China's Africa strategy paying off

Beijing's infrastructure-heavy investments in the rising continent are proving mutually beneficial

With many opportunities still at hand for global investors in Africa, foreign capital is swiftly making its way into the world's last frontier. Thanks to its rising middle class, abundant and barely exploited natural resources, competitive labor costs and improved public governance, Africa is a standout foreign direct investment recipient globally. Of all the world's major regions, only sub-Saharan Africa, together with Latin America and the Caribbean, recorded increases in foreign direct investment in recent years, many experts report.

The world has wisely taken notice of these developments and new and established foreign investors alike are enhancing capital inflows into Africa, while finding new ways to collaborate with local stakeholders.

Possibly as never before, this growing demand for a share of African markets has allowed businesses and policymakers to exert greater influence over market conditions and terms of engagement with foreign partners, although this still largely applies to only a handful of countries such as Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana and Kenya.

As more African nations suddenly find themselves with the upper hand for ensuring influence over capital inflows, foreign partners will increasingly face the task of improving their competitiveness to remain at the forefront of the continent's market surge.

This is particularly true as we witness early signs of Africa's changing investment landscape, with the number of investments from leading foreign partners such as the United States and France declining, while other emerging partners such as Japan, South Korea, India and Spain have noticeably increased their financial engagement with countries across this booming continent.

Indeed, even though the United Kingdom was the most active foreign direct investment contributor in Africa as of last year, boasting more than 100 active investment projects on the continent, others are injecting billions in capital to secure an early entry into Africa's projected phase of market prosperity. Unsurprisingly, Africa's leading trade partner, China, has also elevated its already unparalleled investment ambitions for the continent. China, although better known as the premier global recipient of foreign financial capital, has grown its outward investments as well, which continue to increase at a fast pace in Africa and elsewhere.

In November, China finalized a massive $12 billion deal with the continent's foremost economy, Nigeria, to build a nationwide railroad system that will serve millions of consumers and create thousands of short-term and permanent jobs. The agreement clearly signals China's continuing ambitions in Africa, as this transaction alone almost equaled the entire bilateral trade between Nigeria and China in 2013.

Beijing's aggressive charge for more outward investments in Africa also was recently seen in Tanzania, where Chinese officials finalized a $1.7 billion deal to develop the country's infrastructure and build East Africa's largest seaport.

Regrettably, though, and far too frequently, China's financial assistance and investments in Africa are still generally and wrongly perceived as exploitative and not particularly beneficial for its African counterparts.

In actuality, it all boils down to current mutual necessities and trade advantages. Africa's needs are multifaceted and require not just financial but also technical backing.

It is evident that China's push to secure Africa's natural resources has been more aggressive than most other foreign partners in the region, serving the strategic interests of its domestic economy. But it is also true that the commodities leaving Africa for Chinese markets are helping African nations raise revenues from assets that they cannot exploit alone. Notwithstanding, China has become an increasingly more important export market for African oil and gas producers, who are facing difficult challenges to adjust to a rapidly evolving global energy industry and the rise of US shale production.

China is eyeing a new era of cooperation with its African partners through more robust direct inward investments.

Indeed, China has developed a large investment presence in virtually all African countries with which it shares diplomatic relations, establishing a more widely distributed commercial network than any other leading investment actor in the region, including the UK, the rest of the European Union and the US.

More specifically, a defining trait of China's business dealings with Africa is its tendency to invest in regions where the international perception of local business and politics is condescending and misguided. This is particularly true in the case of Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, Niger, Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo, all of which have received significant investments across their economies from China.

Indeed, while China has engaged in these countries to extract oil and natural gas and develop iron ore fields and mines, it has also continued to build massive infrastructure projects like railroads, hydroelectric dams, civil construction projects and airports, helping these nations to boost their infrastructure.

Expanding investments to less "appealing" groups of African countries has therefore enabled China to become an extraordinary partner for Africa, which has become the largest recipient of Chinese outward investment globally, accounting for almost one-fifth of all Chinese foreign direct investment.

Additionally, Chinese investments in more than 30 countries on the continent have contributed to increasing Africa's share of global foreign direct investment to about 6 percent. With investments standing at $20 billion by the end of last year alone, China continued its robust investment charge in Africa despite a chaotic and stagnant global economy, where almost every other region saw declines in foreign capital entering their markets.

High levels of capital injection are still needed to develop Africa, and China is set to once more play an integral role in this process. The country's investment strategies have sent very clear signals to other actors from the developed and emerging world that the continent remains a major priority for China.

As a growing number of foreign partners reinforce their investment plans for Africa, China and its partners on the continent are unlikely to limit their business relationship to energy or mining prospects alone. Instead, they will continue to use capital for high-potential opportunities in such sectors as real estate, healthcare and finance.

China's early bets in Africa a decade ago have unquestionably proved successful and mutually beneficial.

Yet while much has been achieved, it will take compelling vision and persistence to push Africa's economy to the next level. And perhaps no one knows better how to pull off this success story than China, itself a great economic miracle.

Francis Ikome is the founder and president of the Cameroonian American Chamber of Commerce. Marshall Comins is the press and investor relations director of the Kirishi-2 Oil Refinery, Russia's first "waste oil" refinery, set to launch in 2017. They are managing partners of the Africa Investment Agency. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.