Page 35 - Issue 9

Silk Road connects planned and Africa, reaching about $46 billion. The Academy of Military Science,
completed Chinese port clusters in China’s top military research institute,
Sudan, Mauritania, Senegal, Ghana, The offloading of Chinese excess said in its latest strategic review that One
Nigeria, Gambia, Guinea, São Tomé capacity in Africa has not been without Belt One Road has increased the need
and Príncipe, Cameroon, Angola, and problems. In East Africa, Kenya has for global focused strategy to protect
Namibia. Another route links Djibouti been the hardest hit. In 2017, Kenya’s China’s overseas interests. Similarly the
to Gwadar, The final arc of this corridor cement exports to the region dropped Communist Party of China has adopted
connects Walvis Bay to Chinese port by 40 percent due to the flood of the concept of “protecting overseas
clusters in Mozambique, Tanzania, and Chinese cement entering the country. nationals as a core Chinese interest.
Kenya before also connecting to Gwadar. That year, the World Bank warned that
Kenya’s economic competitiveness was Given the strategic nature of Chinese
These revived trade routes help declining due to the influx of Chinese investments in Africa, such as ports,
China diversify its supply chains excess capacity in Tanzania and Uganda railways, oil and gas pipelines, and power
and create a China–Indian Ocean– its main export destinations. plants, some African governments view
Africa–Mediterranean Sea Blue attacks on Chinese interests as a threat
Economic Passage to connect Africa In the past decade, Tanzania and to their own national security. Signed
to new maritime corridors in Pakistan, Uganda’s imports from China increased by African leaders in 2018, the current
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar. by as much as 60 percent, while those China-Africa Action Plan, states that the
Beijing’s military posture matches its from Kenya grew by 4 and 6 percent, security of “major domestic economic
expanding maritime and naval reach respectively, over the same time period. projects” and “safety of Chinese
under OBOR. Kenyan manufacturers have blamed nationals,
their country’s declining market share
This is particularly evident in the Indian of industrial products on Chinese firms, Chinese companies and major projects”
Ocean, where will be prioritized
China’s planned sea in intelligence,
lanes are heavily military, and police
concentrated and cooperation. That
its rivalry with is year, Uganda
growing. Africa’s became the first
importance to African country
China in this to deploy it
regard stems from military to protect
its location in a Chinese interests
maritime area in response to
in which Beijing attacks on Chinese
hopes to expand nationals by locals.
its presence and In neighboring
power projection. Kenya, China’s
Indeed, a decade security services
ago China’s reach set up and trained
in Africa’s adjacent an elite Kenya
waters was police division
nonexistent. to protect the

Africa is also an Mombasa-Nairobi
important end user railway.
of China’s industrial overcapacities, which they also accuse of importing In its attempt to neutralize threats to its
particularly coal, cement, steel, glass, raw materials from China and hiring investments, Beijing has also provided
solar, shipbuilding, and aluminum, for Chinese labor.
use in One Belt One Road projects. technologies to build local capacity for
In Kenya, imports of Chinese cement China’s policy of employing Chinese intelligence collection, surveillance,
increased tenfold n 2016 while the labor for its infrastructure projects monitoring, and response. This includes
Nairobi-Mombasa railway was being in Africa has resulted in more than facial recognition technologies, which
built. In 2018, Chinese exports of steel 200,000 Chinese citizens working on were recently supplied to Angola,
to Nigeria rose 15 percent, and Algeria OBOR contracts across Africa. This, in Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe. This is causing
tripled its imports of the product. In turn, creates a justification for Beijing apprehension in Africa, given the
2019, China’s global aluminum exports to take a hands-on approach toward tendency for some governments to use
rose by 20 percent, with exports to protecting them, as well as its sprawling intrusive technologies against political
Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South investments. opponents and activists.

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