India's Diplomatic Dilemma: Navigating China's Neocolonial Investments and India’s Post-Colonial Aspirations for Africa

The ongoing expansion of China into African countries brings to light India’s hardly examined expansion in the region. With new theories evolving about China’s expansion as an act of neocolonialism, is India’s expansion doing the same? Through this exploration, one will find details about the status of the impact that has been caused by rapid expansion and investment of capital into regions such as South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Along with an omniscient analysis of the benefits/harms of expansion, can India’s current investment plans and actions strike a contrast to their prior commitments?

Report by Sathvik Gaddam | Cover Graphic by Asmita Maurya (M&D)

Summer Research Intern 2024

China’s Developing Role in Africa

China’s investment into Africa has rapidly increased over the past few decades, while its investments in the Indo-Pacific region and the African countries have led to not just “geographical expansion” across maps, but also an expansion of their economic and political powers. Their investments have had their time to shine, while they have also left countries to whine. However, how exactly are Chinese investments leading a path to darkness for other major global powers to follow through in their investments in developing African countries?

With the extensive investments that China has allocated in Africa, there are benefits for the producers of African countries. In a continent where infrastructure integration has always been difficult, “greater connectivity”, “trade”, and “transportation” may be attributed to “infrastructure development”, “job creation”, and “general economic progress”. Africa has seen a decrease in unemployment rates – thanks to the creation of these chances, especially for young people. This is important since Africa has a favourable demographic advantage. Although they have been able to aid almost every country in Africa, China’s investments have been, especially prominent in regions such as South Africa, Niger, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, and Cote d'Ivoire. In these regions, China has been able to develop several fields in their economies, such as, “scientific research and technology services, transport, warehousing, and postal services.” In addition to improvements to the economy, Chinese investors have also contributed improvements to social causes. One example is their promotion of quality education by providing programs, scholarships, skill development training, and infrastructure funding for African students across the continent. 

China’s intentions in its expansion into Africa do not seem exclusive to the growth of the African economy and society. However, their clear vision to take full advantage of the “cheap labor” and ample “natural resources” is clear through their investments in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Known for its abundant supply of cobalt, the Democratic Republic of Congo has been of special interest to Chinese investors, as they have poured billions of US dollars into investments for cobalt and copper mines in the country. Another example is the country of South Africa, where China’s second largest mine investment in Africa is home to natural resources such as – the world's largest reported reserves of gold, platinum group metals, chrome ore and manganese ore, and the second-largest reserves of zirconium, vanadium and titanium. 

Increasing Global Interest in the African Continent

With access to countries in terms of cheap labour and ample natural resources to be derived, there are many incentives for developed countries to increase into countries such as these. To combat China’s rapid growth and to tip the scale of the great power competition, many countries have begun to pursue similar interests of expansion. Because of these resources available for developed countries, there forms a ‘Great Power Competition’  between countries like Russia, USA, and China, for the utilization of natural resources and human capital of the underdeveloped countries. In consonance with this, India as an emerging power since the postcolonial times, has tried to implant its influence in the continent as well with a major focus on the “food and technology industry” in order to improve food security mostly in Africa and in regions of India as well.  

With a competitive spirit, India had also started engaging to make investments in the field of the “oil and gas sector”, along with “mining and mineral extractions”, making the continent a major field of competition for emerging and world powers. Although countries’ investments in Africa have had positive impacts on the countries, deep investments in African countries pose the risks of complete economic dependency for those countries. By increasing investment into underdeveloped countries in Africa, they enrich their growth in the short-term outlook, while keeping those countries under dependency – whether it is economic or political. In this regard, they often essentially operate these countries as reservoirs of cheap labor and resources; with the investments threatening ‘neocolonialism’. 

Now, as for China, this is not new. The world has seen Chinese investments in underdeveloped, or economically struggling countries assist them initially, but by putting them in a financial chokehold. This chokehold is called ‘Economic Dependency’, and China has directly done this through “debt trapping.” A few examples of countries that are now “debt-trapped” by China are Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Pakistan’s total external debt stocks owed to China rapidly increased from $7.6 billion in 2016 to $26.5 billion in 2022. During the same time period, Sri Lanka’s total debt owed to China almost doubled from $4.6 billion to $8.8 billion and Bangladesh’s debt owed increased from $0.97 billion to $6 billion.

The impacts of possible neocolonialism in Africa are already showing, as there are an increasing number of cases of debt-trapping, prioritization of Chinese interests, early symptoms of economic dependency, bribery, corruption, and unfair business transactions. These impacts have stood consistent in other countries that have faced investments from China, and they are all examples of the negative outcomes of ‘neocolonialism’;  not only from China but from all of the investors of underdeveloped African countries.

Is India Doing What China is Being Criticized For?

Largely unnoticed, India’s investments in Africa are especially noteworthy. Although they have not nearly invested as much capital as China, India is one of the leading countries in direct investments into Africa; only behind other global superpowers such as the USA, Germany, France, the UK, and the UAE. In fact, knowing that China has had growing global concerns for its investment of 148 billion USD into the African continent, although it may seem significantly less, India has also invested a massive amount of 72 billion USD into the African continent. With such expansive investments,  “several Indian multinationals have major interests on the continent, with strategic sectors including agribusiness, pharmaceuticals, information and communications technology, and energy.” Similar to Chinese investors, there are benefits to investments in the African continent, as Indian investors have also appeared to promote social causes in Africa, such as education, by funding infrastructure for higher education centers.

The harmful impacts of China’s extensive investments could also be caused by India’s investments in Africa, which means that the outcomes can become directly contrary to the foundational ideas of the foreign policies and relations between India and African countries. As of now, India’s current foreign policy with African countries stands strong on one point: there is full support towards anti-colonial liberation movements. The main emphasis of India’s post-independence policy towards Africa as shaped by Jawaharlal Nehru, was by providing support to the anti-colonial and anti-apartheid struggle in Africa. The Non Aligned Movement was created out of the desire to orient India’s foreign policy towards the group of newly decolonized states, hoping to create a larger area of peace by fighting common dangers of imperialism and racialism together. 

Further his championing of the philosophy of non-alignment, which called for a truly independent path in international relations, attracted the African countries. Support for anti-colonial movements and the anti-apartheid struggle were the base layers of India’s Africa policy during the Cold War. Although the NAM (Non-Aligned Movement) was inactive after 1991, the principles initially allowed India to make a clear stance on its vision for underdeveloped African countries. Considering that these principles were the standards set by the Indian foreign policies for Africa, and continuing to invest in Africa behind the footsteps of China, is a plan to re-think India, especially by taking into consideration the state that underdeveloped countries which saw investments by China, were left in. 

Now, should India’s investments following China be a concern for the future of political and economic sovereignty in Africa?

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