Africa: China remains the foreign power with the greatest positive influence on the African continent ahead of the United Kingdom

China remains the foreign power with the greatest positive influence in Africa, according to a survey published on September 3, 2024 by the Ichikowitz Family Foundation (IFF). Conducted among 5,604 young Africans aged 18 to 24 and from 16 countries, including Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Tanzania, South Africa, Nigeria, Chad and Kenya, the survey reveals that 82% of respondents consider the influence of the Middle Kingdom to be positive.

The United Kingdom comes second in the ranking of foreign powers whose influence is considered positive on the continent (80% of young people surveyed), ahead of the United States (79%), India (74%) and the European Union (73%). Next come the United Arab Emirates and Israel (70% for each country), France (69%), Russia (68%) and Turkey (67%). Entitled “African Youth Survey 2024”, the survey specifies that the positive perception of China’s influence has improved compared to the previous edition of the survey (82% in 2024 compared to 78% in 2022). This positive perception is very high among young people from Rwanda and Chad (96%), Kenya (95%) and Nigeria (93%), while young people from Gabon (60%), Ethiopia (63%) and Namibia (70%) are the least likely to say that Beijing’s influence is positive.

More generally, the positive perception of China’s influence by young Africans is mainly due to the affordable products sold by the Asian giant on African markets, its investments in infrastructure and its significant financing in many countries on the continent. For its part, the positive perception of the influence of the United States has improved compared to the previous edition of the survey (79% in 2024 compared to 75% in 2022). Respondents highlight the economic and financial support offered by Uncle Sam’s country to African countries as well as its contribution to job creation.

On another level, the negative perception of Russia’s influence in Africa has increased significantly over the last two years, from 23% in 2022 to 30% in 2024, due in particular to the country’s involvement in conflicts negatively impacting African countries and the voracious attitude of Russian companies operating in the natural resources sector on the continent. The survey also reveals that more than seven out of ten young Africans (72%) remain concerned about the influence of all foreign powers. This rate is down compared to previous editions of the survey carried out in 2022 (74%) and 2020 (81%).