Sanusha Naidu
4 September 2008
(Page 2 of 2)
While there may be some broad overlaps with the DAC definition as applied by the traditional donors, there are some grey areas as well. In 2007/2008 the Centre for Chinese Studies based in South Africa conducted an assessment of China's aid policy and practice to Africa where it became abundantly clear that no one approach can best encapsulate China's aid policy or for that matter if there is an official aid policy (Davies, Edinger, Tay and Naidu 2008, p. 2). According to the authors:
'In order to interpret China's aid policy, one can take various different approaches. One approach assumes that the Chinese government defines aid according to two different formats: "co-operation" and "ODA". One respondent differentiated between them by suggesting that "cooperation" refers to foreign direct investments and contracts with Chinese companies, while "ODA" refers to concessionary loans, debt relief and grants. Trade concessions may also fall into this category. However, there were conflicting views from other respondents, who identified only the transfer of funds between governments (including the funds involved in donations of aid in kind), as constituting "aid". These conflicting definitions offered by both Chinese government and well positioned academic sources reflect the ambiguity in Chinese foreign aid policy circles. There is clearly no official definition of aid at present'.
On the other hand, India's development assistance involves a cross sectoral provision of capacity building, skills development, credit lines and scholarships. While Delhi's aid policy encompasses a broader range of aid distribution, it is also more limited in scope as it does not look to provide grants in aid (Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Division, 2006) as traditional definitions would indicate. Rather it opts for development of human resources and education, which again results in complexities surrounding the conceptualisation of India's aid policy.
In sum then, the provision of aid by China and India appear to align more closely to their rising global status, endowed by their historical experiences and underscored by the act of benevolence. [For a concise understanding of China's aid system see Deborah Brautigam, op cit.] This is captured by the emerging logic of China and India's involvement in the Non-aligned Movement (NAM) and the idea that as Beijing and Delhi become prosperous they will be able to give back to the poorer countries by assisting them to develop (Snow 1988, Glosny 2006). Nevertheless trying to pigeon hole or compartmentalise the aid policies of each country into neatly defined boxes proves difficult, particularly as China and India's donor activities in Africa are often inextricably viewed together with their commercial interests and investment projects. Therefore, to develop some synergy with regard to how China and India interpret their development assistance and to make the distinctions less complex, especially in relation to the DAC ODA definition, McCormick's paradigm of monetary and non monetary forms of aid is probably better suited in assessing China and India's development assistance activities across Africa.
*Sanusha Naidu is the Research Director of the China in Africa Programme based with Fahamu in South Africa. * Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/
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