By Mercy A. Kuo and Angelica O. Tang
Insights from U.S. Ambassador Cameron Hume.
The Rebalance authors Mercy Kuo and Angie Tang regularly engage subject-matter experts, policy practitioners and strategic thinkers across the globe for their diverse insights into the U.S. rebalance to Asia. This conversation with Ambassador Cameron Hume – United States Ambassador to Algeria (1997-2000), South Africa (2001-2004), and Indonesia (2007-2010) – is the eighth in “The Rebalance Insight Series.”
Ambassador Hume, your experiences as a career diplomat with posts in Africa and Asia give you a broad perspective on U.S. diplomacy in these emerging areas of the world. Asian countries – China, Japan, South Korea, and Indonesia, among others – are actively engaging African nations on a range of issues from infrastructure investment to natural resources to development aid. What are the key elements driving interlinkages between Africa and Asia?
The key interlinkage is trade and investment. This connection has been based on Asia’s need for raw materials, particularly in the metals sector, and Africa’s need for basic consumer goods. Now the equation is changing in several ways, becoming both more balanced and more complicated. Asian countries are major consumers of African energy, both petroleum and coal, and leading investors in this sector. Angola’s changed relationship with China is a case in point. Some lower wage manufacturing has moved from East Asia to Africa; one Chinese investor is building a shoe industry in Ethiopia, and others have moved textile plants to Africa. These changes reflect the increased integration of both regions in the global economy. I would caution against the occasional warning that China is about to take over the African economy to the exclusion of the continent’s ties to other markets.
Read the full story at The Diplomat