The first “Scramble for Africa” was the invasion, occupation, division, colonization and annexation of African territory by European powers during the period of New Imperialism, between 1881 and 1914. It is also called the Partition of Africa and the Conquest of Africa. Today, there is a new scramble for Africa and it is not an invasion by the West now, but by the East and African leaders seem to assist the West and East for this. One of the potential ways African leaders encourage this “scramble” is via seeking for foreign direct investment and neglecting to strengthening the home bred for the “exotic” investors.

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Foreign direct investment or what some people will call the FDI is one thing that we always see African presidents, Nigeria inclusive go overseas to beg investors to invest in Nigeria. In the 80s it used to be Europe and America. But then, the Europeans or the West didn’t see much need to invest in Africa tagging the continent “dark continent” they looked elsewhere and most time they looked at the Balkans,Caspian sea region or Latin America. The manner of their investment was selective – choosing to invest in countries that are either in communist mentality or capitalist mentality. That was the era, the years between early 1940s – 1980s saw this! Africa was aloof or not fully considered as an economic prospect, but a place to plunder.





Though, some invested in their former colonies or do I say continued the ripping off their former colonies with new form of neo-colonialist mentality. Africa was a chessboard for the colonials and even after the independence majority of African countries were in cross-roads. Few African leaders we had like Kwame Krumah, Nnamdi Azikiwe were pan Africanist but with a high level of European indoctrination and African orientation (which is communal ) . These sets of leaders couldn’t fathom the best economic direction their respective countries could take. Some opted for a bit of this and a bit of that. Nigeria as a country toed this line by practicing mixed economy. In a highly polarized world and an underdeveloped ( a term some pundits find offensive rather developing nation) nation like Nigeria with little or no clout in global politics took a very comfortable route, which is pleasing the West and at the same time not offending The East. This route is called Mixed Economy and many African nations took this.



In the early 2000s Asian economies grew stronger,they realized that the Asian market is becoming saturated, Latin America was under the grips of the West especially Spain, Portugal and America. These countries are “traditional” enemies of some Asian countries like China, Vietnam and maybe Middle Eastern Countries. These Asian countries jettisoned the Latino idea and took a swipe on Africa! Africa found a good friend and new friends! The Chinese came down to Africa or do I say African leaders found love in the Chinese arm. Let us forget August 1972, the President of Uganda, Idi Amin then ordered the expulsion of his country’s Asian minority, giving them 90 days to leave the country. They came back and as of today, there are an estimated one million Chinese citizens residing in Africa. By comparison, it has been estimated that 200,000 Africans are working in China. Over the past few decades, China has experienced a fundamental transformation of aid policy from a net donor to a net recipient and to an emerging donor again. From 2000 to 2011, Chinese total financial commitments to Africa reached $73 billion, significantly higher than the official figure of foreign aid of $15 billion (Strange et al. 2013). Since the beginning of the 21st century,China’s trade and investment to Africa have also grown exponentially. FDI inflows surged from $75 million in 2000 to $3.2 billion in 2014 (MOFCOM 2015). With an average of 30% of annual trade growth between China and Africa in the last 15 years, China has become Africa’s largest trading partner and stood at $180 billion in 2015 (UN Comtrade 2016).



Also, according to Wikipedia Trade between China and Africa increased by 700% during the 1990s, and China is currently Africa’s largest trading partner. The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was established in October 2000 as an official forum to strengthen the relationship. A few Western countries, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, have raised concerns over the political, economic and military roles China is playing in the African continent.



The West took notice of Chinese impact in Africa, but it was late! Some few African leaders became emboldened and culled the West bluff. African leaders like Mommah Ghaddaffi of Libya and Robert Mugabe Zimbabwe were few of the African leaders that utilized this friendship. Lately, South Africa announced their withdrawal from International Criminal Court (ICC) and the world saw how Abacha (Late Nigerian despotic Leader) ignored the West and the country didn’t crumble. Though, some African leaders still went to Bretton woods and Paris club for one form of assistance or the other, but others cooked towards Beijing and Nigerian isn’t an exception. Nigeria keeps West in the heart and Asia in mind.

Unlike the West, the Asians care less about the political situation in their host country. Their engagement is strictly defined and which is business. It has been reported that the machetes used in Tutsi and Hutsi genocide were made in China, but that is basically business transaction and it is always said “ remove your emotions from your business” Chinese mastered this principle . The West put a human face, sanctions and consequences to their business model. It is either you improve on your human right, be democratic and your leader must be “twistable” or amenable to them and lately you must support the Gays, the Mossexuals and Lesbians before the West must do business with you. The East( China ) does not care about these flimsy things that West cares for.


https://etimesafrica./2016/10/31/the-west-and-the-east-scrambles-for-the-africa-continues-unabated/

African leaders care more about living well than living great.

China does not care if the african leaders are eating their people for dinner. As long as money is being made, they are alright.
That is an evil backward partnership.
The west are not perfect, but they are the reason why many africans are still alive and have not been swept away by waves of tyrannism.