Source: books.google.com
The Dragon’s Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa
By Professor Deborah Brautigam of School of International Service, American University
Oxford University Press, Nov 19, 2009 - 416 pages
Is China a rogue donor, as some media pundits suggest? Or is China helping the developing world pave a pathway out of poverty, as the Chinese claim? In the last few years, China’s aid program has leapt out of the shadows. Media reports about huge aid packages, support for pariah regimes, regiments of Chinese labor, and the ruthless exploitation of workers and natural resources in some of the poorest countries in the world sparked fierce debates. These debates, however, took placewith very few hard facts. China’s tradition of secrecy about its aid fueled rumors and speculation, making it difficult to gauge the risks and opportunities provided by China’s growing embrace.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 doing, 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 US, Brautigam shines new light on a topicof great interest.China has ended poverty for hundreds of millions of its own citizens. Will Chinese engagement benefit Africa? Using hard data and a series of vivid stories ranging across agriculture, industry, natural resources, and governance, Brautigam’s fascinating book provides an answer. It is essential reading for anyone concerned with China’s rise, and what it might mean for the challenge of ending poverty in Africa.
Ed ’s review
Mar 05, 11
The People’s Republic of China do a lot right in their dealing with the developing states of Africa. When investing in a country or granting aid the Chinese don’t make political demands; they don’t insist the recipient nation reform its economy to better pay bondholders; they stay for as long is necessary to get a project running and hand it over to the Africans, always ready to return if necessary. The Chinese build what African nations want--a railroad, a stadium, an office building for the Foreign Ministry--these are they types of "wasteful" projects that the International Monetary Fund and World Bank won’t even consider. And commercial banks won’t fund a project without the imprimatur of those transnational financial giants.
Technicians and executives from China work alongside their African counterparts. They live simply and frugally, often in barracks that they construct upon arrival. Managers and workers from the global North generally live in separate compounds, luxurious by African (or Chinese) standards and tend to supervise from afar--or at least as far as possible.
The Chinese are trusted because they aren’t a former colonial power--indeed they can claim to be "post-colonial" themselves. They listen to what Africans want, even if those they are listening to are autocratic dictators. The Chinese drive hard bargains but do so in a businesslike fashion.
The future of Africa may well be in the East--the efforts of the United States and Western Europe have done little even after pouring billions of dollars in aid, debt cancellation and low interest loans into the same area.
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