China and Brazil as Southern Africa’s Non-Interfering Development Partners: Rhetoric or Reality?

Abstract

China and Brazil have different approaches to development co-operation. Both countries, however, resist and challenge the west’s dominance of the aid effectiveness agenda and perceived authority on development knowledge. This article explores how Chinese and Brazilian views on recipient–donor relations, policy conditionalities and the role of non-state actors in development influence their delivery of development assistance to southern Africa. It finds that, despite their views on the importance of policy autonomy for beneficiaries and their critiques of the west, China and Brazil are indirectly, if not unintentionally, imposing their ideas about state-led development on African countries. Consequently, African countries are now in the position where they have to re-examine whose knowledge defines and drives development practice, the balance of power in development partnerships, and the challenges faced in trying to maintain ownership of the development process.

Keywords:

• south–south co-operation
• development effectiveness
• China
• Brazil
• postcolonialism

Acknowledgements

This article was developed, based on earlier research, during the Emerging Southern African Scholars Writing Workshop held in Livingstone, Zambia in August 2015. I would like to thank ASA–UK for funding the workshop and all the editors for their guidance. Revisions have been made following helpful comments from David Simon, Pádraig Carmody and two anonymous reviewers.

Notes

¹ X. Li, ‘Conceptualizing the Nexus of “Interdependent Hegemony” between the Existing and the Emerging World Orders’, Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences, 7, 3 (2014), pp. 343–62.

² ODA is defined as official finance that aims to promote economic development and welfare of developing countries, is concessional in character and contains a grant element of at least 25 per cent. See W. Hynes and S. Scott, ‘The Evolution of Official Development Assistance: Achievements, Criticisms and a Way Forward’, OECD Development Co-operation Working Papers, 12, (OECD Publishing, 2013).

³ A. Escobar, Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking Of the Third World (Princeton University Press, 1995), p. 3.

⁴ E. Mawdsley, ‘The Changing Geographies of Foreign Aid and Development Co-operation: Contributions from Gift Theory’, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 37, 2 (2012), pp. 256–72.

⁵ For example, D. Moyo, Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa (New York, Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2009); P. Carmody, The Rise of the BRICS in Africa: The Geopolitics of South–South Relations (London, Zed Books, 2013).

⁶ Such as H. Ying, ‘A Comparative Study of China’s Foreign Aid’, Contemporary International Relations, 17, 3 (2007), pp. 81–93.

⁷ N. Mwase and Y. Yang, ‘BRICs’ Philosophies for Development Financing and Their Implications for LICs’, IMF Working Paper, 12/74 (International Monetary Fund, 2012).

⁸ P. Dauvergne and D.B.L. Farias, ‘The Rise of Brazil as a Global Development Power’, Third World Quarterly, 33, 1 (2012) pp. 903–17; Information Office of the State Council, ‘Full Text: China’s Foreign Aid’, Xinhua, 10 July 2014, available at http://english.jl.gov.cn/News/GeneralNews/201407/t20140717_1700607.html, retrieved 15 August 2015.

⁹ E. Mawdsley, L. Savage and S. Kim, ‘A “Post-Aid World”? Paradigm Shift in Foreign Aid and Development Co-operation at the 2011 Busan High Level Forum’, Geographical Journal, 180, 1 (2014), pp. 27–38; G. Bracho, ‘In Search of a New Narrative for Southern Providers: The Challenge of Emerging Economies to the Development Co-operation Agenda’, Discussion Paper 1/2015 (Bonn, German Development Institute, 2015), available at http://www.die-gdi.de/uploads/media/DP_1.2015.pdf, retrieved 5 July 2017.

¹⁰ For more on principles of south–south co-operation, see G77, ‘Ministerial Declaration, Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77 and China’ (New York, 25 September 2009), available at http://www.g77.org/doc/Declaration2009.htm, retrieved 31 May 2015.

¹¹ R. Manning, ‘Will Emerging Donors Change the Face of International Co-operation?’ Development Policy Review, 24, 4 (2006), pp. 371–85; P. Kragelund, ‘The Return of Non-DAC Donors to Africa: New Prospects for African Development?’, Development Policy Review, 26, 5 (2008), pp. 555–84.

¹² This article’s research is limited to English-language sources, including: C. Schläger, ‘New Powers for Global Change? Challenges for International Development Co-operation: The Case of Brasil’, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Dialogue on Globalisation Briefing Paper 3 (2007), pp. 2–11, available at http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/iez/global/04719.pdf, retrieved 5 July 2017; Choike, ‘Statement by Brazilian Delegation at the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness’ (4 September 2008), available at http://www.choike.org/2009/eng/informes/7022.html, retrieved 15 August 2015; L. Corkin, ‘China’s Rising Soft Power: The Role of Rhetoric in Constructing China–Africa Relations’, Brazilian Journal of International Politics, 57 (2014), pp. 49–72; Mawdsley et al., ‘A “Post-Aid World”?’; Bracho, ‘In Search of a New Narrative’.

¹³ C. Oya and N. Pons-Vignon, ‘Aid, Development and the State in Africa’, in V. Padayachee (ed.), The Political Economy of Africa (London, Routledge, 2010), pp.172–98.

¹⁴ S. Schech and J. Haggis, Culture and Development: A Critical Introduction (Oxford, Blackwell, 2000).

¹⁵ A. Fraser, ‘Aid Recipient Sovereignty in Historical Context’, in L. Whitfield (ed.), The Politics of Aid: African Strategies for Dealing with Donors (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2008), pp. 45–73.

¹⁶ See P. Henriot, ‘Retreat of the State: Political Consequences and Social Implications for Zambia’, Trocaire Development Review (1997), pp. 39–60; P. Kwengwere, ‘Inequality in Malawi’, in H. Jauch and D. Muchena (eds), Tearing Us Apart: Inequalities in Southern Africa (Johannesburg, OSISA, 2011), pp. 123–79

¹⁷ D. Simon, ‘Separated by Common Ground? Bringing (Post)Development and (Post)Colonialism Together’, Geographical Journal, 172, 1 (2006), p. 14.

¹⁸ Escobar, Encountering Development; J. Briggs and J. Sharpe, ‘Indigenous Knowledges and Development: A Postcolonial Caution’, Third World Quarterly, 25, 4 (2004), pp. 661–76.

¹⁹ C. McEwan, Postcolonialism and Development (London, Routledge, 2009).

²⁰ E. Said, Orientalism: Western Conceptions of the Orient (London, Penguin, 1995 [1978]).

²¹ C. Six, ‘The Rise of Postcolonial States as Donors: A Challenge to the Development Paradigm?’ Third World Quarterly, 30, 6 (2009), pp. 1103–21.

²² J. Crush, Power of Development (London, Routledge, 1997).

²³ J. Ferguson, ‘The Anti-Politics Machine: “Development” and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho’, The Ecologist, 24, 5 (1994), pp.176–81.

²⁴ Escobar, Encountering Development.

²⁵ J.N. Pieterse, Development Theory, 2nd edn (London, Sage Publications, 2010).

²⁶ D. Simon, ‘Rethinking (Post)modernism, Postcolonialism and Posttraditionalism: South–North perspectives’, Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 16, 2 (1998), pp. 219–45.

²⁷ Mawdsley, ‘The Changing Geographies’.

²⁸ The Agricultural Innovation MKTplace, ‘What We Do’, available at http://www.mktplace.org/site/index.php/what-we-do, retrieved 31 May 2015.

²⁹ Mawdsley, ‘The Changing Geographies’, p. 264.

³⁰ Six, ‘The Rise of Postcolonial States as Donors’, p. 1112. Abdenur and da Fonseca suggest that Japan has adopted the language of ‘co-creation’ and has been promoting Asia–Africa knowledge sharing as a way of neutralising the vertical nature of north–Africa relations brought out by south–south co-operation. A.E. Abdenur and J. M. da Fonseca, ‘The North’s Growing Role in South–South Co-operation: Keeping the Foothold’, Third World Quarterly, 34, 8 (2013), p. 1486.

³¹ Only trade and FDI from state-owned enterprises, not private firms, is considered a form of development finance. However, the Chinese government (and Brazilian government) does use its overall development assistance programme to generate market opportunities strategically for private firms to move into Africa.

³² K. Garba, ‘Africa Needs Fair Trade, Not Aid, Says AUC Chief’, Flamme d’Afrique, 24 May 2011 (Addis Ababa, Panos Institute), available at http://www.flammedafrique.org/indeaf/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=87:africa-needs-fair-trade-not-aid-says-auc-chief&catid=48:anglais, retrieved 15 August 2015.

³³ H. Campbell, ‘China in Africa: Challenging US Global Hegemony’, Third World Quarterly, 29, 1 (2008), pp. 89–105.

³⁴ C. Alden, China in Africa (London, Zed Books, 2007), p.19.

³⁵ McEwan, Postcolonialism and Development, p. 150.

³⁶ I. Taylor, Africa Rising? BRICS – Diversifying Dependency (London, James Currey, 2014). According to the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa, Chinese imports from Africa between 2005 and 2011 comprised mineral fuel (46%), crude matter (17%) and manufactured goods (10%). Brazil’s imports from Africa were mostly mineral fuels (84%) and chemicals (9%). OSAA, Infrastructure Development within the Context of Africa’s Co-operation with New and Emerging Development Partners (New York, UN, 2015).

³⁷ Taylor, Africa Rising?

³⁸ B. Sautman and Y. Hairong, ‘Friends and Interests: China’s Distinctive Links with Africa’, in D. Guerrero and F. Manji (eds), China’s New Role in Africa and The South: A Search for a New Perspective (Cape Town and Bangkok, Fahamu and Focus on the Global South, 2008), p. 87.

³⁹ S. Hardus, ‘China in Africa: Consequences for Traditional Donor Aid: A Case Study of the Possible Influence of Chinese Economic Aid on Traditional Donor Conditionality in Zambia’ (MA dissertation, University of Amsterdam, 2009), p. 47.

⁴⁰ See M. Tran, ‘US Congress Votes Down Bill to Unshackle “Tied” Food Aid’, Guardian, London, 20 June 2013, available at http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/jun/20/us-congress-bill-food-aid, retrieved 15 August 2015.

⁴¹ C. Provost and N. Hughes, ‘Why Is So Much UK Aid Money Still Going to Companies Based in Britain’, Guardian, 21 September 2012, available at http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/datablog/2012/sep/21/why-is-uk-aid-going-to-uk-companies, retrieved 15 August 2015.

⁴² L. Thrall, China’s Expanding Africa Relations: Implications for US National Security (Santa Monica, Rand Corporation, 2015), p. 84.

⁴³ This includes Canada and Australia. CBC, ‘Federal Budget Folds CIDA into Foreign Affairs’, CBC News (21 March 2013), available at http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/federal-budget-folds-cida-into-foreign-affairs-1.1412948; SBS, ‘AUSAID to be Absorbed into Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’, SBS News (18 September 2013), available at http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2013/09/18/ausaid-be-absorbed-department-foreign-affairs-and-trade, both retrieved 15 August 2015.

⁴⁴ Six, ‘The Rise of Postcolonial States as Donors’, p. 1109.

⁴⁵ World Bank and IPEA, Bridging the Atlantic: Brazil and Sub-Saharan Africa, South–South Partnering for Growth (World Bank, 2011); F. Urban, G. Mohan and Y. Zhang, ‘The Understanding and Practice of Development in China and the European Union’, IDS Working Paper, 372 (Brighton, Institute of Development Studies, 2011), pp. 5–30.

⁴⁶ Ying, ‘A Comparative Study of China’s Foreign Aid’, p. 85.

⁴⁷ Schlager, ‘New Powers for Global Change?’, p. 5.

⁴⁸ D. Brautigam and K. Botchwey, ‘The Institutional Impact of Aid Dependence on Recipients in Africa’, CMI Working Paper Series, No.1 (Bergen, Chr. Michelsen Institute, 1999), p. 13.

⁴⁹ Henriot, ‘Retreat of the State’.

⁵⁰ L. Cabral and J. Weinstock, Brazilian Technical Co-operation for Development: Drivers, Mechanics and Future Prospects (London, Overseas Development Institute, 2010), p. 7.

⁵¹ Mwase and Yang, ‘BRICs Philosophies for Development Financing’.

⁵² Ibid.

⁵³ UNECA and OECD, The Mutual Review of Development Effectiveness in Africa: Promise and Performance (Addis Ababa and Paris, UNECA and OECD, 2011).

⁵⁴ Hardus, ‘China in Africa’, p. 45.

⁵⁵ A. Fraser and L. Whitfield, ‘Understanding Contemporary Aid Relationships’, in L. Whitfield (ed.), The Politics of Aid: African Strategies for Dealing with Donors (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2008), p. 92.

⁵⁶ S. Amin, ‘Aid for Development’, in H. Abbas and Y. Niyiragira (eds), Aid to Africa: Redeemer or Coloniser (Chicago, Pambazuka Press, 2009), pp. 59–75.

⁵⁷ Oya and Pons-Vignon, ‘Aid, Development and the State in Africa’.

⁵⁸ Henriot, ‘Retreat of the State’.

⁵⁹ It should be noted that China and Brazil channel some finances for development projects through multilateral organisations within the UN system.

⁶⁰ World Bank and IPEA, Bridging the Atlantic.

⁶¹ Information Office of the State Council, ‘Full Text: China’s Foreign Aid’.

⁶² Six, ‘The Rise of Postcolonial States as Donors’, p. 1113.

⁶³ J.Y.J. Hsu and R. Hasmath, ‘The Local Corporatist State and NGO Relations in China’, Journal of Contemporary China, 23, 87 (2014), pp. 516–34.

⁶⁴ Cabral and Weinstock, Brazilian Technical Co-operation for Development.

⁶⁵ Dauvergne and Farias, ‘The Rise of Brazil as a Global Development Power’.

⁶⁶ Urban et al., ‘The Understanding and Practice of Development’.

⁶⁷ A. Ong, Flexible Citizenship: The Cultural Logics of Transnationality (Durham, Duke University Press, 1999), p. 38.

⁶⁸ Urban et al., ‘The Understanding and Practice of Development’.

⁶⁹ N. Woods, ‘Whose Aid? Whose Influence? China, Emerging Donors and the Silent Revolution in Development Assistance’, International Affairs, 84, 6 (2008), p. 1210.

⁷⁰ See Better Aid, ‘South South Development Cooperation’, (2010) available at http://www.betteraid.org/?q=content/south-south-development-cooperation, retrieved 31 May 2015.

⁷¹ Manning, ‘Will Emerging Donors Change the Face of International Co-operation?’

⁷² In 2011, China wrote off 50 per cent of the US$150 million outstanding debt. A. Fallon, ‘Throwing the Tanzania–Zambia Railway a Lifeline’, IPS News (11 December 2013), available at http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/12/tanzania-zambia-railway-line-time-stands-still/, retrieved 15 August 2015.

⁷³ See M. Mulinge and P. Mufune, Debt Relief Initiatives and Poverty Alleviation: Lessons from Africa (Pretoria, Africa Institute of South Africa, 2003).

⁷⁴ A. Trivedi, ‘China Takes Its Debt-Driven Growth Model Overseas’, Wall Street Journal, New York (8 August 2015), available at http://www.wsj.com/articles/china-takes-its-debt-driven-growth-model-overseas-1438882687, retrieved 15 August 2015.

⁷⁵ Manning, ‘Will Emerging Donors Change the Face of International Co-operation?’; Better Aid, ‘Policy Paper on South–South Development Co-operation’.

⁷⁶ Woods, ‘Whose Aid? Whose Influence?’ p. 1211.

⁷⁷ See R.M. de Morais, ‘No Politician, However Strong, Will Stop Me Doing my Job’, Guardian (11 November 2014), available at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/11/-sp-carlos-cardosa-lecture, retrieved 31 May 2015.

⁷⁸ Thrall, China’s Expanding Africa Relations.

⁷⁹ Fraser, ‘Aid Recipient Sovereignty in Historical Context’, p. 70.

⁸⁰ A. Mwenda, ‘Aid Creates the Wrong Incentives for Progress’, Guardian (24 July 2008), available at http://www.theguardian.com/katine/2008/jul/23/africaaid.background1, retrieved 31 May 2015.

⁸¹ Oya and Pons-Vignon, ‘Aid, Development and the State in Africa’.

⁸² J. Herskovitz, ‘EU cautions S. Africa’s ANC on “Look East” Policy’, Reuters (1 June 2012) available at http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/06/01/safrica-eu-idINDEE8500DV20120601, retrieved 31 May 2015; S.B. Mudavanhu, ‘A Critical Analysis of Whether Zimbabwe Can Achieve Economic Development through its Look East Policy’, African Journal of Political Science and International Relations, 8, 8 (2014), pp. 280–87.

⁸³ For example, attempts were made to follow this labour model in a joint venture between Zambia and China, but the textile factory eventually closed. A. Brooks, ‘Spinning and Weaving Discontent: Labour Relations and the Production of Meaning at Zambia–China Mulungushi Textiles’, Journal of Southern African Studies, 36, 1 (2010), pp. 113–32.

⁸⁴ D.A. Bell and H. Chaibong, Confucianism for the Modern World (Cambridge University Press, 2003).

⁸⁵ It is estimated that 90 per cent of the Chinese population is from the Han ethnic group. The government is widely criticised for repressing ethnic minorities, who have resisted assimilation attempts by the dominant Han. See, for example, G. Tuttle, ‘China’s Race Problem: How Beijing Represses Minorities’, Foreign Affairs (May/ June 2015), available at https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2015-04-20/china-s-race-problem, retrieved 15 August 2015.

⁸⁶ World Bank and IPEA, Bridging the Atlantic.

⁸⁷ Ong, Flexible Citizenship.

⁸⁸ N. Onishi, ‘African Economies, and Hopes for New Era, Are Shaken by China’, New York Times (25 January 2016), available at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/26/world/africa/african-economies-and-hopes-for-new-era-are-shaken-by-china.html, retrieved 5 February 2016.

⁸⁹ Henriot, ‘Retreat of the State’; Kwengwere, ‘Inequality in Malawi’.

⁹⁰ S. Andreasson, Africa’s Development Impasse: Rethinking the Political Economy of Transformation (London, Zed Books, 2010), p. 31.

⁹¹ Ibid., p. 71.

⁹² Russia Today, ‘“West Still Treats Africa as Former Vassals” – South Africa’s Zuma to RT’ (10 May 2015), available at http://rt.com/news/257353-zuma-africa-russia-china-brics/, retrieved 31 May 2015.

⁹³ Thrall, China’s Expanding Africa Relations; F. Wanda, ‘Understanding Post-War Foreign Direct Investment in Angola: South–South Led or the West Still Rules?’, elsewhere in this issue.

⁹⁴ Carmody, The Rise of the BRICS in Africa.

⁹⁵ M. Featherstone, Undoing Culture: Globalisation, Postmodernism and Identity (London, Sage Publications, 1995), cited in Simon, ‘Rethinking (Post)modernism, Postcolonialism and Posttraditionalism’, p. 225.