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As China slowly recovers from Covid-19 and restarts its economy, it seeks to position itself at the forefront of the global response to the virus and fill the gap in humanitarian assistance created by Western paralysis. Nowhere is this more evident than in Africa, where China has a long history of providing healthcare as a foreign policy tool, and where it is emerging as the number one humanitarian partner in this time of need.
China’s support for Africa is critical as other economic partners are tied to their own crisis at home. China also has a vested interest in protecting its African investments and restarting imports of African staples to resupply growth in China.
China seemed poised to score the equivalent of a public relations coup in Africa until reports of African migrants in Guangzhou subjected to xenophobic harassment and forced to sleep on the streets came to the fore worldwide across the weekend. This will erode some of the goodwill that China has garnered through its recent actions in Africa, and is a significant blow to its carefully orchestrated strategy to use its international response as yet another springboard to global leadership.
None of the Western actors can mobilize as quickly or as visibly as China.
Although the numbers are likely not to be reported, Africa currently has more than 10,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in 52 of 54 countries. Considering the global cost, Covid-19 has been slow to take hold in Africa. This may seem surprising given its close connections to China, but it shows that the links between people between China and Africa are perhaps less prolific than the trade and investment data suggest, and that there is less travel between the two than between China and the world. developed. Unproven theories also hold that Africa’s youthful population, low population density, and warmer weather can make the virus less cruel.
However, even comparatively lower infection rates can wreak havoc on the fragile health systems of African countries and could trigger widespread socio-economic or political turmoil. In Gabon, the first case of severe coronavirus in the country was so poorly managed that it is believed that the patient died prematurely, half the staff of the decent clinic in the capital had to be quarantined later, and both he and another clinic they had to be closed. for more than a week to disinfect.
Consequently, the overall strategic focus in Africa has focused on early and aggressive preventive measures, including the closure of airports and widespread closings, and asking China for help.
Despite suspicions about the quality of China’s assistance, for example in Nigeria, African countries depend on supplies from China now that both Europe and the US USA They are scarce.
Since the end of March, the Chinese government, its state-owned and private companies have provided large amounts of cash, equipment and expertise, in a fast and highly visible way. On April 6, almost 38 tons of medical supplies provided by the Chinese government arrived in Ghana for distribution to the West African states. Chinese multinational infrastructure companies are donating equipment, improving hospitals, and building quarantine facilities in their countries of operation.
Meanwhile, businessman-turned-philanthropist Jack Ma reached an agreement with the Ethiopian government and Ethiopian airlines, the leading airline in Africa during this crisis, to distribute equipment across the continent. The richest man in China also announced that his foundation would ship an additional 20,000 test kits, 100,000 masks, and 1,000 face suits and face shields to all countries in Africa. Tech giant Huawei and Huajian, a global shoe maker, have also donated one million masks each.
China sees this as an opportunity to assume the role of humanitarian leader in times of global crisis, a role that has historically been played by the United States. Traditionally the world’s largest investor in global health, USA. USA Recently approved Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), which in addition to domestic support provides modest supplemental funding of foreign aid to help developing countries improve their Covid-19 response. However, shortages of household supplies, federal dysfunction, and a cumbersome bureaucracy and low-risk appetite at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will challenge implementation in this rapidly evolving context.
A large amount of existing support is also being repackaged simply as Covid-19 relief. In a sign of the times, the Jack Ma Foundation recently sent 500,000 test kits and 1 million masks to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. USA To help the USA USA To fight Covid-19. The European Union has also pledged to increase its funding to help African economies resist Covid-19, while G20 leaders are preparing debt relief and other financial aid packages for Africa. However, most of this aid will be channeled through multilateral agencies and international financial institutions, and none of the Western actors can mobilize as quickly or as visibly as China.
Yes, China is far from becoming the world superpower. Yes, China is trying to reshape the narrative around Covid-19 and deflate some of the blame for covering up the early crisis in Wuhan, failing to share information about the virus that might have helped other countries better prepare their responses, and underestimate their numbers.
Yes, China should also do more to help African economies reduce their debt burden and prevent looming socio-economic catastrophes. And yes, there will be a backlash against the Chinese in Africa for the mistreatment of African migrants in Guangzhou.
At the end of the day, however, popular opinion will judge China by the amount of masks and other vital equipment it has distributed to help combat this pandemic. For now, in the battle for influence in Africa, China is still at the top once again.
