In early August the American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton began an African tour that led her to Senegal, the South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Ghana, and included a meeting in Nairobi with the leaders of Somalia.

Accompanied by a strong delegation of American businessmen, the visit of the Secretary of State is part of a turn initiated by American diplomacy for the past several years.

One thing is sure in the eyes of political commentators: Africa has become an essential partner of globalization [1] but also "a major theatre in the global rivalry between China and the United States."[2] From the beginning of her tour, Hillary Clinton created controversy by praising democracy and American values ​​and warning against those who come "to extract the wealth of Africa for themselves, leaving little or nothing back." The Chinese blogosphere immediately ignited and the answer will not be long in coming. Behind these controversies, the Americans and the Chinese are competing to conquer the continent whose rich soil and growth stir envy.

After years of Afro-pessimism the last decade has seen a resurgence in the interest of the African continent on the world stage. Today, outside of the two largest nations, China and the United States, Africa has seen a rush on its soil of other nations such as Russia, Japan, South Korea, India, Brazil, the Gulf Arab countries, Iran and even Turkey. If Africa has long been absent from the agenda of many countries, the return of interest is especially marked by the rivalry between the US and China.

Media have always presented a picture of a politically unstable Africa, strangled by corruption, divided by ethnic conflict, yet it is nonetheless now more than ever a land of economic promise. With a yearly growth of almost 5% over a decade, this growth benefited not only the elites. We see the development of a large middle class and, according to the MIT economist Maxim Pinkovskiy, "African poverty is falling ... much faster than you think." [3] The main pillars of this growth are the strong external demand in minerals, the implementation of strong macroeconomic policies in most countries and an increase in private investment.

Traditional partners are in decline and the IMF notes that "non-traditional partners currently represent about half of exports and nearly 60% of imports from the sub-Saharan Africa." The arrival of countries like China opens up new perspectives for the continent - " lower cost of inputs and consumption goods, transfer of technology, and economies of scale - and challenges - managing high concentration of exports on commodities ... " said Ms. Antoinette Monsio Sayeh, Director of the African Department of the International Monetary Fund.

China has very old relations with African countries. However, these relationships have taken considerable importance in recent years, and have been somewhat controversial and emotional. Trade between China and Africa reached $ 166.3 billion in 2011, according to Chinese statistics. And President Hu Jintao announced that China will double its lending to African countries over the next three years, bringing it to $ 20 billion. This illustrates the willingness of China to further strengthen its presence in Africa, where it draws oil and other raw materials for its rapid economic development.

Critics of these massive investments in Africa accuse China of paying money regardless of violations of human rights and corruption in some African countries. Hillary Clinton does not hesitate to criticize without naming China and its political and economic influence in the continent. She presents the United States as the guarantor of freedom and sustainable development by stating it "will stand up for democracy and universal human rights, even when it might be easier or more profitable to look the other way." She added that the Unites States is committed to "a model of sustainable partnership that adds value, rather than extracts it" thereby attacking the way the Chinese invest in the mining industry.

Instead of focusing on aid and relief, China has invested in infrastructure and encourages Chinese companies to invest in Africa despite a business environment with sometimes little incentive. [4] When other partners like the US focus on relief initiatives and rely on non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Chinese talk with African leaders to ask their priorities. Premier Wen Jiabao, after touring Africa in 2006, acknowledged that China was seeking a non-ideological relationship based on equality and non-interference. [5] Cooperation between China and Africa produces positive results because it does not apply a colonial model even if it defends its own interests. Often blamed for fostering corruption and reducing human rights, the cooperation has increased the attractiveness of the continent to the other investors and led in many countries to create the Special Economic Zones (SEZs). In Ethiopia, the Chinese main shoe manufacturer Huajian is installed at Dukem, 30 km south of Addis Ababa, in an industrial area. A modern factory is in full development by Chinese capital that provides for terms to invest $ 2 billion. [6] And contrary to conventional wisdom, China does not invest only in African countries rich in raw materials.

However, this America which is mindful of human rights and democracy when it comes to China has been supporting the most authoritarian regimes in Africa. Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda and Rwanda, to name a few that have enjoyed continuing American support despite the torture of political opponents, muzzling the media and corruption. One reason Ethiopia and Uganda attract so much Western support is that they are the pillar of Obama's campaign in the Horn of Africa. In 2007 several organizations of human rights compared the situation in the Ogaden region in Ethiopia to the fate of civilians during the war in Darfur. [7]

The significance of Clinton's sentiments "must be seen in the context of the failure of [the African Growth and Opportunity Act] AGOA, the centerpiece of the US external trade policy with and in Africa," [8] that has been established in 2000 at the same time as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), the official vehicle of Sino-African relations. The AGOA not only did not work, but also fell behind the ideological race. African countries adopt increasingly the economic model of China. Peter Wonacott of the Wall Street Journal affirms that "State-led growth validates tight-fisted political control and offers a powerful counterpoint to the free-market democracy mantra promoted by the US." [9] Senator Chris Coons in a hearing on November 2011 stated that the US was losing ground on economic and political leadership and asked a greater engagement of the United States in trade and investment. Unfortunately, the Obama administration has further militarized the continent, and only has the strategy to contain China, which benefits neither the Africans nor the Americans.

Hypocritical statements should not blind us from the reality but the question to ask is what effect will the Clinton Africa tour have on the relationships between China, the United States and Africa?

Today, Africa is more pragmatic and sees the importance of a multipolar world for its own interests and development. The contribution of China is considerable; it has allowed Africa to offer more funding but also to create the conditions for sustainable growth. Even the most faithful allies of the United States like Ghana or Ethiopia are the largest recipients of Chinese investment. The ties of friendship between China and Africa are in the interests of both parties. African states must learn to be masters of their destiny and "break away from historical (colonial) biases in trade and investment, and shift towards sectors, industries, and services which can stimulate domestic and external diversification and structural transformation." [10] Africa is in a situation where she can accept very peaceful rivalry in the investment and the economic collaboration. The entrance of China on the African stage causes harm to nobody. On the contrary, it is a contribution to the discovery of a continent which, during several decades, underwent natural and human damage. [11]

A healthy competition is welcome as the interests of Chinese and Americans "are more similar than dissimilar. There will inevitably be some competition over access to African natural resources and political support, but there are even greater opportunities for cooperation that can benefit African nations," said Ambassador David H. Shinn.

The increasing level of China and emerging countries in Africa underlines this new world that is about to emerge. The black continent is therefore now at the heart of the concerns of the United States and China. The establishment of the United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM or AFRICOM) in 2008, the departure of US forces from Iraq, the installation of a US military base in Australia and the tour of Barack Obama in November 2011 in Asia, are all signs of the significant changes that have taken place in international geopolitics. The results of these early frictions can already be seen in the way the Syrian crisis is managed.

References

1) Le Monde Diplomatique, "Maniere de voir," No.108, Dec 2009-Jan 2010.

2) Frank Ching, "China blusters in wake of Clinton's Africa tour" - Columnist - New Straits Times.

3) "Africa poverty is falling ... much faster than you think" by Maxim Pinkovskiy & Xavier Sala-i-Martin,  http://www.columbia.edu/ ~ xs23/papers/pdfs/Africa_Paper_VX3.2.pdf

4) See EUROMONEY COUNTRY RISK, http://www.euromoneycountryrisk.com/Home/Return/Countries # supertop (Feb. 15, 2012).

 5) "China's Investment in Africa: Need for Governance-Analysis", EURASIA REVIEW (N.23, 2011).

6) Le Parisien, 20/05/2012,

http://www.leparisien.fr/flash-actualite-economie/la-chine-delocalise-des-entreprises-en-ethiopie-pour-reduire-ses-couts-20-05-2012-2007728.php

7) HRW, Rapport sur l'Ethiopie, [archives] Human Rights Watch, 2008.

8) Bob Wekesa, "When will the west ever learn?? China Daily.

9) Peter Wonacott, The Wall Street Journal, Friday, September 2, 2011.

10) "China and India - the 'Emerging Giants' - and African Economic Prospects?by Sumit Roy, Global Policy Essay, July 2012.

11) Ali Rastbeen, L'Afrique, terre des rivalites, http://www.strategicsinternational.com/25_01.pdf