reported that falling price of Standard Chartered’s share puts the top management of the bank under intense pressure.
Even though the highly regarded London-based bank has denied the accusations made by the New York’s state financial services regulator, investors were frightened following a spate of banking scandals which have unseated management at rival banks of Standard Chartered’s in the UK.

Standard Chartered had issued a statement refuting the allegations saying it does not believe the statements of the New York State Department of Financial Services presents a full and accurate picture of the facts.
In the statement, the bank said it has “overwhelmingly” complied with US sanctions and the regulations relating to U-turn payments.

The statement said: “As we have disclosed to the authorities, well over 99.9 per cent of the transactions relating to Iran complied with the U-turn regulations [which enables non-US countries to trade with Iran using dollars]. The total value of transactions which did not follow the U-turn was under $14m.”
At the center were the alleged "U-Turn" transactions, money moved for Iranian clients among banks in Britain and Middle East and cleared through Standard Chartered's New York branch, but which neither started nor ended in Iran.

Such transactions were permissible until November 2008, when the Treasury Department prohibited them on concerns that they were being used to evade sanctions, and that Iran was using banks to fund nuclear and missile development programmes.

SCB GROUP CEO


Standard Chartered, a financier in emerging markets, is the sixth foreign bank since 2008 to be implicated in dealings with sanctioned countries such as Iran in investigations led by federal and New York law-enforcement officials.

Four banks -- Barclays Plc, Lloyds Banking Group, Credit Suisse Group and ING Bank NV -- have agreed to fines and settlements totaling $1.8 billion. HSBC Holdings Plc currently is under investigation by U.S. law enforcement, according to bank regulatory filings.

Standard Chartered UK, last week posted record first-half net profit of $2.81bn, up 12 per cent from the previous corresponding period.
In a statement accompanying the results, chief executive Peter Sands lauded the bank's "culture and values" as a source of strength over its competitors.
"We are selective and turn things down that we don't understand, or don't like the look of," said Sands.

BORDER IMPASSE: GAMBIA, SENEGAL SIGN MOU OVER CONTROVERSIAL FERRY CROSSING-POINT

After a long diplomatic saga between the two West African countries over border crossing rendered both economies half-way handicapped, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has poured cold water into the matter, leading to a signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Jammeh’s and Sall’s goverments.

The two governments, which have opted to restore normalcy, on Friday signed an MoU for the construction of the trans-Gambia bridge and the rehabilitation of a cross-border road section to link Keur Ayib-Senoba-Farrafenni-Bounkiling.

The Gambia’s Foreign minister Mambury Njie and his Senegalese counterpart Alioune Badara Cisse sealed the deal on behalf of their respective governments.

The Senegalese Foreign Affairs minister disclosed that the cost involved to implement this project stands in the region of CFA50 billion.

President Yahya Jammeh



The funds are coming from the coffer of the African Development Bank, with a construction period of five years.

He said the laying of the foundation stone of this work is scheduled to take place later in this month.

Mr Badara Cisse describes the project as probably the largest project in the history of the new Senegalese government under President Macky Sall, who came to office four months ago.

"Our worship of diplomacy is the one that allowed us to reap these benefits," reported Minister Badara Cisse.

The first country to have been visited by Macky Sall, a few days after his inaugural ceremony, was The Gambia.

It was seen by many political and economic analysts as a step in the right direction, for Mr Sall’s cabinet.

Issues that were discussed in that Banjul meeting included the restoration of peace in Cassamance in southern Senegal, after analysts figured out that Jammeh is crucial in the process of maintaining peace in the embattled Cassamance - one of Africa’s longest civil wars.

President Macky Sall



“In the meeting between the two heads of state, important decisions were made for a perfect cohesion in relationships,” our sources said.

“Fraternal exchanges, firm pledges were made among them in today's event which is the signing of a memorandum of the bridge,” said Minister Cisse.

For him, the signing is a symbolical diplomatic triumph, given the nature of the much-talked about Senegambia dream and the symbiotic existence between the two sisterly countries.

"Also, history will record that this historic moment happens under the regime of Presidents Sall and Jammeh.

The free movement of persons and their property, between The Gambia and Senegal will benefit both countries".

“Also, history will record that this historic moment happens under the regime of Presidents Sall and Jammeh,” he concluded.

The construction of the bridge will begin before the end of 2012, The Gambia’s foreign minister Mambury Njie said, adding that the project is coming into reality after long negotiations, a development that will further strengthen the old ties between the two countries.

“The free movement of persons and their property, between The Gambia and Senegal will benefit both countries,” he said.

He saluted the two leaders for the laud initiative and assured of The Gambia’s commitment and readiness to adhere to the agreement.

POTENTIAL THREAT OF SEA LEVEL RISE TO SWEEP COUNTRY’S CAPITAL

MINISTER MBOGE

It is projected that a rise in sea level of one meter will result in inundation of an area of about 92 kilometer-square in the coastal zone, including the capital city of Banjul, said Francis Leity Mboge, the Minister for Works, Constructions and Infrastructures.

The minister made this remarks yesterday at Kairaba hotel, during an inception workshop on project preparatory grant on ‘Enhancing resilience for vulnerable coastal areas and communities to climate change in The Gambia’, organized by the United Nations Development Programmes (UNDP) in close partnership with the department of Water Resources.

PARTICIPANTS AT THE TWO-DAY MEETING



The project is mean to help mitigate the country’s vulnerability to climate change by improving coastal defenses and enhancing adaptive capacities of coastal communities.
For the minister not only settlements will be eroded, also 60% of mangrove forest, 33% of swamp areas and 20% of rice fields will be lost.
As a result, this will lead to a decrease in rice production and impede the objectives of one of the country’s blueprint that targets 70, 000 metric tons of rice on yearly basis.

THE CITY OF BANJUL



“Climate change scenarios for the country indicate that the climate variability currently being experienced is likely to increase and intensify. Droughts, floods and storms are likely to increase, in both frequency and intensity. Precipitation level and patterns are likely to change. In coastal areas, sea level rise and rising sea temperatures will lead to saltwater intrusion, floods and coastal erosion.

“This constitutes a significant threat to the country because important economic activities such as tourism and fisheries are located in the coastal zones. This destruction of human infrastructure and destabilization of rich eco-systems from higher sea levels could be very significant, and result in serious damage and affect the livelihoods of those engaged in these activities,” he said.

OUSMAN JARJU, DIRECTOR OF WATER RESOURCES AND UNFCCC FOCAL POINT



Ousman Jarju, director of water resources and the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) focal point, said in 2010, UNDP helped the
Gambia developed the said project with an amount of 8.9 million US Dollar.

Whilst he said the project will be executed by the National Environment Agency (NEA) in partnership with the department of agriculture and fisheries, and UNDP as the Global Environment Fund (GEF) implementing agency, he also stated the three components of the project: policy and institutional development for climate risk management in coastal zone; physical investments in coastal protection against climate change; and strengthening livelihoods of coastal communities at risk from climate change.

Izumi Morota-Alakija, UNDP deputy resident representative



“It is also gratifying to note that this project is the largest NAPA project to be funded under the LDCF [Least Development Country Fund] so far and all eyes are on the Gambia. I am confident that with determination, strong resolve to meeting our Vision 2020 and PAGE objectives, we will prepare the project document and implement it successfully.”

“Studies both in Gambia and abroad have shown that climate change will have significant consequences on coastal regions, especially low-lying coasts with their mangrove ecosystems like we have in Gambia,” said, Izumi Morota-Alakija, UNDP deputy resident representative.

Mr Sarr



Modou B Sarr, NEA, also added a tone on the effect of climate change on the country: “climate change affecting this vital area will certainly endanger our survival as a nation.”

Cell phone penetration: Africa still lags behind

Journalists gathered last week in the South African city of Johannesburg for an ‘Economic and Financial Reporting course’ were taken to task to dig into issues of economic viability, such as the ones that have caused the development of the continent to stagnate.

Guest speaker Professor Patrick Bond, director of the Centre for Civil Society at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, gave a brilliant expose on the theme: “Is Africa prospering or being looted?”
For him, Africa continues to lag behind other regions both in terms of the percentage of people with access to the “full range of communications services and the amounts and manner in which they can be used – primarily as a result of the high cost of services”.

“Large numbers of citizens across the continent still lack access to or cannot afford the kind of communications services that enable effective social and economic participation in a modern economy and society,” he said.

Prof Bond, interviewed by journalists

Despite a steady progress in mobile market growth, Professor Bond observes that there are still some bottlenecks that need careful consideration, especially when making policies that would impact the sector.

He pointed out some of the actual performances of the industry that unveil telling weaknesses. Although the mobile market has experienced significant growth, outcomes have been sub-optimal in many respects, he notes, saying these include the role of multinational capital in sucking out profits and dividends; the lack of genuine competition (collusion is notorious even in the large economies as South Africa); relatively high prices for cell-phone handsets and services; and limited technological linkages to internet service.
Last year, a report (“Towards Evidence-based ICT Policy and Regulation”) by Johannesburg researchers Enrico Calandro, Alison Gillwald, Mpho Moyo and Christopher Stork unveiled a host of ICT deficiencies, arguing that “cell-phones penetration figures tend to mask the fact that millions of Africans still do not own their own means of communication”.

Professor Bond argues on neo-colonialism


Through this academic work, Professor Bond observed that the reasons the continent is lagging behind on this sector could primarily be blamed on the results of high cost of services: the cost of wholesale telecommunications services as an input for other economic activities remains high, escalating the cost of business in most countries; the contribution of ICT to gross domestic product, with some exceptions, is considerably less than global averages;
and national objectives of achieving universal and affordable access to the full range of communications services have been undermined either by poor policies.
“As a general trend across the continent, while the voice divide is decreasing, the Internet divide is increasing and broadband is almost absent on the continent and the fixed-line sector continues to show no signs of recovery as most countries experienced negative growth between 2006 and 2008,” he said.
“Africa is suffering from neo-colonialism, and that means the basic trend of exporting raw materials, and cash crops, minerals, petroleum, has gotten worse.”

For Professor Bond, the neo-colonialism syndrome has left many Africans staggering in destitute and poverty, saying “[neo-colonialism] has really left Africa poorer per person in much of the continent, than even at independence.”

The scholar academically argued that World Bank’s Chief Economist for Africa Region Shanta Devarajan’s abstract that the continent’s “GDP per capita is not lower today than it was ten to fifteen years ago”, is misleading.

“The idea that there’s steady growth in Africa is very misleading, and it really represents the abuse of economic concepts by politicians, by economists, who factor out society and the environment,” he added.

MORE THAN TWO MILLION SPENT ON UPLIFTING FIRE-RAVAGED FILLING STATION

After a heavy inferno destroyed Brikama’s Elton filling station in June, 2012, the Oil Company’s general manager disclosed that two million and six hundred thousand dalasi (D2.6M) have been spent to give it a facelift.

According to a source close to MarketPlace, Bakary Jammeh, the general manager of Elton
Oil Company, Gambia Ltd, has disclosed the damage done to the station during the fire incident was estimated at D2M, but it has cost his company D2.6M to mend the dent.

The fire damaged the Elton canopy and pumps and also spread to some shops in a neighbouring compound. The restoration process of the canopy has been completed while the restoration of the eight shops is ongoing.

Whilst he said that almost all works to have all equipments and material back in place have been completed, he added the “next step is to work with the Office of the Governor of the West Coast Region to compensate the owners of the eight shops that were also affected by the incident”.

The fence that separates the station from Sillah Kunda has been adjusted in order to withstand and contain any emergency, he added.

“That fence was a good containing factor to the fire not reaching Sillah Kunda.”
The incident that sparked a wave of panic in Brikama, occurred on the 7 June when fire broke out from an engine of a tanker truck that was discharging fuel. Many shops were destroyed.

MINISTERS LEAD TREES TRANSPLANTING TO RESTORE LOST FOREST RESOURCES

Two Cabinet ministers were among over 300 volunteers from the communities of Kangfenda and Kanilai, including members of the Wood Re-exporters and Forest Users Association of The Gambia, who embarked on Mahogany transplanting exercise, aimed at “maintaining the country’s forest cover by replacing the cut trees”.

Fatou Ndey Gaye and Solomon Owens, ministers of Forestry and Environment, and Agriculture, respectively, took the front steps in the exercise that showed the transplanting of 800 Mahogany trees along the Kangfenda-Kanilai Highway in Foni Kansala.

Fatou Ndey Gaye

Minister Gaye said: “The exercise is very important for the environment. If we kill and exhaust all the trees we have today what will the children use in the future? We would have caused a lot of problems for them.”
Through initiatives by the president, the country aims to plant one million trees every year.

On his part, Solomon Owens also described the initiative as important. He said that one will see the big difference when comparing the environment 42 years ago and today. He lamented that most of the trees are gone, pointing out that the disappeared trees are not the cheap and small ones, but trees that are very expensive.
Whilst he recalled that a report published 10 years ago stated that despite all the efforts put into tree planting every year, the survival rate at the end of the season is always less than 10%.

Minister Owens

Also speaking at the closing of the exercise, the acting director of Forestry, Sarjoh Fatajoh, said the objective of the tree planting exercise was to replace the ones that were cut. He stressed on the need for a proper security mechanism to ensure the survival of the planted trees.

“Tree planting is a very important exercise because for years back there was more rainfall than we have now and human beings cannot live without trees and there cannot be life without trees. Therefore, the importance of trees cannot be overemphasised. This is just the beginning. We are going to continue the exercise and it is going to be countrywide,” he added.

WESTERN POWERS PREPARING INTERVENTION IN MALI

According to eyewitness reports, Islamists recently tore down at least four mausoleums in the Malian world heritage city of Timbuktu. Members of the rebel group Ansar Dine are also alleged to have desecrated the graves of the saints Sidi Mahmud, Sidi Moctar and Alpha Moya and destroyed the mausoleum of Sheikh al-Kebir, which is situated close to the famous mosque of Djingareyber, south of Timbuktu.

The chief prosecutor of the International Court of Justice in the Hague, Fatou Bensouda, called for an immediate halt to all violence and condemned the destruction that had taken place as a “war crime”. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) called on the UN Security Council to approve the dispatch of a rapid deployment force of 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers in the region. Former colonial power France also demanded immediate intervention by the UN.

A MAP OF MALI



These developments in Mali, whose population of 15 million numbers amongst the poorest in the world, are a result of the political turmoil that emerged after a military coup in March 2012. The coup ended the rule of President Amadou Toumani Touré, who was replaced by Army Captain Amadou Sanogo.

The coup followed the country’s destabilization by thousands of Tuareg fighters who had supported Muammar Gaddafi against foreign intervention troops in the Libyan war. After Gaddafi’s defeat, they returned home heavily armed and, in many cases, traumatized. Facing catastrophic living conditions, they joined forces with the radical Islamists of Ansar Dine and conquered several cities in the north of Mali, among them Timbuktu, and in April proclaimed the Islamic Republic of Azawad.

The Army attributed its coup against Touré to a lack of support for their struggle against the Tuareg tribes. The insurgent troops imposed a nationwide curfew, temporarily suspended the constitution, and indefinitely postponed the presidential election that had been scheduled for March 2012.

coup leader Capt. Amadu Sanago



In late March, the ECOWAS countries posed an ultimatum to the new rulers demanding the reestablishment of constitutional order and the re-imposition of the old government. They threatened to close their borders with Mali, stop trade and block Mali’s accounts with the West African Central Bank.

The coup’s leader, Amadou Sanogo, reacted by reestablishing the constitution, promising democratic elections and handing over civil power to former parliamentary president Dioncounda Traoré. After fierce fighting in which Traoré was injured, Sanogo was once again able to gain the upper hand and took over as transitional president.

Mali’s significance for the imperialist powers has less to do with its economy than with its geostrategic position. It borders on the economically important countries of Northern Africa and on Western African countries with vast resources. It is regarded as a hub for exercising economic and political influence in the region.

Former president Touré, who came to power in a coup in 1991, enjoyed US military and economic support for many years. According to figures released by the US government, Washington backed Mali with $138 million in 2011 and planned to increase its support to $170 million in 2012. A joint military manoeuvre between US forces and the Mali army took place in January.

The new ruler is by no means unknown to the US government. Sanogo took part in language training courses in Texas from August 2004 until February 2005. In 2007, he was schooled by the US Secret Service and trained as an infantry officer in Georgia for five months.

Interim president Joncounda Traore whose Palace was stormed, returned home from receiving medical treatment



It is quite possible that Sanogo’s coup was arranged in cooperation with the US government. However, imperialist forces will not be happy with the result because Mali’s north is still in the hands of the insurgents. A future UN intervention supported by the US cannot be excluded, because for Washington, Mali is particularly important from the standpoint of containing Chinese influence in Africa.

Just as the international intervention in Libya was aimed in part at denying China access to North African oil, a military intervention in Mali in cooperation with the US would target Chinese influence in the country.

This influence has grown in recent years. Chinese direct investments in Mali increased 300-fold from 1995 to 2008. Mali ranks with Zambia, South Africa and Egypt among African countries where China has made its largest investments.

In addition to the United States, France also has an intense interest in its former colony, and is just waiting to “rescue” the country’s cultural heritage with a military intervention backed by the UN Security Council. France wants to preempt a new competitor in the battle for spheres of influence—Germany, whose imperialist appetite is steadily increasing. In Germany, a “Sahel Task Force” was launched in February with the remit to attend to “political, security and economic issues in the Sahel region,” which includes parts of Mali.

TENSIONS AT CHINA-AFRICA SUMMIT

The Chinese leadership held its latest summit with African countries last week, attended by six heads of state and ministers from 50 countries. In a bid to boost its influence across the continent, China agreed to provide $US20 billion in credit, doubling the amount it offered at the previous Forum on China-Africa Cooperation three years ago.

Sensitive to Western criticisms of “Chinese neo-colonialism”, President Hu Jintao insisted in his speech to the forum that “a new type” of strategic partnership between China and Africa had been established. “We should oppose the practices of the big bullying the small, the strong dominating over the weak and the rich oppressing the poor,” Hu said. He pledged that China would be “a good friend, a good partner and a good brother”.

Hu listed what China had done for Africa: $15 billion of preferential loans, 100 schools, 30 hospitals, 30 anti-malaria centres and 20 agricultural technology demonstration centres, as well as the training of 40,000 African personnel and 20,000 scholarships.

Beijing has directed the state media to counter the “neo-colonial” charges. The Xinhua news agency declared the accusation was “biased and ill-grounded”, because the Sino-African relationship is based on “equality and mutual benefit … fact is more convincing than rhetoric.” It insisted that China has provided “Africa with much-needed products and technologies, and a vast market for its commodities.”

Accusations of Chinese “colonialism” by the US and European powers are motivated by nothing else except concern for their own strategic and commercial interests that are under challenge from Beijing. Africa was carved up between the imperialist states in the nineteenth century, and ever since the continent’s natural resources and cheap labour have been the preserve of US and European corporations. The major powers now aim to maintain the status quo and shut out China.

Last year US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took a thinly-veiled swipe at China in a speech in Zambia that warned of a “new colonialism” threatening Africa. “We saw that during colonial times, it is easy to come in, take out natural resources, pay off leaders and leave,” she declared. The criticisms are part of the Obama administration’s offensive to undercut Chinese influence in Asia and around the world.

As part of this campaign, the Obama administration is building up its military presence in Africa. Last month, the Pentagon approved the deployment of 3,000 US troops across Africa in 2013, as part of its “regionally aligned force concept”. At present, 1,200 US military personnel are stationed in Djibouti.

The US and its Western allies have already used military force to undermine China’s position in Africa. The NATO war that toppled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi last year also cost China some $4 billion in investment. The division of Sudan into two countries, which was orchestrated by the US and its European allies, was also aimed at undermining China. Beijing had developed Sudan into a major oil supplier from the 1990s.

President Hu’s defensive remarks at the forum were aimed at countering criticism not only from the Western powers, but also within Africa. While still small by comparison to Western powers, China’s investment is not benign but is aimed at furthering the demands of Chinese capitalism for raw materials, markets and profits.

A CONVERGENCE OF ASIAN & AFRICAN LEADERS




Even South African President Jacob Zuma, who has been a key African leader pushing for closer ties with China, warned of “unsustainable” trade relations based on the export of energy and raw materials to China and the import of cheap Chinese manufactured goods. “Africa’s past economic experience with Europe dictates a need to be cautious when entering into partnerships with other economies,” Zuma said.

Zuma is facing growing calls for protectionism at home. Congress of South African Trade Unions official Tony Ehreinrich told the BBC in May that in Western Cape alone, 120,000 jobs in the clothing industry had been lost over the past five years. He demanded that Chinese exports be kept “out of our markets”. The unions have recently concluded a deal with South African textile manufacturers slashing the wages of new workers by 30 percent, in the name of maintaining competitiveness with Chinese imports.

To alleviate the “unbalanced” trade, China has agreed to import more non-mining products from Africa, as well as to invest more in African industry, rather than just mining and infrastructure.

Underlying the tensions at the forum is the rapid growth of China’s economic relations with Africa. In 2009, China overtook the US to become Africa’s single largest trading partner. Two-way trade hit $166 billion last year, with a trade surplus in Africa’s favour due to surging exports of minerals, oil and agricultural products. China’s foreign direct investment in Africa has skyrocketed from under $100 million in 2003 to more than $12 billion in 2011, mainly in infrastructure, often to facilitate the shipment of raw materials.

Speaking at the New York Forum Africa conference last month, Gao Xiqiang, vice-chairman of the China Investment Corporation, emphasised the real driving forces behind China’s economic involvement with Africa. “Wherever there’s profit to be made, capital will go there. There’s not much difference for Chinese capital, as compared to any capital in the world,” he said.

Gao insisted that China was not competing with American capital, whose capital market accounts for almost half of the world total. “Despite all the income investment in Africa, China only accounts for a few percentage points, whereas the Western powers have been here for forever and they account for more than 90 percent, especially the minerals and resources investment. So we don’t compete; we come here to cooperate.”
Gao’s appeal for cooperation undoubtedly fell on deaf ears in Washington. Amid a worsening global economic crisis, the US is not willing to countenance any challenge to its economic and strategic dominance in Africa or any other corner of the globe.


The author John Chan writes for the World Socialist Web Site