‘Health Silk Road’: China’s health diplomacy in Africa in post-COVID era

The controversial Beijing-funded African Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia that is due to open in the next few months is just one example of China’s increasing investment in health care on the African continent since the pandemic as it builds what analysts and Beijing call a ‘Health Silk Road’.

According to experts, the reasons behind China’s investments in health care in Africa include the desire to increase its soft power as it vies with the West for influence on the continent, finding markets for its drugs and medical products and strengthening its position with international bodies like the World Health Organization (WHO).

However, some critics have warned of more opportunistic motivations such as access to natural resources, political favors and even spying.

Already the $80 million African CDC headquarters is one of China-funded health projects that has proved contentious. It was originally envisioned as a US-China-Africa collaboration, but as Trump administration decided to pull the US out of the WHO, the agreement was re-crafted as one between China and the African Union. At the time, some US officials suggested China was aiming to use the CDC to spy on Africa’s genomic data and gain control over African health management, which China has described as a “ridiculous” allegation.

Besides CDC, Beijing has also sought to promote traditional Chinese medicine, opening clinics in many countries on the continent. During the COVID-19 pandemic, China distributed personal protective equipment and provided vaccines to African nations. A Chinese company has recently built Africa’s largest vaccine cold-storage unit in Egypt and the North African country is also manufacturing China’s Sinovac vaccine locally for export to the rest of the continent.

Overall, experts point out that since the quantity of Western investment and support for health care infrastructure in Africa has been limited in recent decades, African countries have welcomed Chinese investments and support. Yet, despite China’s Health Silk Road ambitions, its contributions to health care in Africa do not come anywhere near those of the United States, which has spent billions of dollars on malaria, HIV, AIDS, and other programs over the decades.