Africa’s ties to China and the West are starting to look more alike

WHEN PRESIDENT XI JINPING of China meets African leaders, grandiose claims abound. On this count, at least, the triennial diplomatic jamboree known as the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (FOCAC), held recently in Senegal, did not disappoint. China and Africa have “forged unbreakable fraternity”, declared Mr Xi, who spoke from China by video. Mr Xi painted a dazzling picture of Sino-African ties, saying they feature “sincere friendship and equality, win-win for mutual benefit and common development, fairness and justice, and progress with the times and openness and inclusiveness”.

In truth, relations between African countries and China are rather less sunny and far less equal. But they are deep. China has financed, developed or operates 35 big African ports and thousands of miles of roads and railways. Trade in goods between Africa and China, which reached almost $200bn in 2019, far surpasses that with America (though is less than that with the EU). Infrastructure loans have made China Africa’s biggest bilateral creditor. For some time Africans have fretted that China is creating debt-traps by lending too much, or with conditions that may allow it to seize ports or airports if payments are not kept up. But after the latest shindig, many may now worry that, far from lending too much, China is losing interest in Africa.