Coronavirus: China’s aid effort in Africa is nothing new, observers say

Beijing ‘is serious about its commitment to stand by its African partners’ and has been since 1962, academic says

But not all of its medical teams are welcomed with open arms, especially since allegations emerged of Africans in southern China being mistreated

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China’s links with Africa in terms of medical support date back to the 1960s. Photo: AFP

Published: 1:15pm, 17 May 2020Updated: 11:06pm, 17 May 2020

In recent weeks, China has dispatched scores of medical experts and tonnes of vital supplies to help African nations battle Covid-19.

But while some critics have accused Beijing of trying to shift the global focus away from its missteps in handling the initial coronavirus outbreak, observers say the humanitarian aid effort is actually just an extension of the medical diplomacy China has been conducting in Africa for decades.

On Thursday, a 20-strong team of Chinese health professionals arrived in Algeria, the second to do so in less than two months. The country is home to the largest Chinese expat community on the continent and one of the worst hit by the pandemic in Africa, with close to 7,000 cases and more than 540 deaths.

Three days earlier, a team of 12 Chinese experts from Hunan province arrived in the Zimbabwean capital Harare, where they will share their experiences and knowledge with local health professionals on case identification, reporting, isolation, diagnosis and treatment, according to the Chinese embassy in the city.

A team of 12 Chinese medical experts arrived in Harare last week. Photo: Xinhua

Lina Benabdallah, an assistant professor of politics specialising in Sino-African relations at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, said Covid-19 had provided an opportunity for Beijing to show it was “not only a goods provider but also an expert on pandemic management and global health”.