How much can Japan and India challenge China in Africa?

By Liam Lee

This year's fall editions of "New Africa" and "African Business," two influential news magazines in Africa, have featured 3 countries together as their cover stories, namely China, Japan and India. Why put all three together on the same cover? With the expansion of China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative into Africa, India and Japan have teamed up to create a joint "Asia-Africa Improvement Corridor Plan." This program includes infrastructure construction financing, as well as cultural communication aspects, technical improvement initiatives and other programs to assist development in Africa. The similarities to the "Belt and Road" initiative are clear, as is the motivation behind the "Corridor Plan:" balance off China's influence in Africa.

Guests attend the launch ceremony of a new China-Africa Development Fund (CADFund) office in Nairobi, capital of Kenya on Sept. 22, 2016. The China-Africa Development Fund (CADFund) on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Kenyan government to develop 20,000 housing units for civil servants. [Photo: Xinhua/Li Baishun]

Shinzo Abe and Narendra Modi have been taking steps to bolster ties. A trip this year to India by Abe was well-received. Modi also made a point of travelling to Abe's hometown of Shinkase. And while the two leaders may well be forging a solid inter-personal relationship, their ties are ultimately rooted in geopolitical need. As the head of Emerging Markets for Mitsubishi UFJ Financial told me, "India wants to continue its former brilliance in Africa, while Japan's companies in India are like a duck in water. They just feel at home."

India shares historic links with Africa. Colonial England transferred tens-of-thousands of Indians to Africa during the 'scramble' for the continent in the 18th and 19th centuries (Mahatma Ghandi served as a lawyer in South Africa before becoming the activist/liberator he's known as today). Many descendants of those Indian migrants still call Africa home. And with Japan now finding numerous business opportunities in India, the two sides have obviously decided a combined approach toward Africa will suit them well.

A month ago, when I stayed in Port Elizabeth, I noticed the strong historical ties India has with Africa. The time that Indians arrived here and the contributions they made are clearly still evident at the Port. Writer V.S. Naipaul's works are also well known in Africa.

On the other hand, Japan has a much smaller historical footprint. This is made evident by the numbers. There are around 70,000 Japanese companies operating world-wide. Among them, 50,000 are operating in Asia. 700 are in Africa. The sharp contrast in the figures is undoubtedly a motivating factor behind Shinzo Abe 'hitching his wagon' behind India as Japan tries to carve out its own history in Africa.

Under India and Japan's "Asia-Africa Improvement Corridor Plan," basic components for various products produced in Japan will be shipped to India. There, initial assembly of the products will take place. The semi-finished products will then be shipped to Africa, where programs will be established to train African workers to complete the final assembly. It's also being suggested the "Asia-Africa Improvement Corridor Plan" will also focus on other areas such as agriculture, disaster management and health care. It is noteworthy that the above-mentioned 3 areas are considered somewhat absent by African countries when it comes to Chinese companies operating on the continent.

In Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, I participated in the Oxfam's latest "International Cooperation with Africa" conference. Many policy makers from the AU and UNECA noted that China and other international players have their own pattern in cooperation with Africa. In general, China has been focusing on big projects through the power of its state-owned enterprises, policy banks and funds. India and Japan appear to be taking a different approach, modeled along the PPP, or Public-Private Partnership line, cooperating with local contractors in Africa. A Chinese diplomat present at the AU conference in Addis Ababa did make a point of saying that China is also beginning to adopt the PPP model as well.

But the larger question is, and will remain to be, how far can Japan and India's "Asia-Africa Improvement Corridor Plan" go? Speaking with my African friends, most tell me that it all depends on how the programs work in-practice. Noting the status of Sino-African cooperation, one of my friends noted, "People prefer medium and small projects, but Africa must benefit from them, otherwise, government officials' handshakes and slogans will become nothing but bureaucratic noise."

The "Asia-Africa Improvement Plan" is like a promise made by adults to a child. Though nice, those promises are ultimately hard to keep. By this, I would argue the main problem is that Japan and India work in their own way, without a coordinating platform to implement their strategy. In recent years, Japan and India have been holding all kinds of meetings with African countries. However, they're all done behind closed doors, and are not as open as the China-Africa Summit and the various ministerial conferences China is involved with.

Next year, many honored African guests will come to visit China. Though the "Asia-Africa Corridor Improvement Plan" may chip away at China's hard and soft power in Africa, there is no doubt that Sino-Africa cooperation is still moving forward. And ultimately, China attaches more importance to cooperation, rather than money. As the world's leading emerging economy, China's model still, and will continue, to resonate with most countries in Africa.

(Liam Lee is a senior international desk correspondent based in Beijing)