China, Other BRIC Nations, and Africa's Natural Resources: Continuation in the Politics of Allies as Rivals

Abstract

Since their establishment, many studies have looked at the activities of the so-called BRIC countries, i.e., Brazil, Russia, India, and China. While most of these have focused on their impacts on a changing world, others have looked into how they have confronted (or are confronting) the existing global hegemons. Not many, however, have investigated the intense rivalries that sometimes characterise their relationship. An aspect of this is what this article intends to address, focusing attention specifically on how Africa's natural resources have been at the centre of hidden and open controversies between them. The central argument the article advances is that individual national interests of specific BRIC nations, rather than the prestige of the superficial membership of an informal group, play a very major factor in determining the relationship between China and other BRIC countries as they relate to Africa's natural resource politics. The article also argues that, in the long run, China runs the risk of losing out in the rivalry with other BRIC countries in Africa, especially against the background of increasing anti-Chinese sentiments on the continent.