Abduel Elinaza :
THE Father of Nation Mwalimu Julius Nyerere once said you don’t need to be a communist to see that China has a lot to teach about development. Mwalimu Nyerere was quoted saying that in 1970 when he was giving an interview for the 100 Most Important People in the World Today in New York.
“You don’t have to be a communist to see that China has a lot to teach us in development. The fact that they have a different political system to ours has nothing to do with it,” he was quoted as saying.
Today, China is the second largest economy in the world after hard work for about three decades. China, a one-party state, is practising a non-interference and condition-free aid policies. However many Western observers appraise Chinese aid to Africa very critically. They say unconditional aid and cheap loans fuel corruption and bad governance. But the Chinese say, policies on aid are centred on assisting developing countries with, among other things, condition free aids so as to reduce poverty and improve livelihood.
For instance, the policy also resulted in cancelling of 16 mature interest-free loans totalling 1.42 billion yuan (237 million US dollars). Tanzania was among the beneficiaries.
This year, China issued its second whitepaper on foreign aid, elaborating how the nation helps other developing countries reduce poverty and improve livelihood without imposing political conditions. The white paper, China’s Foreign Aid (2014), indicates the world’s largest developing country, has appropriated 89.34 billion yuan (about 14 billion US dollars).
The foreign assistances are through grants, interest-free loans and concessional loans between 2010 and 2012, of which over half went to African countries. “When providing foreign assistance, China adheres to the principles of not imposing any political conditions, not interfering in the internal affairs of the recipient countries and fully respecting their right to independently choosing their own paths and models of development,” the document said. Yun Sun, said in research paper published recently by brookings.edu titled ‘China’s Aid to Africa: Monster or Messiah?’ that the intention of China’ s aid to Africa is benign but not altruistic. China does not seek to use aid to influence the domestic politics of African countries or dictate policies.
The researcher says Chinese projects create access to Africa’s natural resources and local markets, business opportunities for Chinese companies and employment for Chinese labourers. China’s comprehensive, multi-dimensional aid to Africa defies simplistic categorization.
However, some have it that the unconditional aid might do harm than good to Africa as it might be fuelling corruption and poor governance. Other argue that this policy is based on quenching China’s mineral thirst. But on the other hand, Yun said, China is not helping Africa in exchange for nothing.
Chinese projects create access to Africa’s natural resources and local markets, business opportunities for Chinese companies and employment for Chinese labourers.
China also provides aid to countries that are not rich in natural resources to defuse international criticisms; they often forget to mention that China may have its eyes on other things which these countries can deliver, such as their support of Beijing’s ‘One China policy, of China’s agenda at multilateral forums, and of China as a ‘responsible stakeholder.’
“In this sense, China’s comprehensive, multi-dimensional agenda of its aid to Africa defies any simplistic categorization,” the researcher said. Nevertheless, according to an earlier white paper on foreign aid issued in 2011, China first began to provide foreign aid in 1950, when it provided material assistance to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Vietnam.
Before the updates on foreign aid from 2010 to 2012, China had offered aid to 161 countries and more than 30 international and regional organizations, already providing 256.29 billion yuan (42.715 billion US dollars) in aid to foreign countries.
Recipient countries of China’s foreign aid from 2010 to 2012 included 51 African nations, 30 Asian countries, nine in Oceania, 19 in Latin America and the Caribbean and 12 European countries. During the period, China provided foreign assistance in forms such as undertaking complete projects, dispatching medical teams and volunteers, offering emergency humanitarian aid, and reducing or exempting the debts of the recipient countries. Besides, China also provided assistance to regional organizations such as the African Union, according to the 2014 whitepaper.
“Developing countries, especially the least developed ones, are still confronted with the tough task of poverty reduction and development,” the whitepaper said. In total, China undertook the construction of 580 projects in 80 countries, including 80 hospitals, 85 schools and 156 economic infrastructure facilities.
Also, China relieved nine least developed countries and heavily indebted poor countries, namely, Tanzania, Zambia, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, Togo, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire and Sudan, from 16 mature interestfree loans totalling 1.42 billion yuan (237 million US dollars).
One of the important objectives of China’s foreign assistance is to support other developing countries to reduce poverty and improve the livelihood of their peoples.
China will respect and support developing countries’ exploration of development paths suited to their own national conditions and make concrete efforts to help other developing countries promote social and economic development, it noted.
According to the white paper, China is vowed to continue increasing the input in foreign assistance and is willing to work with the international community to make greater contribution to the development of mankind.
The document called for the international community to mobilize more development resources to promote economic and social development of developing countries to eliminate poverty worldwide.
