Expanded Brics can help Africa deepen its ties with China and Asia

Egypt and Ethiopia’s inclusion in the bloc now gives the continent three seats at the table, from which to leverage the development of the whole region
A more united Global South will also be more forceful in pushing back against US pressure to fall in line with American foreign policy priorities

Mohamed El-Bendary

Published: 8:17am, 29 Aug 2023

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Among the six countries invited last week to join the Brics bloc are the African countries of Egypt and Ethiopia. Joining the grouping will not only allow Cairo and Addis Ababa to sell their products to the other members of bloc more easily but also contribute to the establishment of a just international economic system.

An expanded bloc, along with the potential use of a common currency in trading among the Brics countries, will help in countering US unilateralism. This, as Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said, will help “raise the voice of the Global South”.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Argentina are the other nations that have been invited to join the bloc next year.

Egypt chafes at the dominance of the US dollar in the international financial system and views it as impeding its economic development. The Russia-Ukraine war has bolstered the dollar viz-à-viz African currencies and raised the cost of importing goods and borrowing for the continent. Africa is currently witnessing the highest levels of public debt and inflation in decades, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Several African countries today suffer a shortage of US dollars in the trade market, among them Egypt. Consequently, the country’s supply minister, Ali Moselhy, has said that the country is exploring paying for its imports from China, Russia and India in their local currencies.

Africa’s economic ties with the Brics countries have grown over the years. In Johannesburg last week, 30 of the more than 60 government and state leaders who attended the Brics summit were from Africa. With Brics expanding its footprint in Africa, which has immense potential and a rich cultural diversity, the continent will enter a new era. Leveraging the countries’ collective strength through Brics will be a win-win partnership.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (centre) shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi while posing for a photo with other Brics leaders and delegates, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, on the closing day of the Brics Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 24. Photo: Handout via EPA-EFE

With Egypt and Ethiopia joining South Africa in Brics, it may even pave the way for African integration and increase the continent’s role in global geopolitics.

More immediately, it is hoped that the New Development Bank – a multilateral bank set up by the current Brics members of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – can help African nations deal with urgent challenges, particularly increasing levels of poverty following the eruption of the Ukraine war and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Africa’s greater representation in Brics will further strengthen the continent’s ties with China.

Kwame Nkrumah, the founding prime minister of Ghana, forecast in the 1960s that China’s rapid economic growth would provide an effective challenge to America’s industrial – and hence political – mastery of the capitalist world. He saw America’s “capitalist accumulations” as a product of large-scale plantation farming by slave labour and called on African nations to follow China’s path for development and industrialisation.

Sino-African ties have witnessed significant growth over the past two decades, with China being Africa’s biggest trading partner and creditor. Beijing has funded major projects in Africa via platforms such as the Forum on the China-Africa Cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative.

These projects include the billion-dollar deep water port in Nigeria and new roads and railways across Africa. In particular, Beijing largely funded Kenya’s US$5.3 billion Standard Gauge Railway, which was completed in 2019 and connects Nairobi with the large Indian Ocean city of Mombasa.

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Amid intense competition between the US and China, each African country has been trying to balance its ties with the world’s two biggest economies. America’s all-out containment of Russia following the Ukraine war has also added complexities to the diplomatic challenge. It’s important that Africans realise the true impact of US-China rivalry and how Washington is trying to drive a wedge between China and African countries.

Africa’s firm support of China’s “one China” policy has exasperated top US officials. Furthermore, Washington expressed displeasure when South Africa held a joint military exercise with China and Russia in February.

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Africa’s economic potential has lured outside powers to invest in it. However, Africans should recognise that US interest in their continent are primarily driven by a desire to counter China. Getting on board the anti-China train would not benefit the continent – if China loses interest in Africa, it would jeopardise jobs and the economy.

The West’s diplomacy in Africa has been founded primarily on financial gain and unilateralism. But Africans see China’s engagement with the continent as going beyond financial gain, and also promoting African culture and traditions through education exchange programmes and forums such as the third China-Africa Peace and Security Forum being held this week.

Many of the Africans I chatted with in Cairo – be they Egyptians, Sudanese or Libyans – resent the notion of Africa falling victim to superpowers, or of being seen as a competition platform for outside powers. Yet, they show more preference towards China than Western powers.

Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks at the China-Africa Leaders’ Roundtable Dialogue on the last day of the Brics Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 24. Xi said China would launch an initiative to support Africa’s industrialisation. Photo: EPA-EFE / POOL

Africans should keep looking East. America’s influence in Africa has weakened while that of China has increased. This has led to concern in Washington and pushed it to exercise pressure on African governments to distance themselves from Beijing and Moscow. Yet, Africans should ask: what have we gained from our alliance with the West apart from the robbing of the continent’s resources? Africa should continue to strengthen ties with China and Asia.

Amid much concern about a Chinese “debt trap” for African countries, we should understand that the debt issue is a global one, and debt to Western powers has been more considerable and harsher than debt to China.

Mohamed El-Bendary, an independent researcher based in Egypt, taught journalism in the United States and New Zealand. He is the author of The “Ugly American” in the Arab Mind: Why Do Arabs Resent America?