China’s Xi out to fortify African ties

Four-nation trip targets economic, military gains

DAKAR, Senegal — Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Africa on Saturday on a four-nation visit seeking deeper military and economic ties while his rival in a bitter trade war, the Trump administration, shows little interest in the world’s second most populous continent.

This is Xi’s first trip abroad since he was appointed to a second term in March with term limits removed, allowing him to rule for as long as he wants. That rang familiar to some of Africa’s long-entrenched leaders.

China is already Africa’s largest trading partner, and it opened its first military base on the continent last year in the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, which this month launched a China-backed free trade zone it calls the largest in Africa. After surpassing the U.S. in arms sales to Africa in recent years, China this month hosted dozens of African military officials for the first China-Africa defense forum.

Xi is stopping in Senegal and then Rwanda ahead of his participation in a summit of the BRICS emerging economies in South Africa that starts on Wednesday.

The summit comes amid the United States’ billion-dollar trade war with China and tough trade negotiations with other economic partners. Last month the foreign ministers of BRICS members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa criticized what they called a “new wave of protectionism,” saying U.S. measures undermine global trade and economic growth.

Xi’s Africa visit also highlights China’s sweeping “Belt and Road” initiative that envisages linking Beijing to Africa, Europe and other parts of Asia via a network of ports, railways, power plants and economic zones.

While such high-profile projects bring badly needed infrastructure and generate economic growth, U.S. officials and others have warned that African nations are putting themselves into debt to China. Its government, banks and contractors loaned more than $94 billion to African governments and stateowned companies from 2000 to 2015, according to the China Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins University.

“Public debt in the median sub-Saharan African country rose from 34 percent of GDP in 2013 to an estimated 53 percent in 2017,” says a report in January by Wenjie Chen and Roger Nord of the International Monetary Fund.

On his first visit to a West African country Xi will meet with President Macky Sall of Senegal, which had economic growth of 7.2 percent last year and whose largest trading partner is the European Union, notably France.

China’s economic push continues in September with the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, which brings together dozens of heads of state.

Xaume Olleros The Associated Press Senegalese President Macky Sall, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping inspect the honor guard during Xi’s state visit to Dakar, Senegal, on Saturday.