China and Africa

Love how just because some Westerner coined the term "soft power" somehow it's a thing written in the cosmos. The cosmos didn't say it wasn't soft power so therefore it must be. And that was printed so many can read it which is an invention of the Chinese. Where's the coercion by the Chinese that forced Westerners to read so that's why it's not soft power...?

There was and still is the debate of Western aid versus the Chinese doing business with developing countries like in Africa of which is better. Westerners think aid is better because it's all about giving while the Chinese business model is not good because the Chinese get something out of it. But when Westerners give aid they certainly like to show it off so they're getting something in return. "Look at me at how wonderful I am for caring! " And then the West can brag about how that's soft power. Give a man a fish and he can feed himself for a day. Teach a man to fish and he can feed his family for the rest of his life. The Western way is giving a man a fish because they still maintain control. The West can one day stop giving a man a fish if the man doesn't do what the West wants so that man is more likely to proclaims his love for the West in fear he won't get anymore fish that he's become dependent on. Then the West can spin dependency and call it love for the West. What's the man going to do or else he won't be getting anymore handouts of fish anymore.

China and Africa are developing well together but I wonder how the uneducated see China. Certainly the elites and increasingly, the upper class in Africa are seeing China in a favorable light, but they are a very small minority in a very large continent.

Amusingly, it sometimes appears the more anti -Chinese propaganda they read, the more pro China Africans become. Maybe it's a result of reading western propaganda during the colonial period and then making direct comparisons. However... The people who would do that are upper class people, not middle or lower class.

If anything, it's China being communist that is what's attractive to the lower class, but then the upper class is not amused.

An interesting dilemma. Also a possible positive since it means no matter who's in charge they're always going to see China as a positive, as they're always going to see what they want to see in China.

The consensus is that aid is a cancer. China brings trade which is the cure. How that trade translates to development in Africa is the question.

Even more amusingly, it appears western diplomats to Africa still haven't caught on that the Africans no longer want aid, but trade.

Talk by two socialist party members of Ghana and Zambia about how the rise of China pertains to their nation and peoples:

Tanzanian President to visit China with focus on cooperation in agriculture, infrastructure

By Published: Oct 27, 2022 10:22 PM


Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan addresses the general debate of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, Sept. 23, 2021. File Photo:Xinhua


At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Samia Suluhu Hassan, president of the United Republic of Tanzania, will pay a state visit to China from November 2 to November 4, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday.

Tanzanian President Hassan will be the first head of state from Africa to visit China after the conclusion of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and President Xi will hold a welcome ceremony for Hassan, hold bilateral talks and jointly attend a signing ceremony of cooperation documents, Mao Ning, spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told a routine press conference on Thursday.

Tanzania is an important country in East Africa. China and Tanzania enjoy traditional friendship, Mao said.

"In 2013, during his visit to Tanzania, President Xi put forth the guiding principles of China's policy toward Africa, namely sincerity, real results, affinity and good faith, which have then become China's basic policy on pursuing solidarity and cooperation with other developing countries. In recent years, the two countries have witnessed deepening political mutual trust and fruitful practical cooperation and have maintained sound cooperation in international and regional affairs," the spokesperson said.

The visit of the African head of state was announced as China welcomes other foreign leaders, including Vietnam's Communist Party chief and the Pakistani prime minister following the conclusion of the 20th CPC National Congress. Mao also noted that Hassan's visit to China will inject new impetus into the comprehensive and profound development of China-Tanzania relations and make new progress in bilateral friendship and cooperation, Mao said.

Some Chinese experts believed that the upcoming visit will be of great significance to accelerating bilateral ties, opening a new chapter for China-Africa relations in the post-COVID period.

Tanzania, as an old friend of China, is interested in learning about China's model of development, especially after China's economic reform and opening-up. Besides some traditional areas such as agriculture, in which the two countries have already deepened their cooperation, the two sides are expected to see more growth potential in sectors such as key infrastructure projects, industrialization, supply chain, import and export of agricultural products as well as agricultural processing, some experts said.

China and Tanzania have been seeing their trade and business exchanges growing over the past decades. For example, we have set up some agricultural demonstration centers in the country, investing in many sectors such as cotton and leather, Tang Xiaoyang, professor of the department of international relations at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Most recently, the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania held an online training course on Juncao technology from October 11 to 24. Commercial Counselor Chu Kun said at the closing ceremony of the course that China is willing to continue providing assistance to help Juncao technology benefit Tanzanians, according to the embassy's official account on Twitter.

Juncao, which literally means "mushroom" and "grass," can be used, as its name suggests, to grow edible mushrooms, as livestock feed or as a green barrier to combat desertification.

China's Juncao technology has been introduced to 106 countries and regions, helping address poverty in many places including South Pacific countries, Africa, and Latin America, Lin Zhanxi, a delegate to the 20th National Congress of the CPC and inventor of Juncao technology, said on October 16.

"As Tanzania has also been heavily hit by the COVID-19 epidemic, and its overall industrialization remaining at a relatively low level, there will be much more potential for the two countries to cooperate in those areas, for example, in helping to boost the agricultural supply chain, processing of agricultural products and increasing some imports to China," Tang said.

On major infrastructure projects, Tanzanian news outlet The Citizen recently reported that the Tanzania is set to start construction of Bagamoyo Port in the next financial year, a key infrastructure project that was set to include a special economic zone and attract hundreds of companies. Some media reports also predicted that when completed, the port is expected to be the largest in East Africa.

"Negotiations on the port project could be resumed, which could play a more significant role in the future," Tang said. As negotiations on the project between China and the African country were halted due to certain reasons, the upcoming talks are expected to be advanced in a cautious and gradual way, the expert noted.

Tanzanian president kicks off China visit to boost ties

First African leader visiting China since 20th CPC National Congress highlights long-lasting friendship

By Leng Shumei Published: Nov 02, 2022 10:24 PM


Samia Suluhu Hassan, President of the United Republic of Tanzania, kicked off her three-day visit to China on Wednesday as the first head of state from an African nation to visit China after the conclusion of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Highlighting the long-lasting friendship and comprehensive cooperation between China and Tanzania, which began half a century ago, Chinese experts expect Hassan's visit to enhance bilateral cooperation and open a new chapter for China-Africa relations.

Experts said that during the visit, Hassan probably would not only sign a series of cooperative agreements with China, but communicate with Chinese President Xi Jinping over China's development blueprint in the new era, which was formed at the just concluded 20th CPC National Congress.

We believe that President Hassan's visit will further bolster the building of a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian, noted at a routine press conference on Wednesday.

President Hassan is the first African head of state China will receive after the 20th National Congress of the CPC. China-Tanzania friendship is an epitome of China-Africa friendship and cooperation. China-Africa relations have been strong, and the two sides have ushered in a new era of building a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future. China is working closely with African countries to carry forward the spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation under the new circumstances, and jointly implement the outcomes of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Dakar Conference, Zhao said.

China and Tanzania are expected to sign cooperation documents during Hassan's visit and these fruitful results would inject new impetus into the development of bilateral ties, Tanzania's Ambassador to China Mbelwa Kairuki was quoted as saying by the China Central Television (CCTV) on Wednesday.

Hassan is looking forward to exchanging opinions with Xi on matters of mutual concerns, including bilateral ties, economic cooperation and development, security and other global issues, according to the ambassador.

As Ambassador Kairuki said, the upcoming visit by President Hassan will fully demonstrate the high-level friendship and mutual trust between China and Tanzania. We believe this visit will promote the development of the relations at an even higher level, Zhao noted.

Chinese experts highlighted the two countries' tradition of friendship from half a century ago when commenting on why the Tanzanian president is the first African head of state to visit China after the 20th CPC National Congress.

From the Tanzania-Zambia Railway built in the 1970s, to Xi's visit in 2013, to cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, the two countries have formed a long-lasting friendship and reached comprehensive cooperation, covering various fields from infrastructure construction, agriculture to culture, according to He Wenping, director of the African Studies Section at the Institute of West Asian and African Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The Tanzania-Zambia Railway line that runs between Dar es Salam in Tanzania and Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia was built with Chinese aid between 1970 and 1975. It was meant to serve as the main outlet to the sea for Zambia's exports at a time southern Africa was facing political upheaval, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Running some 1,870 kilometers, the railway is sometimes regarded as the greatest engineering effort of its kind since World War II. The railway took only five years to build and was finished ahead of schedule in 1975. Before construction began, 12 Chinese surveyors traveled for nine months on foot from Dar es Salaam to Mbeya in the Southern Highlands to choose and align the railway's path. Thereafter, about 50,000 Tanzanians and 25,000 Chinese were engaged to construct the historical railway, according to Xinhua.

In the 1960s and 1970s, tens of thousands of Chinese experts and railway workers went to Africa and joined hands with the people of Tanzania and Zambia to build the railway, which became a symbol of China-Africa cooperation, Kairuki told CCTV.

China and Tanzania have witnessed deepening political mutual trust and fruitful practical cooperation and have maintained sound cooperation in international and regional affairs. The two countries have seen trade and business exchanges grow over the past decades. China has set up agricultural demonstration centers in the country, investing in many sectors such as cotton and leather.

On , Tanzanian news outlet The Citizen recently reported that Tanzania is set to start construction of Bagamoyo Port in the next financial year, a key infrastructure project that was set to include a special economic zone and attract hundreds of companies. Some media reports predicted that when completed, the port is expected to be the largest in East Africa.

"The implementation of the project was once disturbed by some Western countries' so-called China's debt-trap diplomacy narrative. But I believe that Tanzanian authorities can tell right from wrong when witnessing the tangible benefits China's projects had brought about to Africa," He Wenping noted.

Besides signing cooperative agreements, Hassan may communicate with Xi over China's development plan in the new era and the governance of the country as China had clearly signaled its path to modernization and national rejuvenation and clarified the concept of Chinese modernization during the 20th CPC National Congress, He Wenping noted.

Tanzania and other developing countries could not only reap practical benefit from cooperating with China, but also learn from China's experiences and opinions on development to explore their own path, experts noted.

China Harbour completes first phase of Nigeria’s Lekki Port two months early​

David Rogers 02.11.22


The port will allow Nigeria to deal with largest modern container ships (/)

China Harbour Engineering has completed work on the first phase of the Lekki seaport in Lagos, making it the deepest in Nigeria. The phase accounts for $580m out of the project’s total value of $1.5bn, according to

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The work was carried out on an EPC basis by the contractor’s subsidiary, LFTZ Enterprise, and completed ahead of schedule. In March 2021 it was announced that work would end in the first quarter of 2023 (see further reading).

Nigeria commissioned Lekki Port and free trade zone to boost trade in a region with strong growth potential but poor infrastructure. The trend for container ships to become ever larger and heavier has forced ports to compete with ever deeper navigation channels, longer wharves and more sophisticated craneage.

A labelled photo of Lekki port taken in July (FrankvEck/)

When fully complete, the port will give West Africa the ability to deal with 1.2 million more containers a year, delivered by the latest 400m-long cargo ship.

Wu Di, vice president of CHEC and director of Lekki Port, said construction was started on 15 June 2020 and completed on 24 October. He added that the operator, a subsidiary of France’s CMA/CGM group, was free to take over in readiness for the start of operations.
Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor of Lagos State, reaffirmed that his administration was committed to the timely delivery of surrounding roads to ensure the port could operate without delays caused by congestion.

The port is expected to generate $361bn revenue for the Nigerian government and provide close to 200,000 jobs, Nigeria’s This Day .

China Development Bank is providing a $630m loan for the project.

Tanzania is China’s gateway to Africa

Beijing has long understood the value of strong ties with the East African country

by Adriel Kasonta November 9, 2022

Zanzibar Harbor. Trade volume between China and Tanzania reached US$6.74 billion in 2021. Photo: Wikipedia

On November 2, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport to commence a three-day official visit after President Xi Jinping extended an invitation to her last month. This marks a crucial event in the African continent’s history.

The symbolism of Hassan’s trip was reflected in the fact that it was her first journey to the Middle Kingdom since she came to power in March 2021 and coincided with her Chinese counterpart securing a historic third term in power.

This makes her the first African leader to be hosted by Xi in Beijing after the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China, which highlights the importance of Tanzania, and Africa more generally, in the Asian powerhouse’s foreign-policy strategy.

Before a welcoming banquet at the Golden Hall of the Great Hall of the People, and right after the red-carpet treatment at the Northern Hall, Hassan and Xi held talks covering such important topics as agriculture, industrial and infrastructural development, science and technology investment, and trade. As a result, the East African nation managed to secure 15 strategic agreements with the world’s No 2 economic giant.

Among the signed bilateral documents was a draft loan agreement for the Zanzibar International Airport Terminal II project, worth around US$56.72 million, and a grant of almost $13.8 million. The latter is a part of an Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation. Moreover, Beijing has decided to waive a portion of Dar es Salaam’s debt worth $13.49 million.
Special relationship

However, from the perspective of 58 years of diplomatic relations between China and Tanzania, the most significant part of the meeting was a decision to establish a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two nations that serves as a highly important culmination of their traditional all-weather friendship.

While “Tanzania has never been high on the list of official US relationships in Africa,” as Professor Tony Waters argued in his peer-reviewed article published in African Studies Quarterly in 2006, this certainly was not the approach of the officials in Beijing.

In fact, a special relationship between the two countries can be traced back to the anti-imperial struggles of their founding fathers, including the late Mwalimu Julius K Nyerere and Abeid A Karume in Tanzania and Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and later Deng Xiaoping in China – with that country expressing unconditional support for the East African nation long before becoming the political and economic superpower of today.

To put this into perspective, soon after Tanganyika and Zanzibar united on April 26, 1964, and became one country, China automatically extended diplomatic ties with the new entity known as Tanzania. This was immediately followed by the signing of many documents on bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the fields of economy, trade, culture and health.

Among the most crucial agreements established during the early era of Sino-Tanzanian relations, we can certainly include the Treaty of Friendship between the two countries signed in February 1965 and the agreement concerning the construction of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway signed in September 1967.

Interestingly, the latter marks one of the most important railway projects in the history of the African continent.

Today, the current leadership in Beijing seems to be even keener to cultivate the strong bond of friendship between the two countries, as no other Chinese leader has visited the region as often since Deng Xiaoping launched his open-door policy in 1978 as President Xi Jinping.

Most notably, it was Tanzania that he picked for his maiden foreign trip one week after assuming the office in March 2013 (after a brief stopover in Russia), with a goal of incorporating it into his Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) vision that saw the Bagamoyo port connecting eight African markets to China’s economy.

During the visit, President Xi delivered a historic speech at the China-aided Julius Nyerere International Convention Center in Dar es Salaam titled “Remaining Reliable Friends and Faithful Partners Forever.” But the friendship was tested by the late former president John Magufuli, who accused his predecessor Jakaya Kikwete of mishandling negotiations of the project framework and halted it indefinitely in 2019 after labeling it as “exploitative and awkward.”
Down to business

Things took an unexpected turn after the business-minded President Hassan came to power. The new president immediately resumed talks for a $10 billion China-backed port that Ecofin Agency once labeled “the most significant construction project in the last four decades of Chinese-Tanzanian relations,” with a capacity to handle 20 million cargo containers per year. Hence it would have made it more efficient than Europe’s biggest port in Rotterdam.

After two decades of sustained growth, Tanzania reached an important milestone in July 2020, when it formally graduated from a low-income country to lower-middle-income country status. The country’s policy objectives remain guided by the Tanzania Development Vision 2025 and the supporting five-year development plans that aim to make it a semi industrialized nation by 2025.

But this, as Angellah Kairuki, former minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office responsible for investment, acknowledged, will only be possible with the increasing presence of Chinese investment.

As far as numbers are concerned, China is a prime source of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Tanzania, with 1,098 investment projects worth $9.6 billion in the mainland and 15 projects worth $202 million in Zanzibar registered at the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) by October this year.

This translates into 300,000 jobs for the citizens of both parts of the union and an increase in their living standards.

Regarding trade volume between China and Tanzania, it reached $6.74 billion in 2021, up 47.1% year on year, and the East African nation’s exports to the Asian giant reached a worth of $606 million, up 47.3% year on year.

Despite the growth rate being faster than the average level in the continent, national poverty in Tanzania declined marginally from 27.1% in 2020 to 27.0% in 2021, making it still a relevant enemy of the country, as the late president Nyerere warned.

To change this sad state of affairs, the East African country needs the Bagamoyo port to serve as “an industrial gateway not only for youth-filled Tanzania but half a dozen landlocked African countries.”

Integrating Dar es Salaam into the New Silk Road project would boost economic activity in Tanzania and transform it into China’s gateway to Africa. This win-win outcome could serve as a beautiful gift to both nations as they near the 60th anniversary of their ironclad friendship in 2024.

I want to put 2 articles here about Africa that echo what I've said here about a month ago:


The articles are:

Actually, Djibouti has been a great port for China into Africa. Just look at how much Djibouti has been able to benefit from this and China's naval base there.