China outperforms India in the oil industry in Angola and Nigeria

2013

LSE’s Raj Verma describes how India and China differ in their approaches to mobilising crude oil in West Africa. Read more articles in the “Why India-Africa relations matter” blog series.

China-Africa and an Economic Transformation, 2019

This chapter examines the changing patterns of Chinese state oil corporations’ engagements with African petro-states through investments in the upstream and downstream oil and gas sectors, and their potential for Africa’s development within the context of evolving China–Africa relations. It conceptually frames such relations, analyzes the contextual shifts and interests involved, and cautions against rather alarmist or biased readings of China–Africa relations that neglect or gloss over the ‘facts on the ground’ and specificities. It also unpacks the notion of African agency in the context of Africa–China economic relations, particularly in the ways Chinese state oil corporations operating in Africa’s oilfields—traditionally dominated by Western oil multinationals—have been exposed to opportunities, risks, structural challenges, and regulation by African petro-states. This provides a sound basis for understanding how lessons learnt and experiences on both sides define the place of C...

Contemporary Chinese Political Economy and Strategic Relations: An International Journal, 2018

Many a time, the relationship between China and Africa is stereotyped as an energy quest to sustain China's economic growth, leading to anti-Chinese resistance narratives in Africa. Against this background, the observed presence of China in Nigeria, more specifically, warrants attention, as the strategic relationship has expanded significantly to emerge as a powerful, yet questionable, South-South alliance. We document the economic activities of China in Nigeria, through the channels of trade, foreign direct investment (FDI), and aid, to frame our understanding of the content of those ties. As the engagement of China in Nigeria is skewed towards the extractive industry, this paper mainly focuses on Nigeria's oil sector, by tracing the transforming developments and addressing the challenges of Nigeria that relates with economic, environmental and social life, with China's commercial presence in the oil sector. With the economic dimensions of this

Renaissance University Journal of Management and Social Sciences (RUJMASS), 2019

Nigeria-China bilateral relations have been constantly described as an ongoing strategic and ever growing bilateral relation, highlighting economic development prospects for the two nations. The international system is crafted to highlight an interwoven level of dependency and relations between countries. As such, no country is deemed self sufficient. This highlights the level of bilateral and multilateral relations by states in order to promote political, economic and social relation. The paper adopted qualitative descriptive method of data collection and analysis. With the Marxist political economy theory and dialectical materialism as analytical framework, the paper attempts to analyze the structure and character of Nigeria-China oil bilateral relations from 2008 to 2018 and its economic implications for Nigeria. The paper provides an insight into the nature of Nigeria-China bilateral oil relations and the various challenges confronting it such as lack of local content development capacity, mono and dependent economy and lack of industrial capacity and compromised bourgeoisie class and leadership. It concludes that Nigeria-China oil bilateral relation has been more of economic dependency, rather than cooperation to foster Nigeria's economic development. From the findings, the paper recommends that the Nigerian government should develop policies that would ensure industrialization and promote technological innovations, diversify the economy and also develop local content development capacity.

China into Africa, 2008

Pressured by skyrocketing demand, Chinese oil companies have branched out across the globe seeking new oil supplies to feed the country’s economic growth. By 2006, China had made oil investments in almost every part of the world, including Africa. These initiatives have not been without controversy. From the commercial perspective, Western companies complain that China’s ability to link its oil investments to government-to-government financial assistance gives its companies an unfair advantage. From the political perspective, Western nongovernmental organizations have accused China of using its investments to support some of the more abusive, corrupt, and violent governments in the world. The poster child for this argument has been China’s support for the Sudanese government and its unwillingness to condemn publicly the genocidal practices of the janjaweed militias operating in Darfur. China’s repeated contention that it does not get involved in domestic politics and that its relationships with African governments is strictly commercial is perceived by many as hollow. Critics argue that without China’s investments and tacit support, African governments, such as the Sudan’s, would be forced to amend their behavior. This chapter looks at the validity of these arguments and how they are manifested on the African continent. It focuses on China’s activities in the Sudan and Angola, not only because they are the largest measured, both in terms of dollar value and scope, but because they incorporate features that characterize Chinese efforts to secure incremental oil supplies from African countries.

Journal of Current Chinese Affairs

Africa’s and South America’s rich endowments of resources and great need for infrastructure development make them perfect candidates for China’s “infrastructure-for-resources” loans. Over the past decade, such an arrangement for pursuing China’s resource-security goals overseas – namely, securing long-term supply contracts and accessing exploration rights – has proved more effective in Africa than in South America. This article discusses the reasons for this regional variation by providing a comparative study of China’s economic statecraft in Angola and Brazil, focusing on the deployment of infrastructure-for-oil deals. It argues that the variation in China’s energy-security outcomes (long-term supply and access to oil equity) in Angola and Brazil can be attributed mostly to fundamental differences between the institutional structures of each country’s oil industry. Although this foreign policy instrument has worked well for the centralised structure encountered in Angola, it has been less suitable for the far more liberalised and regulated environment that characterises Brazil’s oil sector.

Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, 2013

Africa's and South America's rich endowments of resources and great need for infrastructure development make them perfect candidates for China's “infrastructure-for-resources” loans. Over the past decade, such an arrangement for pursuing China's resource-security goals overseas – namely, securing long-term supply contracts and accessing exploration rights – has proved more effective in Africa than in South America. This article discusses the reasons for this regional variation by providing a comparative study of China's economic statecraft in Angola and Brazil, focusing on the deployment of infrastructure-for-oil deals. It argues that the variation in China's energy-security outcomes (long-term supply and access to oil equity) in Angola and Brazil can be attributed mostly to fundamental differences between the institutional structures of each country's oil industry. Although this foreign policy instrument has worked well for the centralised structure enco...

ESCAE JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT AND SECURITY (EJMSS), 2022

In 1993 China became a net importer of oil, due to its growing needs in both transportation and industry. Since it became a net oil importer, China's resource diplomacy in the hunt for oil supplies has escalated massively and resulted in Beijing's increased presence in Africa's oil industry. As a result, many, especially the West and their sympathizers have condemned China engagements with Africa as a way of exploiting the continent. As a fact, the recent vibrancy in Sino-African relations is viewed with neocolonial lens. To these people, China activities in Africa is likened to European activities of the 19 th Century when Africa only served the colonialists interest as source for raw materials and market for European finished manufactured products. Whereas some supporters of China activities in Africa consider it a blessing and collaboration venture as it offers Africans the opportunity of an alternative option aside the traditional partners from Europe and North America. This group also have a strong believe that, due to the fact that China transformation is very recent, much can be learned and copied from the country's transformation experience by Africa. Besides, China still consider herself a developing nation, as such its engagements with Africa symbolizes South-South cooperation. Through an extensive survey and in-depth analyses of empirical literature, this paper seeks specifically to explore a key element of China's policy interest in Africa's resources-oil. In doing so, it examines the socioeconomic and political implication of China energy diplomacy in Africa and find out if Chinese engagements is to exploit or collaborate with the people of the continent for growth and economic development.