Nkurunziza Alphonse knows that every time he goes out to protest, he could get arrested, even detained for a lengthy period in Kampala’s maximum security prison. It has happened before. Still, as he sat in a courtroom on Tuesday, watching another batch of protesters arraigned, Alphonse said he has no plans to stop marching.
The 25-year-old student is one of scores of people detained in recent months by Ugandan authorities for demonstrating against an oil pipeline project. The nearly 1,445km (898-mile) long East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) will stretch from Uganda to Tanzania’s coast, transporting crude. It is set to be the longest heated-oil pipeline in the world. However, activists say it will displace thousands, destroy wetlands and contaminate water sources
China has faced protests over the pipeline.
State-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) is licensed to drill the oil, alongside French petroleum company, Total Energies. Several Chinese banks have also funded or plan to finance the project.
In June, Alphonse, whose village in northern Uganda will see the pipeline run through it, joined thousands across the continent and abroad to march in front of buildings of key stakeholders, particularly Chinese embassies
In my hometown, people are already losing their lands because of this – the government just comes and tells them to pack up and leave,” Alphonse, a member of the Students Against EACOP organisation, told Al Jazeera. “We are pressuring China and others because they are the ones that will bring the money for this – the Ugandan government can’t do it on their own. We want to bring the realities of the already affected people to them. We want to ensure [the Ugandan government] face a funding crisis.”
The backlash is a marker of some challenges China faces in its ambitious attempts to befriend African states, expand its infrastructural footprint, and wield diplomatic influence over the 50-plus countries it engages with on the continent. Even as President Xi Jinping fetes the continent’s leaders at a glossy summit in Beijing this week, the EACOP protests point to greater complexities in their relationship.
China’s moves in Africa have long faced scrutiny from Beijing’s rivals in the West, who have been losing political favour on the continent. Detractors – notably the United States – are quick to paint the partnership as one that largely benefits China to the detriment of African countries. However, experts say things are far from black and white
Many accuse Western countries of predatory behaviour on the continent too, pointing to their colonial legacies and the fact that lenders like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are accused of exploiting African nations through loans. Many also argue that Beijing’s investments have helped Africa modernise and provided thousands of jobs
That narrative [of China exploiting Africa] makes sense for [Western countries] because of their declining influence in Africa,” said Jana de Kluvier, a researcher focused on China-Africa relations at the South Africa-based Institute of Security Studies (ISS). “But it skips over a lot of the nuance that’s in the very multifaceted relationship.
Urbanisation love story
For more than a decade, China has been Africa’s largest trade partner. It is also the continent’s main creditor, pumping more than $170bn in loans and credit into nearly all 54 nations. For China, the benefits lie in the diplomatic influence it is sure to command at the United Nations, and with which it can counter its US-led Western rivals, de Kluvier said.
Beijing’s mega infrastructure investments in Africa also form a crucial part of its global Belt and Road Initiative. The ambitious project began in 2013 and aims to connect China to the rest of Asia, Africa and Europe through a web of ports, railroads and highways. China has also invested in energy production and telecommunications
Several African cities now boast new Chinese-funded or Chinese-built railways, bridges and superhighways. That has aided movement and connection in many countries, enabling governments to shift away from old colonial-era railways that had largely become outdated and non-functional. The massive construction work needed has also provided job opportunities
Western countries have cut funding to some countries based on issues like elections or LGBTQ legislation. Beijing, on the other hand, has positioned itself as an “equal”, a fellow Global South country sidelined by the imperial West, van Staden notes.
White elephants
Trade between China and Africa is loaded in Beijing’s favour. African imports from China amounted to $173bn in 2023, but combined exports to the Asian country lagged at $109bn, according to the US-based Carnegie Endowment for Peace. While China is Africa’s largest trading partner, for China, the continent constitutes only 4.7 percent of its global trade, it noted.
To be sure, experts say there are aspects of the China-Africa relationship that benefit Beijing more when it comes to negotiating deals.
For one, African countries negotiate on a bilateral, one-on-one basis, not as a coherent front, weakening their abilities to collectively bargain, and even causing them to compete with each other in jockeying for Chinese investments.
De Kluiver of ISS said often, “there’s very little transparency on a lot of these investments”, making it hard to determine if China is fulfilling its promises, or if new commitments are being lumped in with older ones.
Then there are white elephant projects. Some constructions take millions of dollars but do not generate enough returns to repay the loans that funded them, making them unproductive
One example may be Uganda, where Chinese loans partly helped build the 51km (32-mile) long four-carrier expressway connecting the capital, Kampala, to the Entebbe international airport in 2018.
The highway is reported to be the most expensive road per kilometre in the world and cost $450m in total – more than Uganda spent on all road construction work last year
However, the road has limited access to towns that line its length, limiting economic activity. Uganda has a 40-year window to repay a $350m loan to China. By 2023, authorities had generated $20m.
Borrowing from China, private creditors, and multilateral institutions have contributed to countries like Zambia falling into a debt crisis. In 2020, the Southern African country defaulted on its debt. It owes about 12 percent of its external debt to China – the highest of any bilateral lender but lower than what Lusaka owes private creditors
China is actually a new investor and it has a lot to learn. I think they assumed that, because of Africa’s growth, there would be returns but China is now just learning that has not happened in this case.”
Indeed, Beijing appears to be cutting down on big-ticket infrastructure projects. Between 2021 and 2023, infrastructure funding fell from $16.5bn to $7.5bn