NN42, June 2009
A Safari Towards Aid Effectiveness?
New Voices in the Aid and Development Discourse: China?s Growing Partnership with Africa
By Bjorn Harald Nordtveit, University of Hong Kong
Email: bjorn@hkucc.hku.hkKeywords
China; Africa; Cameroon
Summary
This piece looks at Chinese education aid to Africa, drawing on the example of China-Cameroon aid to this sector.
The aid and development discourse is constantly fueled with new terminology. Hence, the notion of ?donors? and ?beneficiaries? has recently been replaced with more egalitarian terms like ?partnership? and ?cooperation,? often without much grounding in new practices based on a more equal relationship. At the same time, new actors in development cooperation have emerged in addition to the traditional agencies. These new actors include former developing countries such as China, which demonstrate a willingness to explore new models based on South-South cooperation, in many cases introducing a new discourse in the development and aid scene.
China has distinguished itself by being one of the world?s largest recipients of aid (although the aid is going down dramatically) at the same time as one of the most rapidly growing donors. Also, China?s own development has gained worldwide interest, because of the country?s rapid economic growth. This interest was manifest at the 2006 Third Forum on China?Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), during which many African leaders expressed interest in the development path of China as an alternative to the Western development discourse and aid. The characteristics of Chinese aid seem to be related to the avoidance of grand discourse, and seem rather practical, often responding to recipients? specific requests. A further characteristic of the aid from China is its non-interference in the partner countries? internal politics.
Traditionally, an important part of China?s aid has been in the domain of education. Key facets of Chinese educational aid to Africa can be found in the action plan deriving from FOCAC, 2006. A 2009 Forum, to take place in Egypt later this year, is said to have as its aim to consolidate aid and development cooperation initiated in 2006. In the education and training sectors, this aid covers five main areas: (i) provision of scholarships to African students; (ii) setting up of rural schools in Africa; (iii) training of African educational officials; (iv) establishing Confucius Institutes in African countries to teach the Chinese language; and (v) encouraging the teaching of African languages in relevant Chinese universities and colleges. In addition, China has a large program of capacity building for African officials in various fields. Furthermore, China has dispatched (Chinese) teachers to various African countries, has established research cooperation with a number of African universities, and has established research centers on Africa in a number of Chinese universities.
The case of Cameroon provides a good example of China?s engagement with Africa. Three types of Chinese education aid to Africa will be illustrated here: (i) Confucius Institutes, which are providing language and culture-related training in host countries; (ii) longer term scholarships and short-term training for Africans in China; and (iii) stand-alone education projects.
Cameroon, with a population of 18.5 million of which 40% are under the poverty line, has modest oil resources and favorable agricultural conditions. It established diplomatic relations with China in 1971, and the education cooperation between the two countries has been becoming increasingly important since the 1990s, with the 1996 start of a Chinese Language Training Center (recently transformed into a Confucius Center) at the University of Yaoundé II. The Institute has observed a growing interest for Chinese studies, with an increasing number of enrollments every year. The same growing interest is noted in the scholarships given from China, which started to take off in 1995. Before that date scholarships were few, and correspondingly few Cameroonians were interested in pursuing their studies in China. In 2009, China emerges as the most important donor of scholarships (40 in 2009), largely because students are allowed to attend training from bachelor level and upwards, whereas most DAC donors focus on Post-Doctoral seminars and training. One reason for this difference is related to China?s visa and immigration policies, which are very different from Western countries? policies. As noted by a Chinese Embassy staff, ?our visa policy is not very strict as compared to France or the USA. People coming to China are not considered as illegal immigrants but as friendly ambassadors.? Likewise, the training, both in the Confucius Institute in Yaoundé and in China (through scholarships given to Cameroonians), has two distinct functions: resource building and development, as well as cultural sensitizing about China (?building friendship?).
In analyzing various Chinese education projects in Cameroon, it could be observed that China is a new donor ? with a distinct discourse based on notions of ?win-win,? friendship and non-interference. Many of China?s engagements were driven by FOCAC and international high-level visits, instead of being planned by an agency specialized in development cooperation. One reason for China?s engagement may be linked to its international visibility and its ?peaceful rise,? i.e., the search to enhance a foreign policy based on the preservation of peaceful and mutually beneficial relationships.
China?s involvement in Cameroon seems to be slowly changing in nature, as the Chinese Embassy has been increasingly present and visible during education coordination meetings organized by UNESCO, the World Bank, or the Cameroonian Government. Also, the Chinese Embassy has confirmed its current information-sharing interest with DAC donors, and its willingness to coordinate with bilateral and multilateral initiatives; and even to co-finance projects. It will be interesting to see whether China in the future will keep its distinct vocabulary, based on win-win, non-interference and South-South cooperation, or if it instead gradually aligns its discourse and practices with the traditional donor groups.
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