E. B. DEMINTSEVA

Candidate of Historical Sciences

Over the past few years, China's presence in Africa has become one of the main issues not only when discussing geopolitical issues at the level of European and American governments, but also one of the favorite topics of journalists and scientists. It interests both Europeans, Americans, and Russians, all those whose presence in Africa was, and for some remains, noticeable in different eras. The bewilderment over the rapid penetration of Chinese investment and business into the economy of many African countries has been replaced by an analysis of the impact of China on the development of Africa.

Last year, French journalists Serge Michel and Michel Beuret "Chinese Africa: Beijing Conquers the Black Continent" (Michel S., Beuret M. " La Chinafrique. Pekin a la conquete du continent noir". Grasset, Paris, 2008, 351 p.).

The starting point of the research that resulted in this book was the large - scale China-Africa summit held in Beijing in November 2006. Among the accredited European journalists were the authors of "Chinese Africa", who for several years have been writing about Africa for the French newspaper" Monde "and the Swiss magazine"Ebdo". They began their "investigation" with meetings with Chinese ministers and former diplomats. "Within a few days, a huge number of agreements, contracts, conventions were concluded, and all this happened without the participation of the West..." - Michel and Bere state (p. 51).

What is happening in Africa? - journalists ask themselves. Massive penetration of Chinese businesses? Does this mean the end of Africa's long and difficult relationship with the West? To find answers to these questions, they have long worked in Africa, traveled to many countries (Michel visited Guinea, Nigeria, Congo (Brazzaville), Algeria, Angola; Bere - Sudan, Ethiopia, Egypt, Cameroon, Niger, Senegal). The authors conducted hundreds of interviews with African politicians and businessmen, as well as with Chinese people-owners of popular restaurants, firms, factories, and Chinese workers living in stuffy barracks.

According to the journalists themselves, in their reports, describing situations related to the economy or investment in a particular country, telling about the daily life of Africans, they noted the increasing role of China on the African continent. Moreover, almost all their interlocutors spoke about this country: from presidents to boys from the Congolese streets.

CHINESE BUSINESS

The pages of the book describe several "life stories" of the Chinese who came to "conquer" the Black Continent. One of them is Jacob Wood, 59, who was born in Shanghai. The first "Chinaman from China" to create his own small empire in Nigeria. Owner of one of the largest restaurants in Lagos "Golden Gate", the Millennium Inn hotel, a construction company, several factories for the production of scooters, doors, windows, textiles. Perhaps it is difficult to list all his businesses and even more difficult to understand his plans for the future. According to Wood, " Africa is really a great success for us. This is the last place on earth where we can do so much... To tell the truth, China is using Africa to reach the level of the United States" (p. 70).

However, almost all the "stories" of Chinese people living and working on the African continent are more or less confirmation of the above. "Those who believe that the Chinese in Africa are only interested in natural resources are mistaken," the authors write. "They (the Chinese) are the new entrepreneurs and investors on the continent today" (p. 58). This is also indicated by the words of the World Bank's economic adviser, X, quoted by journalists. Brodman, author of the book "The Great Silk Road of Africa"*. "If you look at the data on Chinese investment, the dominance of the oil business is obvious. But if you only pay attention to this, you will miss the main thing that the Chinese are doing in Africa. They invest in basic sectors of the economy: infrastructure, telecommunications, textiles, tourism, and the food industry" (p. 59).

Mauro de Lorenzio, a researcher at the American Enterprise Institute, has a similar opinion: "Today, the Chinese are showing us that it is possible to do business in Africa, profitable business, while we, the West, have closed ourselves in the idea of humanity. It's fashionable: singer Bono and his entire band go there to "bandage the wounds" of Africans, help them, cry with them because they have AIDS, they are poor... The Chinese don't have these psychological problems. They go to Africa to do their own business" (p. 60).

"In the forests of the Congo" (the title of one of the chapters of the book), the interests of the Chinese woodworking company Sycophore clashed with the American organization "Wildlife Conservation Society" (WCS), which opposed the deforestation of the national reserve. Behind this confrontation, we see another "life story". The director of Sycophore in 2006 was a former journalist of the Chinese Xinhua News Agency, who arrived in Brazzaville in 1998 as a correspondent. In 2008, his company

* Broadman H. G. Africa's Silk Road: China and India's New Economic Frontier. The World Bank, 2006.

234 thousand cubic meters of timber were exported to Europe and America , and approximately 335 thousand trees were cut down. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is already sounding the alarm: if the forest of the Congo River basin continues to be cut down at the same rate, two-thirds of it will disappear in 2050. However, in an interview with the French, the Chinese businessman did not express any concern. For him, this is just an obstacle to business, nothing more.

If the world is concerned about environmental issues and China's economic expansion in Africa, then the Africans themselves, who have their own small business (usually buying and selling), are more concerned about competition from Chinese merchants.

The authors note that the migration of poor Chinese to Africa, whose main goal is to earn money, worries African countries. Having visited some Chinese enterprises in Nigeria and the Congo, they noted the reluctance of the Chinese to hire Africans, they prefer their own. The main argument of the Chinese unwillingness to "get involved" with Africans was called the "difference of character", saying that Africans are "lazy" and inferior to the Chinese. The authors of the book also noted that small businesses - Chinese restaurants, beauty salons, etc. - are expanding mainly at the expense of Chinese people who transport entire families to Africa (Serge Michel introduces the reader to one of these families, since 2000 the number of its members has increased to 80 people who manage their business in Brazzaville).

CHINA VS FRANCE

Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade "is spending his holidays in France, but in Dakar he is rolling out the red carpet to China." Michel and Vere also met with the then President of Guinea, Lansan Conte, in October 2006. They noted that the president was gloomy when he spoke about his "thieves-ministers", complained about "whites" who "always perceived us as a colony", about corruption in the country. The only time his face brightened was when the conversation turned smoothly to the Chinese: "The Chinese are not comparable to anyone else! At least they work! They live with us in the mud. There are those who plow it, just like us. I gave them the unwanted land, and you should see what they did with it!" (p. 167).

Authors constantly compare France and China. African countries that were formerly colonies of France have turned towards China in recent years. According to Michel and Bere, France's leading role in Africa is an illusion. The statistics and expert assessments presented in the book say one thing: France is rapidly losing its position in Africa, and China is taking its place.

The economic niches that France occupied many years ago in Africa-road construction, water infrastructure development, and forestry - are no longer a French "fiefdom".

Given the unstable political situation in some African countries (such as the Central African Republic), French companies do not seek to develop their business there, while China is not afraid of possible risks.

Another interesting trend: French companies no longer seek to settle only in French-speaking Africa, they go to those countries where you can make a profit, no longer focusing on "historical connections".

According to the authors of the book, the former influence of the metropolis on the former colonies no longer exists: while chinatowns are growing in all the capitals of African countries, the big question is whether new French military bases will be located there. The once large-scale presence of the French military on the continent is now limited to 8 thousand soldiers in Chad, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Senegal and Djibouti, while the local population considers them invaders.

Against the background of the unfriendly attitude towards the military, the number of French companies in Africa and French people working on the continent is also decreasing. "145,000 French people (meaning French citizens) lived in French - speaking sub-Saharan Africa in 1984, and only 110,000 in 2006" (p.153). The authors see the reasons for this not only in the desire of many Western companies to hire cheaper African labor, but also in the rather strong Chinese competition. According to Michel and Bere, the main success of the Chinese recipe for conquering the African continent is to create the illusion of partnership "on an equal footing", without "historical past" and political influence.

THE "CONQUEST" OF AFRICA. GUIDE TO ACTION

Sudan is one of the African countries where, according to the authors of the book, the Chinese feel at home. Data on the number of Chinese living in the country vary: from 10 to 60 thousand people. "In any case, it is enough to establish a Chinese basketball league in Khartoum and a karaoke club in the representative office of the CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation) oil company. Here, the Chinese have their own travel agency, a supermarket with products imported from China... " (p. 241). Moreover, while conducting research in Sudan, journalists discovered a Chinese farm that grows vegetables and fruits for its compatriots living in this African country.

In Sudan, the Chinese are present in all sectors of the economy. They are responsible for the entire oil-producing infrastructure, the Chinese financed the reconstruction of the international airport, and signed a contract for the modernization of the port. Chinese companies have occupied almost all niches in the construction of hydraulic structures on the Nile.

So how is China moving so quickly and successfully into the African market? The recipe for success, according to S. Michel and M. Bere, consists of "circumstances" and "help".

In Sudan, the circumstances are as follows. In 1978, the American company Chevron discovered oil in the south of the country. However, the civil war that began in 1984 forced Chevron to suspend its activities. Washington condemned the actions being carried out in Sudan, and in 1997 Bill Clinton imposed an embargo on Sudan. As a result, all American companies were forced to leave the country. China did not take long to wait and occupied the empty niches.

As for China's aid to Sudan, Beijing

ready to respond to global projects. For example, the construction of the Merow dam on the Nile, which was planned in 1943 and postponed for more than half a century, is now mostly funded by China. The World Bank refuses to participate in the project, justifying its position by "non-interference in the environment": the dam will wipe out several dozen Nubian villages from the face of the earth. While European and American companies "think", China Water Resources and Construction Group (Sinohydro) are building the dam with the help of 5 thousand of their workers and promise to finish construction in 2010. About 50 thousand people have already been moved. The construction site itself is guarded by several hundred Chinese.

As the authors of the book point out, China is involved in almost all big business projects in Sudan. However, according to the Chinese themselves, they do not interfere in the life of the country: "We adhere to the principle of non-interference... and we treat the local population with great respect. And even if we use our influence, it is only with good intentions, " the Chinese themselves explained at the summit in Beijing.

WHO WILL SAY NO TO CHINA?

It should not be assumed that by naming the book "Chinese Africa", the authors tend to see the presence of the Chinese as the only way to develop Africa. Rather the opposite. In their opinion, in recent years, Africa is beginning to "see the light", some states are trying to resist the Chinese pressure. As an example, they cite the cancellation of Angola's contract with the Chinese company Sinopec for the construction of an oil refinery in the spring of 2007. Another example is South Africa, which has the largest Chinese diaspora in Africa. The country's authorities openly express their concern about the export of natural resources and the supply of Chinese goods to the country. "Africa needs to conserve its resources for its own industrialization, and China is only contributing to the deindustrialization of some relatively developed African countries," said Moreletsi, the brother of then - South African President Thabo Mbeki, in late 2005 (pp. 319-320). The president himself, speaking to South African students in 2006, said that South Africa should not embark on the path of "unequal relations" with China, as it was during the era of colonialism.

S. Michel and M. Bere give examples of dissatisfaction with Chinese policy in other countries: Guinea, Zambia. Bursts of negative attitude towards China, in their opinion, are quite natural: today, not only China is striving for Africa. Countries like India and South Korea enter the arena, which are also interested in the Black Continent, and they are ready to take risks.

"China has done a very important thing: it has made it clear to Africa what it is worth, both in the eyes of its inhabitants and in the eyes of the West," the authors of the book note. "Never has the West been more interested in Africa than after China came to conquer it" (p. 326).

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