A New Review
/South African Journal of International Affairs Vol. 19:3. 2012. PP. 409-411.
The Scramble for Africa in the 21st Century: From the Old World to the New, edited
by Harry Stephan and Michael Power, Cape Town, Renaissance Press, 2012, 456
pp., $9.99 (ebook) ISBN 9780987022004
In this follow-up to their previous collaboration The Scramble for Africa in the 21st
Century: A View from the South, Harry Stephan and Michael Power have produced
an updated look at the continent. The newest edition follows the same structure and
argument as the 2006 edition, but tells of an Africa that has witnessed major changes
over the past five years. Stephan, a University of Cape Town-based academic and
manager of a large company, and Power, a global strategist at Investec, South Africa,
are more than suited to the challenge of producing a book of this nature, given
their experience in the business world, which no doubt improves the analysis of the
relevant theories of African political economy.
The central thesis of this book is that, with the emergence of China as a major
power and the re-emergence of a multi-polar international system, African states will
be in a position to argue for better trade terms among the competing powers. Much
of the book focuses on Africa’s economic history as a supplier of commodities and
on the international economic regime, run by the Bretton Woods system of the World
Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation (WTO),
which has pushed Washington Consensus policies onto developing countries to the
detriment of those countries’ economies. However, as Stephan states, ‘if the United
States begins to lose its hegemonic status to a multi-polar system, a new reality could
emerge which may not support the current consensus that has originated through
Washington’ (p. 20).
The book progresses through several stages in examining this possible change.
The first chapters are by Michael Power. Power starts by re-affirming the central
thesis of the book * that Africa can, and should, look towards the East for further
economic development, rather than continuing to look to the West. The reasoning
behind this is that, in the current Western-dominated global economy, Africa has
been commoditised, whereas in a global economy with the East as the centre, it
has not. Power lays out in great detail the life cycle of a product * from monopoly
to commodity * and then uses six different case studies, ranging from Microsoft
to Ford to Gillette, to explain how products eventually become commoditised.
This chapter was based on Power’s 2002 master’s thesis at the University of Cape
Town, although he has added updates on each company for 2011. He compares
Africa with Cargill, a company that markets, processes and distributes agricultural,
food, financial and industrial products. In 2002, Power believed Cargill to be in the
sixth and final round of a product life cycle, the ‘Sinking Ship’. He asks the question,
‘does the company have a secure future?’ and concludes that for ‘the likes of Cargill,
the end will most likely come when the family decide to pull the plug’ (p. 106).
However, in 2011, Power was proven incorrect, as Cargill was healthier than it had
been in 2002, thanks to Chinese demand for resources that it supplies. He posits
that Africa can do the same as Cargill and use Chinese demand as a stepping
stone to greater investment in the continent and increased economic development.
Power continues this Afro-optimism in his next chapter and comes to the same
conclusion * Africa can only escape the commoditisation trap via China. These two
chapters, which comprise almost a third of the entire book, are extremely in-depth
with many graphs and statistics to prove the argument. However, there is a definite
lack of focus on Africa, as it is rarely mentioned in the chapters, except in the
introduction and conclusion to tie it to Power’s original work. That said, Power
uses his extensive knowledge of economics effectively to show that, for Africa, like
Cargill, it is not yet time to ‘pull the plug’.
The Scramble for Africa then moves away from an emphasis on macro- and
microeconomics towards an analysis of the international political economy,
examining the role that institutions such as the WTO play in the international
trading system. As with the chapters penned by Power, this chapter by Raymond
Steenkamp Fonseca does not focus solely on the situation in Africa, but gives a
very broad and informative history of world trade institutions, starting with the
Bretton Woods institutions and their evolution via many United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development rounds, the New International Economic
Order and the evolution of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade into the
WTO. At the end of the chapter, there is an analysis of the role of Brazil, India and
South Africa and their multilateral agreements (such as IBSA), although the major
focus is on the role that the WTO plays in the global economy and the inherent
bias towards the North which disadvantages those states in the South. The author’s
conclusion, that the WTO needs to be re-examined and rethought to better ensure
fair treatment for those in the South, may seem idealistic to those with a realist
stance, but, like the other chapters, the Afro-optimism is tempered by the
admittance by the authors that the continent is still in transition and implementa-
tion is still far in the future.
This issue of an unequal international economy is expanded upon in the
following chapter on economic globalisation, arguing that the economic integration
that has occurred because of neo-liberal principles and ‘one-size-fits-all’ capitalism
has diverged significantly from what it was originally supposed to achieve. This is
one of the first chapters of the book that really analyses the issue from an African
perspective, as Stephan and co-author Michael Bridgman use Regime Theory and
Two-Level Games to explain how Africa may be able to overcome its traditional
hardships. The theories reinforce the basic argument of the book: that the current
economic regime, as detailed in the previous chapter, is detrimental to African
development. However, the rise of a secondary power, namely China, could alter the
current economic regime, led by the Washington Consensus, and the shift towards a
Beijing Consensus in Africa may cause those in the West to adapt to this new regime
to remain a player on the continent. As Stephan notes, ‘perhaps it was not aid that
was the trouble . . . [but] rather it was the prevailing style of aid which robbed Africa
of its autonomy and sovereignty’ (p. 291). This is important for African leaders,
who according to Putnam’s theory, have been playing on two game boards, one
national and one international. Leaders, such as Mbeki from South Africa,
struggled to please their domestic support base (notably labour), as well as the
international investors, who demanded neo-liberal conditions in return for
investment. With China now emerging on the scene, leaders will be less forced to
alter domestic policy in return for international investment. Stephan does deal
briefly with the issue of irresponsible governments in Africa, which many could
(and would) argue are equally to blame for Africa’s woes, conceding at the end of
the chapter that ‘the success of African countries is contingent upon African leaders
recognising their responsibility for the respective populations and the alleviation of
poverty’ (p. 297).
The penultimate chapter looks at how these leaders are dealing with the markets
which are embedded in globalisation and neo-liberalism, via regional organisations
such as the Southern African Development Community and the East African
Community. Like the other chapters, Angus Fane Hervey and Rochella Schollij
continue the Afro-optimist theme, despite the fact that many of the attempts at
regional organisation on the continent have fallen far short of expectations. They
point out, however, that ‘regionalism, if given the space it deserves to develop and
flourish in the continent, may not be a panacea, but can contribute, without dispute,
to Africa’s growth and development in significant ways’ (p. 359). This leads to the
book’s conclusion, by Stephan and Jessica Benjamin, which gives a political analysis
of the problems Africa faces, as opposed to the overly economic analyses of the other
chapters. The conclusion is simple: governments must invest in human capital to
continue to attract private investment.
Overall, this book is ideal for post-graduate students or those with a firm
grounding in economic theory and African politics. It may be a little technical for
those with only a mild interest in the subject, especially the first chapters by
Michael Power, which delve into advanced economic theory. The book is well
structured and builds upon the authors’ argument that the time is now for Africa
and, with a few changes in thinking by its leaders, real economic development could
be imminent, thanks to the rise of China as a major power in the international
system. Some may find this book too optimistic since it only briefly covers the
disadvantages of Chinese investment and influence in Africa. However, despite the
fact that the theory, case studies and statistics may be outside the average reader’s
realm, many will appreciate a serious book that is optimistic about the future of the
African continent.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10220461.2012.741370
Shawn Robert Duthie
Political Studies Department, University of Cape Town,
South Africa
Email: shawn.duthie@uct.ac.za
# 2012, Shawn Robert Duthie
