Wealthy nations provide foreign aid donations to the developing world to help with poverty alleviation; infra-structure development; enhanced agricultural efficiency; clean water; and a myriad of other noble causes. Of course, it is done purely for altruistic reasons and the idea of gaining access to a developing market or sourcing cheap raw materials never crosses anybody’s mind – heaven forbid…
The world’s second and third largest economic powers, China and Japan are both looking to increase their donations to Africa. Both nations have sent high level representation to the continent recently. The Japanese PM, Shinzo Abe, is currently on a tour to Ethiopia, Ivory Coast and Mozambique; it is the first such high level mission for eight years. He is expected to announce aid totalling $14 billion during his trip. His spokesman, Tomohiko Taniguchi, made a barbed comment in an interview with the BBC, noting that: "countries like Japan, Britain and France cannot provide African leaders with beautiful houses or beautiful ministerial buildings".
He had commented that Japan’s donations to Africa lagged behind those of China. The Chinese have paid for the construction of some public buildings in Africa, such as the African Union HQ in Ethiopia.
For its part, China regards Africa as a “golden ground” for foreign investment and intends to boost its aid to $20 billion – I’m sure there was an accidental non-sequitur in there. It claims that its donations are altruistic. Wang Yi, Chinese foreign minister, told the press that China was opposed to “certain countries” competing with others and giving aid to Africa to bolster their political position and foster their own self-interests. China has made no secret of its belief that Japan’s altruism is aimed, in part at least, in securing African support for its bid to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council. China is on the council and is known to oppose the accession of its rival.