In this mailing: Judith Bergman: China Taking Over Africa: 'China's Second Continent' Yves Mamou: French Presidential Election: Macron v. Le Pen... Again China Taking Over Africa: 'China's Second Continent' by Judith Bergman  •  April 11, 2022 at 5:00 am       "America cannot ignore Africa. Africa's challenges, opportunities, and security interests are inseparable from our own.... Our competitors clearly see Africa's rich potential. Russia and China both seek to convert soft and hard power investments into political influence, strategic access, and military advantage. China's economic and diplomatic engagements allow it to buttress autocracies and change international norms in a patient effort to claim their second continent." — General Stephen Townsend, Commander of United States Africa Command, Senate Armed Services Committee, March 15, 2022. About 40 out of Africa's 54 countries participate in China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the global infrastructure and economic development project that the Chinese Communist Party launched in 2013. BRI aims to build an economic and infrastructure network connecting China with Europe, Africa and beyond, and has already strengthened China's global influence from East Asia to Europe by making countries worldwide increasingly dependent on China. "China is dependent on Africa for imports of fossil fuels and commodities... Beijing has increased its control of African commodities through strategic direct investment in oil fields, mines, and production facilities, as well as through resource-backed loans that call for in-kind payments of commodities. This control threatens the ability of U.S. companies to access key supplies." — US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, 2020 annual report to Congress. In June 2021, in an extremely belated attempt to counter China's Belt and Road Initiative, the Biden administration together with the G7 launched a new global infrastructure initiative, the Build Back Better World (B3W).... The initiative, however, comes across as far too little, too late. Between 2007 and 2020, China invested $23 billion in infrastructure projects in Africa, according to the Center for Global Development, a US think tank. That is reportedly "$8 billion more than... the other top eight lenders combined..." It will be very near impossible for the US or others to catch up on that, especially with the planned B3W initiative, because that initiative is not focused on much-needed tangible investments. Instead, its four focus areas are climate, health and health security, digital technology, and gender equity and equality. "More troubling is B3W's apparent excision of hard physical infrastructure from its remit... In Africa, which lags all other regions of the world in the availability of paved roads and electricity [and rail], that deficit that deficit is set to grow without a massive influx of hard infrastructure investment..." — Gyude Moore, senior policy fellow, Center for Global Development, African Business, February 13, 2022. In the absence of a serious coordinated international effort, China will go on to fill that infrastructure gap, as it continues to consolidate its influence in Africa while the US lags behind. "America cannot ignore Africa. Africa's challenges, opportunities, and security interests are inseparable from our own.... Our competitors clearly see Africa's rich potential. Russia and China both seek to convert soft and hard power investments into political influence, strategic access, and military advantage...." — General Stephen Townsend, Commander of United States Africa Command. Pictured: Townsend (center) reviews an honor guard of the of the Djiboutian Armed Forces with Lt. Gen. Zakaria Cheikh Ibrahim, Djiboutian chief of staff, in Djibouti City on August 8, 2019. (Image source: U.S. Africa Command Public Relations) China continues to deepen its engagement in Africa on all levels. Recently it engaged in a flurry of diplomatic activity with African countries. In March alone, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held bilateral talks with his African counterparts in Algeria, Egypt, The Gambia, Niger, Somalia, Tanzania and Zambia. The talks came only two months after Wang Yi visited Eritrea, Kenya and Comoros. Also in March, Chinese President Xi Jinping had a phone conversation with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, during which the two spoke about deepening cooperation between the two countries. Ramaphosa affirmed that he supports China's policies on Taiwan, Tibet, and other "major issues". Continue Reading Article