Stefaan Marysse

Win-win or unequal exchange? The case of the Sino-Congolese cooperation agreements

The recent involvement of China in sub-Saharan Africa is challenging and changing the world geostrategic scene. In the article, we analyse the agreements between the Congolese government and a group of Chinese state-owned enterprises. A number of public infrastructure works will be financed with Chinese loans. To guarantee reimbursement, a Congolese/Chinese joint venture will be created to extract and sell copper, cobalt and gold. These are the biggest trade/ investment agreements that China has so far signed in Africa. This article seeks to contribute to the discussion regarding the agreement’s impact on internal development in Congo. Does it create a ‘ win-win ’ situation for all, or is it an unequal exchange ? We outline the internal and international debates and analyse several noteworthy characteristics of the agreements. In conclusion, we present a balanced view on the likely impact on Congo’s short-term and long-term development.

The Evolution and Characteristics of Poverty and Inequality in Rwanda

In September 1999, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund launched a new programme named the ‘Poverty Reduction Strategy’. It was presented as a new financial framework with the primary purpose of ‘fighting poverty’. With over 32 countries at the implementation phase of the PRSP,1 this new strategy has become an important conditionality, as crucially it provides access to financial aid from the PRGF2 and the HIPC3 initiative.

Regress and War: The Case of the DRCongo

The New York-based International Rescue Committee (IRC) estimates that, by the end of 2001, the indirect death toll in the ongoing war in central Africa – the first international armed conflict the continent had seen – had reached 2.5 million. In this media-silent war, which began in August 1998, people were killed not so much by bullets, but by an amazing lack of concern on the part of the occupying armies, rebel organisations and armed resistance groups, and by the ambiguous attitude adopted by the international community. Politically, various groups were aligned in ever-changing alliances that were devoid of any long-term ideology or strategy. In the present article, we argue instead that the international war in Central Africa can only be understood as an intricate cluster of phenomena. The long-term erosion of elite power and finance in some parts of Africa, occasioned by a changing geopolitical reality in the continent, sparked divergent responses, ranging from state reconstruction in some countries to resistance, criminalisation and war in others. The latter response would appear to be most common in weak states with deteriorating infrastructures and rich natural resources which were extracted on a small scale by petty producers. This would seem to give credence to the assertion that natural riches are a curse rather than a blessing. The above argument also runs against the deep-rooted conviction that Africas underdevelopment is a consequence of the international economic environment and globalisation processes. We submit that Africa is being strangled by a lack of serious foreign investment rather than by a new scramble for the continents natural resources.

Triangular arm wrestling : analysis and revision of the Sino-Congolese agreements

The era of globalisation and the staggering growth of upcoming economic powers are bringing new actors to Africa. The most important new actor at the moment is China, a country in need of huge quantities of raw materials to support its economic growth. Since African countries presently lack the physical and human capacity to exploit their own reserves, and acutely need to reconstruct ageing infrastructures and weak economies, a win-win scenario seems possible.