Chinese Resources and Energy Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa

Uuring 11-06-2007

This report concludes that China has embarked on a well-conceived go-out policy that should enable Chinese companies to gain direct control over African natural resources. The strategy has resulted in a rapidly accelerating flow of African commodities to the People’s Republic, despite the fact that China’s equity projects in Africa remain limited. The Chinese resources and energy policy tends to confirm the conception of Africa as the world’s mining pit. However, only a small number of African countries reap substantial rewards. Moreover, if we go beyond the national trade statistics, it appears that political elites profit most and that new opportunities are unlikely to trickle down or to benefit sectors other than the primary sector. With regard to the EU’s Africa policy, China’s resources and energy policy undermines both the conditional engagement approach and the actorness of the EU as an international player. Finally, the study contains recommendations to the European Union