Africa’s Perceptions, Prospects, and Strategies towards the US-China Tech Competition

In the contest between the US and China for the shaping of what Africa’s tech environment should look like, the US and its Western allies have a few handicaps, among which Africa’s aspiration to sovereignty is the most significant. Sovereignty does not mean, for Africa, the same thing as for the US or China. It is not about being the centre and focus of the world: it is about survival - in the guise of economic development and transformation. In this struggle for development, it is not the wish of African countries to have to choose between the US/West and China. Western aid, both multilateral and bilateral, is crucial to development in many African countries. But the investment model of Chinese aid is friendlier to development and sovereignty in Africa in a long-term, structural sense, despite the risks, real or imagined, associated with growing Chinese influence. The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector is a good illustration for this argument.

 

This article was written by Rahmane Idrissa and appeared in The Future of US-China Tech Competition - Global Perceptions, Prospects, and Strategies. Editor: Jung-mi Cha, Seoul: National Assembly Futures Institute, pp. 169-178.

 

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