In the first of a three-webinar series, the Le Collectif pour le Renouveau Africain (CORA) brought together a group of leading African analysts and scholars to discuss local agency in Africa-China negotiations. The panelists and discussants analyzed the extent of agency exercised by local actors in Chinese-funded infrastructure and mining projects in Africa. Dr. Folashade Soule, senior research associate at the Global Economic Governance programme (Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford), was joined by Dr. Hervé Lado, an economist on political economy, Merlin Brice Mbessa Nya, a doctoral student at the University of Yaounde in Cameroon and Dr. Oscar Otele, senior lecturer at the University of Nairobi in Kenya.
Otele highlighted that Chinese infrastructural projects in Kenya led to anticipation and excitement among local populations due to expectations of jobs and other related opportunities. However, he stressed that there is a need for all loan contracts of major infrastructural projects to be publicly disclosed and included in a publicly accessible database.
Key Highlights From the CORA Webinar on Strengthening Local Agency in Africa China Negotiations:
[10:55] OSCAR OTELE, SENIOR LECTURER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI: “There was a lot of hope, especially that the railway transport [Standard Gauge Railway] was passing in rural areas with very many youths who are unemployed. And also, these local areas were underdeveloped, marginalized and therefore there was a lot of excitement in these newly established local governments, which in a way promised opportunities for the locals…We start seeing politics of anticipation, exciting the masses at the local level…local politicians will now start whipping the emotions of the local people to actively follow what national government was putting in place.”
[24:50] OSCAR OTELE, SENIOR LECTURER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI: “We are saying that there is a need for all loan contracts of all major infrastructural projects to be publicly disclosed and included in a publicly accessible database. This is what is a main challenge in many Chinese-funded projects. And even locals who are the final consumers, are not aware of the contents of the agreements. We also say that there is a need to design robust protocols that reflect future commercial value of land to ensure fair and inclusive land allocation.”
[27:11] OSCAR OTELE, SENIOR LECTURER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI: ‘Specifically in the case of Kenya, we had a Local Content Bill in 2018 which was not enacted. And for the purpose of the paper, I’m urging the new government, which is one month old to quickly enact this so that we can ensure that there is maximum possible transfer of capacity and knowledge from Chinese companies to Kenyan firms. And also, the new government should move quickly to strengthen our tax laws to ensure that law firms can also compete fairly with their Chinese companies. So that they can equally get opportunities to implement local projects.”
