What China is doing in Kenya and Africa is progressive; from helping to manage conflict to building infrastructure and bringing medical necessities and other services.
Yet, the extent of China's activity in Africa cannot be ignored. A healthy transaction considers growth and equal benefits for the parties involved. That said, the question arises: How is China benefiting from its involvement in Africa? This question leads me to explore the possibility that China's intentions in Africa are not so generous.
China is bringing wealth, prosperity, and knowledge to Africa and giving African countries opportunities to become economically stable, but in the process, binding African countries to China. This is evident in the structures they have built. Every piece has inscriptions in Mandarin. The African Union headquarters, the building China gifted the AU with the intention to unify African countries and solidify relations, is an example.
Construction of the 20-story office tower in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, began in 2009 and was completed in 2012. All union congregations were held there without detection of any underlying suspicious activities until January 2017 when technicians noticed a higher consumption of data between 12am to 2am when no one was in the building. Action was taken and the AU replaced the Chinese-installed servers with its own. China had been spying on them for at least five years.
One of China's major activities has been the completion of the Standard Gauge Railway in Kenya. This project was approved by the Kenyan Cabinet to link the port in Mombasa with Malaba in order to improve transportation.
President Uhuru Kenyatta envisioned the economic potential of this project and the impact it would have on Kenya, which led him to bypass protocols and negotiate the financial terms and conditions of the project.
The estimated cost of the project was $3.6 billion. Bringing Kenya's debt to China to $6.47 billion in 2019 from its initial margin of $756 million in 2014. A debt increase of 755 per cent in five years. It makes me wonder what will happen if Kenya can't pay it back.
Another of China's global projects included building a deep water port in Hambantota, Sri Lanka. The country's second-largest port. However, in 2016, Sri Lanka incurred a loss of SRL 46.7 billion, meaning it couldn't keep up with its annual payment toward its loan of $1.7 billion.
China offered debt relief by contracting a 99-year lease for the port. Thank God it wasn't 100 years. The minus one year was definitely a mercy act. Regardless, this paints a picture of one possibility if Kenya will not keep up with its annual payment. Nobody knows the outcomes of a century; threats of impending wars, the possibility of discovering more resources, alien invasion, etc.
The possibilities go as far as the imagination. With all said, China is planting its seeds all over the world. For now, the fruits are delicious. China's intentions should remain on the radar.
Ms Onsabwa, a Kenyan, is a student at Principia College in Illinois, USA
