For years, the African continent has faced a multitude of economic and social challenges that revolve around the volatility of prices of its raw materials, climatic conditions and the lack of employment, which, if any, is low-skilled, in a scene in which demographic increase will mean that every year at least ten million Africans will join the labor market. A situation that poses a serious threat from Europe, but which, For China, it constitutes a great opportunity for which it has been contributing for years to the necessary diversification of African economies.. Companies from the Asian giant are building all types of infrastructure, from ports to hospitals and schools, while influencing the incorporation of some African countries into global value chains. However, not only is the economy of African countries important to the PRC, it is the basis of its geopolitical aspirations in its race towards leadership of the international system. China has reserved a prominent place for Africa in the long term, and it intends to turn it into its private laboratory.
Made in China 2025
Made in China 2025 has, in general terms, three objectives: the rise of the Chinese manufacturing industry in the technological hierarchy of value chains, the transformation of China into a technological power and the restructuring of the industrial sector. It contemplates three phases: i) the reduction of the technological difference with the leading countries by 2025, ii) the strengthening of the country's technological position in 2035 and iii) the leadership of innovation globally in 2045. In this way, China aims to create forty new national science and technological innovation centers by 2025.
According to Hemmings (2020), to achieve the objectives of this strategy, the Digital BRI was proposed within the framework of the BRI, which seeks collaboration between the government and Chinese technology companies in the design and implementation of the Route , as well as in the aspects of Chinese technological diffusion that are part of it. Shen (2018) points out that the Digital BRI aims to mitigate the industrial overcapacity of Chinese companies while promoting the internationalization of the yuan thanks to the granting of loans and funds through Chinese development banks or those specific to the BRI to finance projects. of technological development. Also, it aims to build a network of transnational digital infrastructures whose standards are set by China and the “promoting inclusive globalization by improving access to the Internet for the world's population” (Xi, 2017).
Africa and China
La BRI or New Silk Road It was launched by China to consolidate itself as a power with global ambitions and interests. This has posed an enormous challenge for the world economy and a whole revolution in freight, hydrocarbon and technology transportation infrastructure, among others. This route has the BRI Digital and with maritime routes that are under the so-called “Necklace of Pearls”, made up of a wide network of commercial ports and military bases that allow China to gain influence and prestige in the international sphere, while ensuring the supply of the resources necessary for its development. Its main port town is Dolareh, on the northern coast of Djibouti, which provides access to the China – Pakistan Economic Corridor. The choice of this place in the Horn of Africa as the host country responds to a careful evaluation of the China's geostrategic needs. Djibouti is the safest and most stable country in this conflictive environment and has great strategic importance. On the other hand, the Horn of Africa, flanked by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, is home to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which constitutes one of the world's most important maritime trade and energy transport routes, concentrating up to 25% of world exports and acting as a place of passage around the 30% of oil directed to the West.
In addition, The Chinese economy has evolved towards a new model in which domestic consumption is the protagonist. Various socioeconomic and demographic factors have caused the average salary to rise, and with it, the middle class. Which has caused the Asian giant to lose competitiveness in terms of labor and consumption has increased. Therefore, to satisfy the increase in this demand, which is increasingly more sophisticated, we once again need more raw materials, more energy, more food and more services. And in this panorama Africa has a very important role: it is a supplier of raw materials and labor. If China in the last decades of the 20th century joined the lower echelons of global value chains by hosting part of the production of the most developed countries, it now wants Africa to be its successor. Part of Chinese industrial production is tending to relocate to countries with a growing cheap and low-skilled labor force such as Ethiopia. This is promoting both the incorporation of certain African countries into global value chains and the creation of labor-intensive activities..
For authors like Wim Naude (2018), manufacturing is an essential element of development and Africa faces a unique opportunity to industrialize. Following Dani Rodrik and his “manufacturing imperative”, the growth of the manufacturing sector is essential in the development process, and in Africa, specifically in sub-Saharan Africa, it contributes only 11% of GDP and 6% of employment. Now, new technologies are facilitating manufacturing and with it the rise of the business class, the demand for industrialization and the increase of the middle class (Arahuetes, 2019). Along these lines, Marwala points out that African leaders must embrace technology and use the fourth industrial revolution to lift the continent out of poverty and propel it towards a better future. The African continent as a whole has no choice but to adopt the 4IR and use it to solve the many problems they face..
Fragment extracted from the Final Degree Project in International Relations carried out by Mar Gámez for Loyola University (Córdoba headquarters).
LL.M in International Business Law and Law from ISDE and graduated in Law and International Relations from Loyola University. CEO and business internationalization consultant at Reáculoateypunto.
