L. Fituni, I. Abramova Resource Potential of Africa and Russia's ...

EU. There seems to be no further opportunities and, in fact, no need
for expansion along such lines.
Chinese strategy in Africa proved to be quite effective, judging
by reactions of both China’s competitors and the partner countries of
Africa. According to some reports, Africans were wary of the U.S.–
China dialogue on Africa and felt Africa had nothing to gain from
China cooperating with the traditional international donor community.
Some representatives of African elites tend to share the opinion
that Africa was better off thanks to China's practical, bilateral approach
to development assistance. They are concerned about prospects
that this would be changed by "Western" interference. They
represent groups of African elites who are frustrated by Western
insistence on capacity building, which translated, in their eyes, into
conferences and seminars. They instead preferred China's focus on
infrastructure and tangible projects. They are also worried that Africa
would lose the benefit of having some leverage to negotiate
with their donors if their development partners joined forces.
In 2008, trade between China and Africa came close to $106 billion
(in 2000, it was $10 billion). Before the collapse of world prices
for raw materials caused by the crisis that broke out in the West,
Africa–China trade balance was slightly in favor of Africa. In 2009–
2010, however, the plunging price of oil tipped it in China's favor.
China's trade with Africa is concentrated in a limited number of
geographical areas there. In 2008, 61 percent of trade was with as
few as five African countries. A quarter of all trade was with one
country – Angola. South Africa and Sudan were second and third
with 16 percent and about 9 percent accordingly. These three countries
have remained in the lead since 2002.
The Sino-African co-operation formula differs significantly
from Western patterns, as it is openly and strictly a business relationship:
the trading of infrastructure for resources. What China
lacks in terms of technology and capacity building, it makes up for
in its willingness to provide these package deals to Africa. This
funding arrangement, now referred to as the ‘Angola model’, is not,
however, unique to China, as other Western countries and institutions
have adopted similar lending practices in the past decade, us-
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