China-Ghana relations: Our sixty-year journey

China’s appeal to Africa may have initially been political/ideological in nature. However, Africa’s attraction to China was mainly economic in nature—especially for the newly independent African states including Ghana. China’s development model was admired by leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah, highlighted by his statement, “liberated African workers will show what they are capable of, just like workers in China and Russia.” The bilateral relations forged between Ghana and China in the 1960s was strengthened by the personal relationship between the political leaders of both countries; Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah and Premiers Mao and Zhou Enlai of China. Chinese assistance to Ghana post-independence was to help accelerate developmental projects spearheaded by Dr. Nkrumah.

The ten-year friendship treaty, a twenty-year technical and economic agreement, and a five-year trade and payments agreement with the Chinese government during Dr. Nkrumah’s state visit to China in 1961 set the pace for Chinese assistance meant to facilitate developmental projects in Ghana. Kwame Nkrumah’s proactivity in getting China’s aid to help accelerate the country’s development cannot be underestimated. The personal relationship between Kwame Nkrumah and China’s Premiers was pivotal in maintaining Ghana’s relationship with China that relations turned frosty after his overthrow. The withdrawal of Chinese aid workers and embassy officials from Ghana after Nkrumah’s overthrow evidently supports this assertion.

Over the course of decades, Ghana reciprocated Chinese assistance in meaningful ways such as offering China diplomatic/political support for the admission of China into the United Nations where John Agyekum Kufour, the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, under the leadership of Kofi Abrefa Busia, in 1971, cast the decisive vote on behalf of Ghana, in China’s favour. The personal touch of President Kufuor rejuvenated bilateral relations, exhibited in high level state visits to China in 2002 and President Hu Jintao’s visit to Ghana in 2003. This will set the pace for the next phase of Sino-Ghana relations. Kufuor’s personal relationship with China resulted in significant projects like the 400-megawatt hydroelectric Bui Dam project which started in 2008 and was inaugurated in December 2013. Before this period, the Chinese supported Ghana in meaningful ways such as funding and building the $20 million National Theatre of Ghana as a gift to the country in 1990.

Chinese partnership with Ghana has been strengthened over the years. The economic and cultural cooperation between the two countries have greatly deepened. Ghana has recently opened a new consulate in Guangzhou, the economic hub of China to easily facilitate Ghanaian and Chinese business activities as a result of increasing cooperation between the two countries. China is currently Ghana’s biggest trading partner, biggest foreign direct investor and a top destination to study for Ghanaian students and scholars. There are about 6,500 Ghanaian students living in China according to Mr Edward Boateng, Ghana’s Ambassador to China in his welcome address during the inauguration of the new consulate. The deepening ties since independence is an indication of the increasing importance of Ghana to China, and vice versa. The belt and road initiative by China is one of such partnerships Ghana is greatly benefiting from in terms of financing of infrastructure projects, technical and cultural exchanges, and trade/investments.

The relations between the countries previously based on the exchange of developmental assistance for only diplomatic support has ended. China is now providing assistance in exchange for diplomatic support as well as natural resources. This relationship is captured in the China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) bidding for a share in Kosmos Energy’s assets in Ghana’s oil field at the same time Ghana signed an agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation between the two countries in 2009 according to The Jamestown Foundation. Ghana’s recent bauxite deal with China also testifies to the shift in the nature of the cooperation between the two countries.

With increasing Chinese economic activities in the country, Ghana became China’s seventh biggest trading partner in Africa in 2018. The country is additionally exporting to China more than before, with export to China increasing by 41.3% in 2018 according to Mr Zhijing, the Economic and Commercial Counsellor at the Chinese Embassy. Although still at a trade deficit, there have been measures to enable Ghanaian products to break into the Chinese markets such as through the yearly China International Import Exposition where Ghanaian businesses could showcase their products to the Chinese market. This is to help bridge the trade deficit between the two countries. Journeying through the sixty-year friendship between Ghana and China, it is without a doubt that cooperation has been strengthened throughout the years; cooperation between the countries is deeper now than before. China has presented itself as a friend throughout the years, providing assistance in the development of Ghana. It has now presented itself as a partner through the belt and road initiative, with the aim of working together for mutual benefits. China’s partnership with Ghana presents us with the opportunity to steer the course for the development of the country as bilateral relations is getting stronger.

But as in the era of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Chinese friendship with Ghana has failed to grow beyond the ranks of political elites. China has failed to win the minds and hearts of Ghanaians and if intentional and strategic measures are not taken in this regard, what happened when Dr. Nkrumah was overthrown; forcing China to pack out of the country may be repeated. Of course, not literally but definitely the repercussions will be more detrimental. Ghanaians are yet to fully grasp the nature of the country’s relationship with China. As a result, the perception of this relationship in the minds of Ghanaians has not been very positive with medium levels of anti-Chinese sentiments among the population. Both the government of Ghana and the Chinese government have not succeeded in addressing this concern. After sixty years of partnership and collaboration, maybe it is time for the two countries to reflect on their friendship and address fundamental issues that may jeopardize this bond.

Credit: Afro-Sino Centre of International Relations (ASCIR)