The Dragon's Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

China is often taciturn about the real size and scope of its projects in Africa, so this topic has suffered from much confusion and often from inflated (or guessed) numbers. Prof. Brautigam aims to describe and analyze the real Chinese aid picture, using both anecdotal data obtained from many personal visits to Chinese development projects in Africa and also statistical data obtained through carefully digging into the real numbers behind the headlines.

Although she notes some concerns, Brautigam is on balance fairly positive on China's role, especially in its emphasis on practicalities. I learned many things, including:

* China explicitly declares that its programs are aiming for "mutual benefits" and "win-win" rather than simply dispensing charity. For example, projects may be directly profitable, or they may foster Chinese trade. Interestingly, this peer-peer style is often popular with recipients.

* The main Chinese focus is on fostering economic development (in infrastructure, agriculture, or industry) as the path to a better future, rather than on relieving today's symptoms.

* China is consciously reusing strategies that seemed to work in developing China itself. For example, in the 1950s Japan provided China with development loans and technology tied to specific projects, and was repaid with the products of the resulting Chinese factory or mine. China perceives this as a key "win-win" strategy for development.

* China emphasizes "no strings" and non-interference in countries internal affairs. However a key goal, especially in earlier years, was building up support for the PRC against Taiwan. Aid would only be given to those countries that recognized Beijing as the sole government of China. While China's "no strings" policies might appear to tolerate dictatorships and corruption, Brautigam observes that in practice the West's actions are not so very different: despite all the hopeful talk of "conditionality", much Western aid, investment and military hardware still flows to extremely unpleasant regimes.

* China provides some humanitarian aid, notably medical teams and post-disaster assistance. But this is relatively modest. Brautigam believes Chinese non-commercial aid to Africa is still only a small fraction of Western aid.

* Chinese workers (including technical experts) work relatively cheaply and typically live at close to local living standards. This is perceived as very different from the highly paid and expensively supplied Western experts.

* China's engagements are often weak on environmental issues, and on social and human rights issues. This is improving, but slowly. China tends to assume that its own internal strategy of putting development first is still the right one.

* There has been a great deal of misreporting of Chinese aid figures in Western media. This is partly because China is taciturn and partly because it uses different measurement criteria. For example, if China makes a below-market-rate loan, it only treats the reduction in interest payments as "aid", whereas a Western government treats the whole loan amount as "aid". (I think I prefer the Chinese methodology here.) But there is also enormous media confusion between (a) true non-commercial "aid" (b) subsidized "aid" loans for commercial projects (c) business loans on normal commercial terms, and (d) commercial business China does in Africa, sometimes paid for by another donor country. For all these categories, Brautigam tries to extract and compare true apples-to-apples Chinese and Western numbers.

* China is consciously trying to move its mature industries offshore. For example, the Chinese government is providing financial incentives for moving textile manufacturing out of China. (Fascinating!)

These brief notes only touch the tip of the iceberg: there is much more of interest in the book.

In general, I'd recommend this as very useful reading for anyone interested in either African development or China's foreign policy. My one caution would be that it is not light reading: Brautigam provides reams of detail and many carefully analyzed statistics. This is all useful, but can occasionally be slow going.

Deborah Brautigam's new book, "The Dragon's Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa", presents both a well-researched and unbiased account of Chinese involvement in Africa, as well as useful re-examination of foreign aid in general. The author's 20+ years studying the subject lend her analysis a rigorous academic depth lacking in many studies of Chinese aid, while her personal interviews with top Chinese and African officials, as well as local African business people, provide insightful perspectives likewise not found in many sources. Moreover, Brautigam's fluid narrative style and overviews of economic development, which she weaves into the beginning chapters, make the book equally accessible to seasoned development practitioners and students alike. In short, "The Dragon's Gift" is absolutely a must read for anyone interested in the subject of Chinese aid to Africa, and also forms a useful text for understanding the historical context and shifting role of foreign aid in Africa at the dawn of the 21st century.

American University Professor Deborah Brautigam writes that China is listening to Africa.

All good relationships involve communication. In the past. when South Africa complained about the "tsunami" of textiles from China, Beijing agreed to voluntary export restraints. When Zambian workers rioted at Chinese-owned mines, Chinese officials openly criticized the owners' labor practices. There are clearly rocky areas in this relationship, but on balance, Brautigam sees more on the positive side of the ledger that the Chinese are doing well by Africa.

Brautigam believes it is up to Africans to ensure that the net result for Africa is good. China's huge demand for Africa's commodities has created new opportunities for African governments to realize the hopes of their people for a better life. Countries that set their house in order, can position themselves to benefit, and those that do not will find their resources continue to be simply a "curse"--with or without China.

China has ratcheted up its manufacturing investment in Africa, where new industries were sorely needed to counter decades of deindustrialization. China has established investment funds to promote Chinese investment in Africa. Teams from China have visited Mauritius, South Africa, and elsewhere - scouting locations for enterprise zones and industrial districts, which would join Chinese industrial zones in Ethiopia, Zambia, and Nigeria, and Chinese factories making batteries in Mozambique, shoes in Nigeria, ethyl alcohol in Benin, and a host of other products across the continent.

Chinese factories offer not only jobs--they also use production technologies that African entrepreneurs can easily adopt. Chinese firms act as catalysts and models for the African Diaspora to invest their investment capital in Africa. Taiwanese and Hong Kong firms stimulated a rush of copy-cat local investment in Nigeria and were catalysts for the boom of local investment in the "Mauritius miracle" of the 1980s and 1990s. Brautigam says let's have more of this.

This well-timed book, by one of the world's leading experts, provides the first comprehensive account of China's aid and economic cooperation overseas. Deborah Brautigam tackles the myths and realities, explaining what the Chinese are investing, how they are contributing to African Industrialization and agribusiness, how they do it, how much aid they give, and how it all fits into their "going global" strategy. Drawing on three decades of experience in China and Africa, and hundreds of interviews in Africa, China, Europe and the U.S., Brautigam shines new light on a topic of great interest.

Table of Contents

Prologue: The Changing Face of Chinese Engagement in Africa; 1. Missionaries and Maoists: How China Moved from "Red" to "Expert"; 2. Feeling the Stones: Deng Xiaoping's Aid Experiments; 3. Going Global: Foreign Aid in the Toolkit of a Rising China; 4. Eastern Promises: An Aid System with Chinese Characteristics; 5. Orient Express: How Does Chinese Aid and Engagement Work?; 6. Apples and Lychees: How Much Aid Does China Give?; 7. Flying Geese, Crouching Tiger: China's Changing Role in African Industrialization; 8. Asian Tsunami: How a Tidal Wave can also be a Catalyst; 9. Exporting Green Revolution: From Aid to Agribusiness; 10. Foreign Farmers: Chinese Settlers, African Plantations; 11. Rogue Donor? Myths and Realities of Chinese Aid and Engagement; Conclusion: Engaging China