Development Aid and Sustainable Economic Growth in Africa: The Limits of Western and Chinese Engagements

289 Pages·2016·2.67 MB·English

by  Simone Raudino (auth.)

International Political Economy Series
Development Aid and Sustainable
Economic Growth in Africa
The Limits of Western and Chinese Engagements
Simone Raudino
International Political Economy Series
Series Editor
Timothy M.   Shaw
Visiting Professor at the University of
Massachusetts Boston, USA
Emeritus Professor at the University of
London, UK
The global political economy is in fl ux as a series of cumulative crises
impacts its organization and governance. The IPE series has tracked its
development in both analysis and structure over the last three decades.
It has always had a concentration on the global South. Now the South
increasingly challenges the North as the centre of development, also
refl ected in a growing number of submissions and publications on
indebted Eurozone economies in Southern Europe. An indispensable
resource for scholars and researchers, the series examines a variety of capi-
talisms and connections by focusing on emerging economies, companies
and sectors, debates and policies. It informs diverse policy communities
as the established trans-Atlantic North declines and ‘the rest’, especially
the BRICS, rise.
More information about this series at
h ttp://www.springer.com/series/13996
Simone   Raudino
Development Aid and
Sustainable Economic
Growth in Africa
The Limits of Western and Chinese Engagements
Simone   Raudino
GAP Consultants
Hong Kong
International Political Economy Series
ISBN 978-3-319-38935-6 ISBN 978-3-319-38936-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-38936-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016953825
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To Coco,
For what lies ahead is far better than anything we leave behind
P
REFACE
The core ideas developed in this book matured during professional stints
with the United Nations (Angola, 2005–2006) and the European Union
(South Africa, 2006–2008). Institutional fi eld work allowed fi rst-hand
access to analyses, databases, reports and other sources of structured
information from the Italian government, the United Nations and the
European Union. 9 References to government and international organiza-
tions’ information which are not properly referenced in the text should be
understood as being elaborated or accessed in the exercise of past profes-
sional duties.
These ideas have been further elaborated during my doctoral research
at The University of Hong Kong (2010–2013), which has run parallel to
the experience of founder and director of GAP Consultants Ltd, a Hong
Kong registered limited company providing business advisory services
and engaging in commodity trade between China, Europe and Africa.
The private sector has proven fertile ground to develop ideas contained
in this book, since it provided real-life exposure to a number of economic
variables—including commercial regulations; local administrative policies;
fi scal, fi nancial and banking provisions; company rules; informal business
practices; and local socio-anthropological features—that have played a key
role in the Asian economic miracle. Many of these variables would have
easily slipped under my academic radar had I not been obliged to face
(and sometimes fi ght against) them in daily business practices—including
the Chinese government control over the currency exchange market or
Chinese standard business practices in dealing with foreign competitors.
vii
viii PREFACE
Since September 2013, research for this book has also been comple-
mented with new fi eld experience as a project offi cer at the European
Union Delegation to Afghanistan. Although Afghanistan is not touched
by many of the dynamics discussed here—including massive Chinese
investments from the early 2000s onwards and large export volumes of
natural resources—, it nonetheless maintains a number of similarities
with most Sub-Saharan African countries. As a Least Developed Country,
Afghanistan and the average Sub-Saharan country have a high percent-
age of their populations depending upon subsistence agriculture, little to
no manufacturing capacity, a virtually useless right of industrial access to
OECD markets at zero import duties, high offi cial development assis-
tance levels, limited amounts of inward foreign direct investments and
large capital fl ight outfl ows.
In this respect, it is interesting to notice how Ashraf Ghani replied to
a question on the risk of Chinese involvement in Afghanistan and the
meaning of his Beijing trip right after being sworn in as President of
Afghanistan: “[…] we are not going to be an African country, because we
are going to determine our fate […]”, while also pointing out that “[…]
mining companies in the West did horrors everywhere in the world and
we are learning from those”. President Ghani concluded that “ODA has
not made a single country rich—it’s investment and trade and getting the
institutions right that [entail] change”—a line that could also represent
the summa of this book. 1 0
S imone   Raudino
GAP Consultants, Hong Kong
A
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book is the result of multidisciplinary work carried out at the cross-
roads of academia, government and business. People from different walks
of life have contributed to it—it is an honour and a pleasure acknowledg-
ing their infl uence and assistance.
There are persons to be thanked for this remarkable journey even
before it started. I am grateful to Julia Strauss from School of Oriental and
African Studies (SOAS) and Barry Sautman from Hong Kong University
of Science and Technology (HKUST) for pointing me to the European
Study Department at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), which pro-
vided the perfect combination of multidisciplinary expertise and fl exibility
needed for this research.
My major debt of gratitude goes to Wayne Cristaudo from Charles
Darwin University and Roland Vogt from HKU for having believed in
an unorthodox project. Useful ideas and generous words of advice came
from HKU academic staff and researchers. I would like to particularly
thank Ian Holliday, Stephan Auer, Andreas Leutzsch, Tim Gruenewald,
Denis Meyer, Üner Daglier, Martin Chung, Uzma Ashraf, Kristina
Tolinsson and Erick Komolo for their availability to engage in discussions
on topics relating to politics, national cultures and international relations.
I am indebted to Xianming Zhou and Larry Qiu at the HKU Faculty of
Business and Economics for discussion on macroeconomic and interna-
tional trade issues.
The original project proposal benefi ted from exchanges with authors,
diplomats and civil servants working on development, including Robert
ix
x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Calderisi, David Sogge, Carlo Cibó, Pier Forlano, Tembi Tambo and
Eunice Rendón Cárdenas. Heartfelt thanks for earlier draft revisions and
comments also go to Adams Bodomo, Arlo Poletti, Emily Winterbotham,
Shraddha Mahapatra and Kenichi Masamoto.
Former and present EU colleagues have added valuable criticisms and
insightful perspectives to original ideas relating to Europe’s interests,
belief systems and political vision in its work with developing countries;
they include Patrick Simonnet, Andrea Rossi, Milko van Gool, Martina
Spernbauer, Gabriel Moyano Vital and Gaël Griette.
A number of ideas contained in this book are the result of creative
discussions and business initiatives that owe much to the entrepreneurial
communities in Hong Kong and the Guangdong region. In economics
as in other fi elds, there is nothing that can impress learning processes as
much as hands-on experience—not the seduction of sophisticated narra-
tive, nor the elegance of theories or the solidity of water-tight logic. For
their availability in sharing entrepreneurial experiences, their passion and
their resoluteness to engage in the never-ending trial-and-error reality of
business life, I thank, among others, Zumin Luo, Sidney Yankson, Andrew
Kwok, Ron Hevey, Connie Han and Juan Carlos Sanchez.
I must extend many thanks to my editors and Proofreader at Springer—
Timothy Shaw, Judith Allan and Baghyalakshmi Jagannathan—for their
generous support, useful advises and patient work in the long revision
process that made this book eventually see the light of day.
Last but not least, I am grateful to all those who made this book pos-
sible through their emotional and logistic support, with special gratitude
to Jill and Maya for their unfaltering welcoming presence even during the
rainy days of this long journey.