A new survey conducted by the Ichikowitz Family Foundation in South Africa has shown that the Peoples Republic of China is now regarded as having more positive impact in the life of youths in Africa more than the United States of America.
China also beats other Western countries including the United Kingdom and European Union for having the biggest positive influence in Africa in the view of young people in Africa. This is according to the result of a survey released recently in South Africa.
Clariform reports that the recent survey might not have come as a surprise to many when you consider China’s close and practical diplomacy in the African region for the past 20 years, which as it appears has begun to translate to regional influence in favour of the Asia country.
Against all risks and cautions, Africa has depended on China for infrastructural funding, and have received loans as part of China`s belt and road project. There is also the continuous inflow of cheap, though sometimes considered as low quality products from China into the African continent.
These realities have by all indications added to China`s growing global clout as a superpower, with capacity to project influence far and outside the Asian continent.
The survey was conducted across 15 countries in Africa involving about 4,507 young Africans of both sexes. The result found that 76% of these 4,507 young Africans across 15 countries chose China over other countries as the country with the greatest with a positive influence on their lives.
In contrast, 72% of those surveyed chose the United States as the foreign power having the greatest positive influence in their lives.
This is a major shift from the result of the same survey that was conducted in 2020, when the United States beat China with 83% votes of the respondents, over China`s 79%.
The survey commenced in 2020 when the inaugural study was conducted among young Africans between the ages of 18 to24-years, and the purpose was to determine which foreign country has the greatest positive influence in the lives of young Africans.
The latest survey puts the United States even below the United Kingdom and the European Union.
In response, the founder of the Ichikowitz Family Foundation, Ivor Ichikowitz, says that the role of the United States in Africa has been “embarrassingly insignificant” when it comes to having real presence and making impactful investment in Africa.
