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Jevans Nyabiage

The Herbert Chitepo School of Ideology in Harare stands tall as a symbol of China’s soft power. The ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party school reopened last year after a China-funded refurbishment.
The school not only conducts training and seminars for ZANU-PF cadres, students and politicians, it also attracts regular visits by lecturers from China’s ruling Communist Party.
In December, the Chinese party donated 1,300 books to the school, covering China’s history, financial reforms and development, as well as foreign affairs and culture as part of deepening party-to-party exchanges.
The bonds between the two countries were forged decades ago. Zimbabwe was one of several African countries that received Chinese ideological and military support during their liberation struggles.
Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa – who took over from former leader Robert Mugabe after a coup in 2017 – was among those to undergo military training in China in the 1960s.
Zimbabwe continues to benefit from Chinese economic assistance, especially since the US and other Western countries imposed sanctions over the seizure of land from white farmers while Mugabe was in power.
As China-Africa ties have grown closer, Beijing has also stepped up training of the continent’s political elites and exchanges in governance as part of a joint pursuit of modernisation.
China’s ambition to export its governance model to Africa was evident in President Xi Jinping’s opening speech at the ninth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit on September 5, as well as in talks with Mnangagwa and other leaders.
In bilateral talks with Xi on the FOCAC sidelines, Mnangagwa said Harare was “ready to strengthen experience exchange with China on state governance and party administration”.

The issue of “sharing governance experience” also came up during talks between Xi and leaders from Namibia, Mozambique and Tanzania.
In his speech, Xi flagged that Beijing would increasingly deploy soft power through a “platform for governance experience sharing, a China-Africa knowledge network for development, and 25 centres on China and Africa studies”.
China will also invite 1,000 members of African political parties to “deepen exchanges of experience”, he said.
While China has built and supported a number of party schools in Africa since the 1960s, the Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Leadership School in Tanzania is noteworthy because of its support for multiple African political parties.
The Communist Party of China provided US$40 million for construction of the school, which opened its doors in 2022 to trainees from Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
The intake represents the coalition of the Former Liberation Movements of Southern Africa – made up of parties that have all prevailed in every election since their countries’ independence.
The school – in Kibaha, 40km (25 miles) outside Dar es Salaam – is modelled on China’s Central Party School and parallels the China-Africa Institute, a Chinese initiative to train African leaders.

But there are other, less noticeable – and non-bricks-and-mortar – schools associated with China’s National Academy of Governance (CAG), the party school’s external name, according to a study by China specialist Paul Nantulya published in July.
“China’s party exchanges have increased alongside this expanding training,” said Nantulya, from the National Defence University’s Africa Centre for Strategic Studies in Washington.
According to Nantulya, China is expected to receive more than 50 African party delegations this year – double the number of comparable visits that were hosted in 2015.
Beijing has active relationships with 110 African ruling and opposition parties, 35 parliaments and 59 politically oriented organisations, including party think tanks, Nantulya’s study found.
China-Africa specialist David Shinn, a professor at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, said Xi’s speech represented an expansion of his goal to export China’s governance model to Africa – or at least, elements of it.
The invitation for 1,000 African political party members to visit China over the next three years and learn about state and party governance is another part of this effort, as party-to-party exchanges resumed after the pandemic, he said.
However, these “exchanges” beg the question of whether China is really interested in learning about African governing models, according to Shinn. “It seems that the CPC already has a fixed idea about its governance policies.”
Observers said China’s aim is not only to promote the development model that helped it to become an economic giant. Beijing is also hoping that its governance model will counter Western liberal norms.

Nantulya pointed out that while China’s political model is popular with African ruling parties intent on extending their longevity, it has not been something to which many African citizens aspire – despite widespread admiration for its economic model.
“It should be recalled that Africa’s experience with single-party rule was almost uniformly negative [and explains] the popular groundswell of pro-democracy movements that spearheaded the collapse of one-party states during the 1990s transition to multiparty politics,” he said.
According to Nantulya, political parties from Burundi, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Morocco, Uganda and Kenya have approached Beijing for help with building their schools and strengthening their party base.
There have also been numerous visits to Africa by Chinese party officials and vice versa.
In August, Liu Jianchao, head of the Communist Party of China’s international department, led a delegation to South Africa for talks with President Cyril Ramaphosa and officials from his ANC party.
The two sides agreed to strengthen inter-party exchanges and deepen exchanges on governing experience.
According to Yun Sun, co-director of the East Asia Programme and director of the Washington-based Stimson Centre’s China Programme, Beijing’s goal is to give Africa the opportunity to understand and utilise the Chinese experience of governance and development.
“For China, it is a contribution as a responsible stakeholder, to help developing countries to stabilise and develop,” Sun said.
The sharing of governance and development experience does not constitute interference in internal affairs because it is not imposed and Africa has the liberty to choose other countries’ options, she added.


Benjamin Barton, an associate professor at the University of Nottingham Malaysia, said the trend in recent years of China funding and building communist party schools was basically following in a long line of policy endeavours emanating from FOCAC.
“This is designed to build long-lasting relations with the African elite, present and future, as well as build long-term inroads into African political scenes,” he said.
“Clearly, the underlying motive is not simply about spreading influence but also about countering Western liberal norms through the promotion of China’s own interpretation of themes such as governance and development.”
In the context of its ties with Africa, China prefers to frame governance as etched around economic development, in contrast to Western interpretations, which traditionally put political development and democratisation on a par with modernisation, he said.
According to Barton, economic development carries less baggage than political development and because China does not have a colonial legacy, Beijing’s proposed interpretation of governance would be seen as non-intrusive in most cases.
Nevertheless, if China does build a platform – physically and figuratively – to spread its governance model in Africa, the level of participation in the continent will not really say much, Barton said.
“African elites, future leaders, students and activists may attend training, workshops and other activities held under the banner of this platform but whether they actually agree and take on board Chinese prescriptions is a different matter altogether.”


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China-Africa relations

Chinese dancers welcome Zimbabwe’s President  Emmerson Mnangagwa ahead of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing. Photo: EPA

The Herbert Chitepo School of Ideology in Zimbabwe was refurbished and stocked with books, thanks to funding and donations from China. Photo: Zimbabwe African National Union- Patriotic Front

The Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Leadership School in Kibaha, Tanzania is modelled on China’s Central Party School. Photo: Handout

Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks at the opening ceremony of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on September 5. Photo: AP

China pledges deeper DRC ties as African leaders gather in Beijing for FOCAC summit

President Xi Jinping with counterpart Félix Tshisekedi from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the source of more than 60 per cent of China’s cobalt, in Beijing on Monday. Photo: Xinhua

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa arrives in Beijing early on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE 

Security and finance headline China’s pledges to Africa at FOCAC Summit

Chinese President Xi Jinping lays out China’s commitments to Africa at the start of the FOCAC Summit in Beijing on Thursday. Photo: Xinhua

China is shifting its African focus away from the mega infrastructure projects that have dominated the last decade, instead towards agriculture, manufacturing, green energy and critical minerals. Photo: Bloomberg

A Chinese expert shares his knowledge at the China-Aid Agriculture Technology Demonstration Centre in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. China has promised to send 500 agricultural experts to Africa. Photo: Xinhua

Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged to encourage two-way investment between Chinese and African companies. Photo: AP

For China, Africa’s allure grows amid feuds with West. But do risks outweigh its promise?

Chinese President Xi Jinping (centre) and leaders of African nations arrive to attend the opening of the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit in Beijing on Thursday. Photo: Xinhua

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives with Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye for the FOCAC summit opening ceremony, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday. Photo: AP

African leaders look to China for project funds and trade deals at Beijing summit

Chinese dancers perform to welcome Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa as he arrives at Beijing Capital Airport on Monday, ahead of the FOCAC summit. Photo: EPA-EFE

The summit is held every three years. Photo: Reuters

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China

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The world’s second largest economy is bringing its insights to the continent as part of a joint pursuit of modernisation


The world’s second largest economy is bringing its insights to the continent as part of a joint pursuit of modernisation.
