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A coalition of the dissatisfied? Why China and Russia are winning friends in Africa
- The US’ reputation on the continent is waning despite its efforts to re-engage, according to a poll
- Beijing and Moscow are doing some things right but bigger picture forces are at play, analyst says
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When asked whether he preferred China and Russia’s approach to Africa to that of the West, the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo did not hesitate.
“Oh absolutely! You don’t quite understand African realities,” Félix Tshisekedi told French TV news channel LCI on a trip to Paris late last month.
“It’s astonishing to see how we are very distant in terms of culture. We cannot understand why you come to give us lessons, for example, on human rights.”
That sentiment was echoed by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who criticised the World Bank and Western countries for funding “capacity building” but not critical projects such as irrigation or railways.
“How many railways have been constructed or funded in Africa? The few that have been were by China,” Museveni said at a development summit in Nairobi on April 30.
The comments point to the apparent decline of the West’s reputation in Africa and a rise in the stocks of China and Russia in some countries, a shift that some observers say is being driven by broader changes in the international system.
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