About six in every 10 Africans consider the influence of China on the African Continent to be positive.
This is according to a survey undertaken by Pan-African and nonpartisan research network, Afrobarometer, across 18 African countries.
According to the survey, 59 percent of Africans surveyed believe China’s influence over the continent is positive as against the 15 percent of respondents who believe the Asian superpower has a negative influence on the continent.
This is despite assertions that China is pursuing a ‘debt trap policy’ in lending to the continent.
The China debt trap policy is described as a long-term goal of China to entrap African nations into debt they cannot fulfil, and use that as a basis to obtain key resources or assets.
Aside China, 58 percent of those surveyed also believe the influence exerted on the continent by the United States (US) is positive with some 13 percent of those surveyed noting the world’s superpower exerts a negative influence on the continent.
Foreign powers and international organizations exert political and economic influence in Africa not just through loans or development assistance, but also through other types of economic investment and engagements and the way they wield their political influence.
The survey conducted by Afrobarometer sought to find out if Africans, in general, appreciate the influence of foreign powers and international organizations on the continent or resist it.
Also, perceptions of development agencies and regional bodies are also predominantly positive; 50 percent positive as against 13 percent negative for the African Union (AU), 54 percent as against 11 percent for United Nations agencies, and 55 percent as against 11 percent for the primary regional organizations (Southern African Development Community (SADC), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), East African Community (EAC), Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), and Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS))
