Introduction to China’s Growing Presence in Africa
The biggest dream of Miradie Tchekpo has come true: she got a job as an interpreter who works for a Chinese trading company in her home country Benin. In middle school, she saw Chinese television stations and dreamed of traveling to China and getting to know the culture. So, she studied Chinese and attended courses for three years to get a professional qualification in Chinese.
Made in China’s Soft Power
The expansion of China’s presence in Africa seems to be a dream that she shares with the Chinese government: since 2004, when the Confucius Institute was founded for the first time, Beijing has invested quite a bit into the worldwide expansion and export of its culture. In Africa, there are Confucius institutes that offer courses in 49 countries. One of the possibilities of how China extends its switch on the African continent is not only economical but also socio-cultural, in particular through the spread of Chinese language teaching.
Few Actual Career Prospects
There are reservations about learning Mandarin in one of the countless Confucius Institutes that are connected to the Chinese Ministry of Education. Although Beijing distinguishes students in Africa with generous scholarships, there are hardly any employment opportunities in China. Native speakers are generally used to bridge the gap between Chinese languages and the languages of the large trading partners. Chinese companies and government companies are known on the entire continent, primarily hiring Chinese workers for most infrastructure projects in which the country is invested – e.g., ports, streets, and airports.
Mix the Language Class with MAO, HU, and XI
China benefits significantly from this, since most of these institutes and other cultural exchange activities are based on bilateral agreements between governments and are sometimes equipped with fully Chinese access to African resources. China’s cultural activities and its lithium and cobalt breakdown in Africa are ultimately two sides of the same coin. The Confucius Institute was repeatedly criticized compared to the institutions of other countries for the promotion of language and culture. The China Confucius Institute is characterized by the fact that its branches are often based at universities and other institutions with higher education.
Institutional Cultural Presence
In a study of 2023 entitled "China’s institutionalized cultural presence in Africa", the researcher examined the perception of these growing cultural offers from China – which was hardly on the radar of many of the then-new governments of Africa decades ago. The research results revealed that China’s interests in Africa go far beyond the economic, political, and security problems: the expansion of soft power on the continent could be the regional culture and content. To alleviate the potentially negative effects of this institutionalized cultural presence, more targeted recommendations must be made, in particular to civil society, artists, creatives, filmmakers, musicians, and governments.
African Agency for African Needs and Cultures
There is a lack of rules of engagement to contain China’s influence in Africa. However, it is admitted that "we still have no clarity about whether China’s anti-democratic ideology immerses in all of these investments." These corrective measures are necessary to ensure that this does not happen. The African countries have to increase their own national means and cultural scholarships in order to reduce the financing monopoly of China. Relevant institutions such as the African Union would have to "build a uniform policy that enables every African country to strengthen its negotiating power and to improve the positive effects of China’s investments". One way is to ensure that the AU and other regional bodies really insert the African agency in its negotiations on investments from China.
