Lessons for Africa

　　The predictability of China’s annual sessionof the National People’s Congress (NPC)， China’s parliamentarybody， constitutes a lesson that many Africancountries can draw on to forge political stability， with aneye on sustainable economic prosperity.

　　Analyzing the recently concluded second annualsession of China’s 12th NPC at the Great Hall of thePeople in Beijing， one can delineate issues that are at theheart of the Chinese leadership’s policies in the comingmonths. Overall， this recent meeting of Chinese legislatorsindicates that the social， political and economicreforms that have been in vogue since the late 1970s willcontinue， rather than slow down. Herein lies a worthylesson for African countries： reform should be seen as aconstant rather than something that is only done whenthere is a crisis. Attendant to this is the fact that tangibleresults must be held up as evidence that reforms arehaving desired consequences.

　　Tackling corruption in high places is top on theagenda of the Chinese leadership， as stated by PremierLi Keqiang. A review of developments in the recent pastshows a situation where top leaders fingered for involvementin corruption have been prosecuted and ended upin jail. But Li’s stern warning during the NPC session， tothe effect that the war on corruption will be unrelenting，can only mean that greater transparency and accountabilitywill be achieved， in view of the clinical commitmentof the Chinese leadership to implementing policies.

　　The approach to the war on official malfeasance inChina should interest African countries that are burdenedwith this scourge. A perusal of reports releasedby independent transparency watchdogs in Africancountries shows that a lot of financial resources arelost annually to capital flight involving senior officials.

　　More importantly in the China-Africa context is the risein cases where allegations of corruption in the awardingof contracts for infrastructure projects have beenreported. It would therefore be provident for the Chineseleadership’s focus on anti-corruption efforts not only tobe considered by African countries， but also for the samestrident stance to be applied to China-Africa economicrelations.

　　An equally important issue emergent from the 2014NPC session is that Chinese authorities are keen tocontinue loosening the grip on the central administrationon economic factors. Premier Li pointed out that hisadministration was not preoccupied with intervening inthe economy to maintain a high GDP growth rate， as thecase has been in the past.

　　Going forward， it can be expected that Chinese stateownedenterprises (SOEs) will have to tough it out withprivate players in diverse sectors. An important and pragmaticlesson for African countries here is that they canexpect intensified competition by Chinese companiesseeking opportunities on the continent， as the ChineseGovernment somewhat steps back from propping upSOEs. Ultimately this will be good for Africa as it wouldincrease options available for partnerships.

　　One of the points made by Premier Li was that powerwill be increasingly devolved from the Central Governmentto lower entities， such as Chinese provincial，municipality and county governments. Thus， Africannational and local governments should probably startstudying and considering which Chinese local governments- from Liaoning in the north to Guangdong in thesouth - they wish to do business with， rather than beingfixated with Beijing.

　　On the foreign policy front， it was welcome to noteemphasis in the need for promotion of common interestsbetween China and the United States. It is a wellknownfact that competition between China and theUnited States is the defining trait of 21st century globalgeopolitics. This is， in itself， not a bad thing as ideologicaland economic competition has potential to offer developingregions such as Africa alternatives in their pursuitfor better livelihoods for their people. Indeed， a pointworth pursuing is the possibility that in following andaccentuating converging interests， China and the UnitedStates could find areas where they can cooperate inAfrica - rather than the obtaining and polarized situationwhere China and the United States are seen as engagedin a zero-sum high stakes rivalry in Africa.