Day Three: The China- Africa Project, TATA Africa, and The South African Institute of International Affairs

Day 3- January 15

Morning Meeting: Cobus Van Staden, The China- Africa Project

Our third day in Johannesburg started with a meeting with Dr. Cobus Van Staden, a lecturer in Media Studies at Wits since 2013. Dr. Staden, a former journalist, focuses on Japan and China’s contrasting models of media diplomacy in the developing world and is the co-founder of the China Africa Project, which he described as a news aggregator, a "one stop shop" for things China and Africa. Given our focus on the relationship between China and Africa, he was the perfect person for us to learn from about the engagement of Chinese media in Africa. 

Dr. Staden began his remarks by highlighting that state owned Chinese press has been present in Africa for quite some time now, starting out in the early 1960s. During the Mao era, China Radio International distributed content for free (along with radio transmitters) in the continent but this content did not gain much popularity. Although it focused on the common anti-imperial ideology, the Chinese content which was mostly pre-recorded messaging, was perceived to be "boring." These transmissions gradually declined and were stopped after the Cultural Revolution. 

The Chinese media re-engagement in Africa restarted in the 90's but really took off in 2012. Chinese television CCTV and news agency Xinhua setup offices in Nairobi, Kenya and started actively engaging with the continent. The most popular satellite network in South Africa DSTV carries two Chinese channels. Yet, the Chinese media houses have not been able to gain much traction in the African markets, specifically in southern African countries. Editors only seem to use Xinhua when the news agency is reporting on topics not related to China. Dr. Staden attributed this lack of success to the risk averse and "goodie goodie" approach Chinese media houses have used in their reporting. These organizations have attempted to "tell the real story of the China-Africa relationship" but this strategy has failed, presumed to be propaganda ridden. The only Chinese media product with significant appeal to audiences in Africa are the Kung Fu movies which the Chinese try to not associate with.

Responding to a question about the hiring practices of Chinese media houses in Africa, Dr. Staden said that often local senior journalists are hired and paired up with junior Chinese journalists. This serves as a learning experience for the junior Chinese journalists, and if they can prove themselves in tough conditions like Africa, they quickly rise within these organizations. The impression Dr. Staden has of the Chinese approach to media in the region is that Africa is the place to try new things and models. And the model seems to be changing drastically. Rather than providing content now, the Chinese seem to be focusing their investments on providing technology infrastructure, building networks and satellite connectivity.

Speaking about perceptions in the local media about the Chinese engagement, Dr. Staden said that those opinions also seem to be unfavorable at the moment. He said that quite often the distinction between governments and companies is afforded to the West while in China's case, both governments and business entities are seen as one. African media considers it own role as that of a watchdog, a school of thinking quite far from the Chinese model. It is important to remember that the Chinese media engagement in Africa is a part of their global outreach efforts and is not a targeted effort for the continent. 

Dr. Staden admitted that he was not an expert on the topic on the Indian media in the continent. But he did confirm that unlike the Chinese media, owing to large Indian diaspora in the region, Indian media is quite successful, which satellite carriers providing numerous Indian television channels. As one would imagine, Indian movies are extremely popular. Even the local film industry attempts to imitate the Indian cinema (e.g. the Nigerian film industry) which is a testament to deep rooted links India has with the continent. 

Post Meeting Excursion

Apartheid Museum, Johannesburg

Lunch Meeting: TATA Africa

Over lunch we met Mr R K Das, the head of the Mineral Business of Tata Africa Holdings. Tata Group is an Indian conglomerate with interests in business as diverse as salt and software. Tata Group is unique in that is owned by charitable trusts.

Unlike many other Indian conglomerates, the Tata Group has diversified their operations around the world. They entered the African continent in Zambia in 1977. Tata Africa Holdings was founded in South Africa in 1994 as a strategic investment arm of the Tata Group. Tata Africa mainly acts as a gateway for all Tata group companies who want to do business in the African continent. Tata group companies are present in 16 African countries and employ over 3800 people.

Tata Consultancy Services, the IT services arm of the Tata Group, is the most active group company in South Africa. They provide services to clients in telecommunications, financial services, healthcare and natural resources sector. Tata Motors also assembles trucks in South Africa and sells them across the continent. Tata group is also present in the pharmaceutical sector where they import medicines from India, which are a lot cheaper than those available in South Africa. Tata Power and Tata Steel, particularly its European unit, source raw materials for their operations from Africa. Tata group companies also own mineral resource assets in South Africa and across the African continent.

Contrary to popular perception, the Tata Group has found doing business in South Africa quite easy. The rules are clear and are enforced fairly. This is contrary to their experience in certain other African countries where they have seen abrupt policy changes. Infrastructure, particularly roads and ports, in South Africa is excellent, especially compared to the rest of the African continent.

A single South African port, for instance, has as much coal handling capacity as all of the Indian ports. However, poor industrial relations environment hampers business activity. The frequent strikes has affected investor sentiment.

According to Mr Das, Indian and Chinese companies in South Africa (and the African continent in general) specialize in their areas of experience – services and manufacturing, respectively. So Indian companies are prominent in software and pharmaceutical sectors while Chinese companies are prominent in mining and infrastructure sectors. As such, there is little head-to-head competition between Indian and Chinese companies.

Like most others, Mr Das also felt that South African economy was not doing very well. The decline in commodity prices, driven by the slowdown of the Chinese economy, has hurt the mining sector, which is a major part of South African exports. The generalized global economic slowdown has adversely affected the manufacturing sectors, which constitutes almost 25% of the South African economy. The slowdown has opened up potential opportunities to purchase mineral resource assets cheaply in South Africa. Yet, Mr Das felt that because of its conservative attitude, Tata Group would not aggressively purchase mineral resource assets in South Africa.

To sum up, Tata Group typifies Indian engagement with South Africa – modest compared to China, led by private sector and prominent in services sector. 

Afternoon Meeting: South African Institute of International Affairs

After an eventful day speaking with researchers and industry leaders (and a much anticipated trip to the Apartheid Museum), our team returned to Wits University to speak with the South Africa Institution of International Affairs (SAIIA). We were met by SAIIA’s Chief Executive Elizabeth Sidiropoulos and researcher Yu-Shan Wu, who introduced us to the institution's work and answered our questions on South African international relations.

Sidiropoulos and Wu explained that SAIIA was founded alongside other research institutions including Chatham House, with the purpose of investigating three key areas:

1.     The engagement of emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil towards the African continent.

2.     Trends and policies of Africa’s regional powers

3.     South Africa’s foreign policy towards its neighbours

The BRICs in Africa

The scale of Chinese investment and trade in Africa far outpaces that of India and Brazil. However, Sidiropoulos and Wu explained that all three share an important role in African engagement. India and Brazil share language links and colonial history with some African countries, an advantage not held by China. Like China, their roles as partners of the Global South gives them a privileged position in South African foreign policy that can appear baffling to Western Countries.

According to SAIIA, Japanese representatives are continually puzzled by China’s strong reputation for building infrastructure and jobs given that these are areas Japanese companies have been involved in for a long time. Sidiropoulos similarly pointed out that if counted as a unit, the European Union would replace China as Africa’s largest trading partner. The majority of South Africa’s manufacturing exports are sent to the EU. Despite these facts the ANC’s ideology of anti-imperialism and support for the global south causes it to direct its energies towards countries like China and India.

 Both Sidiropoulos and Wu maintained that South Africa would start to focus on economic opportunities with countries including India and other new powers like Vietnam. They also explained that South Africa with its relatively advanced economy, has a different experience when dealing with fellow emerging markets. For example, contrary to the usual narrative, South African investments in China outweigh China’s in South Africa.

Africa’s Regional Powers

SAIIA’s work also looks at African countries that “stand out from the rest” due to military, economic or other reasons. Some like Nigeria, South Africa and Ethiopia are obvious choices, given their large economies and population. Others like Rwanda play outsized regional roles due to stability and a strong military. Most interestingly however, SAIIA also examines countries like Ghana, Senegal and Botswana. While none are very populous or regionally influential, these states stand out as exemplars and have drawn attention for good governance in a way that keeps them in the minds of investors and foreign powers.

South Africa in Africa

Finally, we asked SAIIA about South Africa’s foreign policy priorities, particularly in relation to other African countries. We came to the conclusion that Pretoria has not always managed its relationships with other African countries very well, and its Africa policy may suffer from a lack of focus. Sidiropoulos made reference to South Africa’s position in the African Union, which drew criticism from other countries particularly during the election of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as AU Chairperson. She also mentioned that reluctance to choose key partners prevented South Africa from building alliances for its goals. One example is in building capacity in the African Union, which currently lacks the capability to issue acceptable financial statements of its accounts. As top contributors to the AU, South Africa, Nigeria and others have a natural incentive to create this capacity but have yet to do so. Another example discussed was interregional trade where not enough progress has been made despite the Cape to Cairo free trade agreement of 2015. South Africa has not made a sustained effort in this area despite the fact that it is the most advanced economy in Sub-Saharan Africa and has significant opportunity to benefit from high value trade with its neighbours.

On the other hand, South Africa has made a role for itself in enforcing peace and security in Africa. It has been a significant contributor of peacekeepers particularly to the Democratic Republic of Congo, recognizing the potential for conflict there to inflame the whole continent as it did in the 90s. It has also played a role in mediating conflicts in the Great Lakes region, drawing from its own largely successful experience with conflict management and reconciliation. 

Following our meetings we headed to Katzy's in the Rosebank neighbourhood of Johannesburg to have dinner with SAIS alum Victor Abiola (SAIS '01).