Top 10 Misconceptions about Chinese Investment in Africa

Sun, Jul 20, 2008

Many people consider China to be Africa’s new best friend, discovered after years and years of searching. Is this really the case? What are the common misconceptions about Chinese Investment in Africa? How much of a win-win relationship is this? Who benefits most out of this deal? Find out here.

China is helping Africa achieve its millennium development goals by investing in its infrastructure, economic markets and development projects. In fact, China is not really “investing.” Most of the “Chinese investment in Africa” is actually a very well-structured program of concessional loans. What does that mean? China has taken the World Bank’s place in lending money to Africa. The real investment actually accounts for less than 1% of China’s business in Africa.
China is an equal partner who respects and assists African states in solving their problems. False, false, and false! More than 95% of all China’s programs in Africa have a clause that stipulates one breathtaking agreement: all infrastructure-related programs are required to have 70% Chinese contracted personnel. Only 30% of the people hired in these infrastructure programs are Africans. Last time I checked, equality means 50-50, not 70-30. Moreover, while the African governments choose where the infrastructure is needed, they have to pay back the money in natural resources, and are practically forced to give employment to thousands of Chinese instead of Africans.
China has helped Africa develop in the last ten years by employing more and more Africans in business-related sectors. Firstly, it is true that the Chinese have helped decrease the unemployment rate in natural resource-related programs. However, more people are discovering the common knowledge that China is dumping its cheap products on African markets, forcing Africans out of business, as they cannot afford to sell goods at the prices listed by Chinese sellers.
China will always help African leaders, including those with poor human rights records. China immediately distanced itself when the International Criminal Court indicted Slobodan Milosevic of crimes against humanity despite its previous promises of supporting the Serbian leader at all costs. In Africa, the Chinese government has already broken its promise of non-interference in the cases of Angola and Sudan when it “encouraged” leaders to change their policies with an eye towards fulfilling international trade agreements and ceasing the targeting of civilians. Moreover, China did not use its veto power to stop the ICC from investigating the crimes in Darfur.
China will not try to take over Africa. They will not be intrusive and will always abide by local rules. An estimated 750,000 Chinese have settled in Africa over the past decade. Millions are on the way. Several clashes between police forces and Chinese co-nationals have already been registered throughout Africa. For the latest, click here.
China cares deeply about most of the African states and will work closely with most of them in order to achieve their development-related targets. So why is that only four states get the bulk of the so-called “Chinese investment”? Nigeria, Angola, Ethiopia and Sudan have received 70% of the Chinese funds designated to Africa. What about the other 50 states? Are they just a “negligible minority?”
China is not a promoting a new form of colonialism on the continent. They are building roads designed to help them take minerals out of Africa; Chinese are getting privileged, under-market prices for the commodities they are shipping out from Africa (oil, timber, coal, copper, coltan, etc.); they are creating segregated neighborhoods for Chinese people only: Chinatowns have sprung up throughout the continent just like the Apartheid era white farms; they are paying Africans very low salaries and often fire them when they try to object to working conditions (see the cases registered in Zambia, South Africa and Angola). All this considered, we still haven’t gotten to the “new” colonialism. All the above are replicas of the policies used by the white racists 50 years ago.
China truly cares about environmental issues. True: The Chinese care about the environment in China. China’s strategy is based on protecting the country from further environmental damage, while obtaining resources from other parts of the world. That’s why, despite being able to get all the necessary timber for its internal market in China, the Chinese officials have signed contracts that will fulfill 70% of its imports from Africa. Environmentalists all over Africa have been signaling out other cases of severe environmental degradation caused by Chinese firms not respecting conservation laws. Currently, Chinese firms are wiping out whole forests throughout Gabon, Cameroon, Congo- Kinshasa, Equatorial Guinea and Liberia.
By the power of example, China will stimulate economic growth, sustainable development and ultimately democracy and stability. China is the main investor in those countries that are led by autocratic leaders with dictatorial aspirations (the only exception is Nigeria, whose democratic record is actually improving). It is widely agreed that without Chinese intervention, which is supporting the autocratic governments to the extent that it lends up to 10-15% of their yearly national GDP (Sudan, Zimbabwe are the most notorious cases), these leaders would not have been able to hold power against the will of their people for so long. Most countries named in this article submit to this argument, Nigeria again being the exception.
The South – South cooperation, started by China, is the best thing that ever happened to Africa, and it will help lift Africa from extreme poverty. China is the number one weapon supplier to Africa. From Ethiopia, Sudan, and Congo to Zimbabwe, Cameroon or Gabon, China is selling Africans the weapons that Africans will then use against their own peers. Alleviating extreme poverty means stopping wars. China gives weapons to both autocratic governments and, according to Amnesty International, to the guerrilla troops as well (the cases of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda are standing out). Moreover, countries like Zimbabwe or Sudan, where people are most affected by extreme poverty, have received the harshest loan conditions possible. Quoting from one of my previous postings, these two states have the worst lending agreements “with the largest interest rate, the smallest grace period (only about .04 a year since 2002, while the average among the African countries is somewhere around 3 years), and by far the highest interest rate (around 6.1% while other countries, such as Ethiopia, get interest rates as low as 1%).”

As always, there are more examples to add. Objections or additional misconceptions are always welcomed.

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Africa China, Africa-China Relations, China in Africa

This post was written by:

Codrin Arsene - who has written 104 posts on A Romanian in Africa.

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22 Comments For This Post

Chima N.Okezue Says:
July 21st, 2008 at 12:35 pm

If Western nations were truly interested in developing Africa and compensate for colonial misrule and plunder, why did they not institute a Marshall plan similar to the one used to rebuild Europe after World War II ? Why do they offer useless “aid” packages designed to make them feel good about themselves rather than remove all the unfair trade practices that are obstructing Africa’s economic growth.
Why did Western governments destablise African nations from the 1960s to the early 1990s in the guise of fighting communism? Why did they sponsor civil war in Angola and Mozambique which lasted for over twenty years. Africans don’t want aid, we want fair trade because that is what will resuce us from poverty.
Unlike the West, China in exchange for our resources to fuel its roaring economy is happy to grant relatively fair trade concessions, invest massively in african infrastructure,schools, power stations, railway systems, highways, etc. In exchange for oil concessions in Nigeria, the chinese are investing a billion US dollars in revamping the derelict railway system. Unlike the americans who invest mainly in oil, the Chinese are not limited to natural resources. They also invest in other sectors such as IT, Banks, real estate, etc. According to UN Conference for Trade and Development (UNTAD), Chinese investment in the continent by 2005 stood at 1.6 billion dollars. Thanks to favourable tax-free agreements, trade between Africa and China is growing at 50% annually. This has led to a 400% growth from 2002 to 2005 and this follows 700% growth in the decade of the 1990s, and this is poised to continue. China has surpassed Britain in terms of trade and is poised to surpass the U.S. and France in 2010. Trade between the continent and China are mutually beneficial since it is churning out goods which are affordable to chinese and the Africans.In the long term, technology transfer may turn out to be the greatest gain Africa has accrued from its relationship with China and the increasingly powerful India who are also investing in our beloved land.

Chima N.Okezue Says:
July 21st, 2008 at 12:57 pm

Just for the record, African governments, not the Chinese, choose which infrastructure the chinese would invest in exchange for resources, so the idea of China solely building roads so that she can transport goods back home is completely untrue. The African governments China deals with are not puppet administrations like the ones that the West imposed in several african countries decades ago. It seems to me that your anti-Chinese blog is largely driven by jealousy that China is now in a place that used to be the undisputed “backyard” of the West. Well too bad, If the Western powers behaved like China during colonial and post-colonial rule, perharps our view of them would be favourable.

Codrin Arsene Says:
July 21st, 2008 at 1:14 pm

Chima
Firstly, I totally agree with you that Africa wants and needs fair trade. Read my latest post to see that it is exactly what I’m arguing.
Again, I thought I was pretty clear when I argued that what China is doing in your country, Nigeria, is not investment. I was very specific when I checked that. It is not investment, it’s a program of concessional loans. Investment means you don’t pay the money back. FDI’s traditional definition is “a company from one country making a physical investment into building a factory in another country.” Well China is not doing that. The Chinese government is not building roads in Africa. as a matter of fact, China is the beneficiary and your country is the contractor. It’s rather simple. I lend you 10 bucks so you can pay me 8 for my services of, for example writing on this blog. That’s what China is doing and it’s giving people like you the illusion that it is actually investing in your country. Please study the politics behind concessional loans or soft loans. It will help you understand exactly what’s going on.
You say:
“The chinese are investing a billion US dollars in revamping the derelict railway system.” False again. The project you are talking about is not financed. It’s going to be administered by the China but Nigeria will pay the loan back in oil. Yes, it’s going to be beneficial to your country. Yes, it’s good China is doing it because otherwise no one would have done it. But don’t tell me this is investment, because no economist will ever admit this is FDI. It’s an “investment” by convenience (railway system is necessary for other exports).
In terms of hoe beneficial the trade is, think again. Try to read more about Lesotho where most of the local entrepreneurs are in shock after the Chinese have dumped they trashy goods into their market. Thousands are unemployed for that matter and are now looking for jobs in South Africa.
Of course the trade will surpass England or the United State. Both governments are too focused on the war in Iraq and are missing the point. Also, they still cannot see Africa as a prolific business environment. It’s their fault. But what about the trade deficit. I mean if we exclude the natural resources, which is the only reason China is in Africa, you will see the trade deficit is enormous. In other words, China is dumping more trashy products in Africa than Africa is sending manufactured goods in China. Basically that means this is more advantageous for China than for Africa.

M. P. Blimpo Says:
July 21st, 2008 at 1:15 pm

Thanks, Chima! I have nothing to add to your comments.

Codrin Arsene Says:
July 21st, 2008 at 1:25 pm

Chima
you say: “Just for the record, African governments, not the Chinese, choose which infrastructure the Chinese would invest in exchange for resources.” Is that so? Look at five examples I know very well: Tanzania, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Please try to track the infrastructure programs financed by China. you will see that all are linking the trade nods in their country. There is not one single infrastructure project in these countries that is outside the commercial interests of China, with the exception of the programs financed by the World Bank where Chinese corporations was the bid to build those infrastructure-related projects. Moreover, let’s put in bluntly. How do you think this project works? What is the methodology to get money from China. There are two ways: you either apply or it is suggested to you. The only countries that voluntarily applied for money from China are Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Gabon and Congo. In Nigeria for instance, most of the investment comes from China soliciting it to your government. So let me put it in simpler terms. China suggests a program and them makes the budget. It explains the terms and shows the benefits on the long term. Then it gives your country a 5 year grace period saying that in these five years money from other sources is going to come to your government hence having enough money to pay back China. In the meantime, the roads are built and China can safely get the resources out of the country.

There’s absolutely no jealousy man. I actually approve the outcome. I’m happy China is doing all these for 2 reasons.
a) being in charge of the infrastructure programs it surpasses corruption. They are actually building these roads. I am happy for that. The money is not just siphoned out by corrupt politicians.
b) infrastructure is the most needed asset for Africa. The more they build, the more business opportunities arise.

I criticize China for being hypocritical. But I’m sure that these projects will eventually help Africa lift millions of people from extreme poverty. I, as a person who loves Africa deeply but lives abroad, am excited about what China is doing in Africa. Your leaders should not. They will have to pay those loans back, not me.

Chima N.Okezue Says:
July 21st, 2008 at 1:43 pm

As human beings, we know that capitalism is all about survival of the fittest. Therefore China may want to rip us off. But our various governments have an opportunity to say “Yes” when they think a business deal with China is in our interest and say “No” when it is not. This is not 1860 or 1960, we are intelligent enough to take charge of our own affairs and destiny. Recently, Nigeria renegotiated a deal which China had already signed with the previous government to remove an undisclosed “unfavourable” clause. This was never possible when Western governments dominated the scene. In those dark old days, our governments -democratic or not- realized the unfairness of the Western economic deals/aid/financial packages, but were powerless to act against them. If you opposed any clause imposed by IMF or a Western country, you simply did not get any money or closed any deals. Desperate cash-strapped African nations were basically blackmailed into receiving economically exploitative loans from Western nations determined to keep us perpetually undeveloped and suppliers of raw materials for their industrialised economies.
It is true that China says that 70 percent of workers in huge infrastructure projects must be Chinese. I do not see a problem in this at all: If someone (China) came to buy cocoa and you (Ghana) cajole that person to invest and partly fund a capital project (600-million dollar 400 mega watt-power station) from which he (China) would derive no direct benefit, it is not too bad if he insists that his countrymen (Chinese workers) should benefit as well. In any case, the China wants its own workers to side-step issues of labour unionism among african workers. The chinese attitude is bad, but understandable since China does not allow unionism in their own totalitarian country. Naturally, there would be clashes between Chinese workers and local africans who feel that “their jobs are being taken away by foreigners”, but the benefits of chinese investment in capital projects far outweigh the down sides. Africa countries are experiencing unprecedented economic growth not just due to upswinging commodity prices, but also from booming stock markets and a rapidly rising private sector. The only obstacle to this growth is infrastructure, so Chinese help is welcome indeed!
Finally, India and Gulf Arabs are increasingly investing as well in our various nations. It is a challenge to you westerners to up the ante by investing not giving funny speeches about democracy while backing Saudi Arabia and massaging your egos with cosmetic pallatives such as “aid” packages

Andrew Says:
July 21st, 2008 at 2:12 pm

Chima
I’m an American living in South Africa. I have been observing Chinese “taking over” the country for the last ten years now. I don’t approve what they are doing. But I completely disagree with my government’s decisions as well (I’m talking about America). Now as far as this blog is concerned I think you’re not reading it well. I’ve been subscribed to its feed for over two weeks now. Codrin Arsene is signaling out every government, institution or organization which is acting in a way that is not accountable to the people it claims to represent. This article is no different. He doesn’t say China is bad or China is the “red monster”. He writes about what he thinks are the main problems with the opinion Africans have on China. Here, in South Africa, there are two institutes whose main mission is only to keep a track of the Chinese investments. More and more scholars are worried about the implications of these investments. China vetoed a resolution on Zimbabwe and will support another one on Sudan.
Chima, I agree Africa did not have a chance 20 years ago to speak up for its own good. But you’re arguing it as if this Portal is saying something else. You are arguing as if this blog is totally opposing your ideas. And that is false as far as I am concerned.
I also believe you’re getting the wrong perception of the business model China is using in Africa. What this article shows is rather different from what you are saying. I believe the blogger would agree with me when saying that China is charging double in this business. If I got it right, China lends money to Nigeria (for example), money that will anyway be repaid in let’s say ten years, and it also forces Nigeria to give 70% of it back to China by paying for the Chine labor and the supplies used in the process of building an infrastructure. So, in a way, China is worse than the World Bank because it takes twice as much back. China is doing business with itself while giving the impression that it’s doing business with Africans. In real terms that means you make a loan of one billion but you actually get only 300 million to use as investment. The rest goes back to your lender, twofold (directly to its citizens and through repayment).

Karuba Says:
July 21st, 2008 at 3:00 pm

I’m Karuba from Kampala, Uganda. I have read the post and the comments here and I say I completely agree with the author. Since Chinese firstly started to come here they have been slowly taking over our businesses. All markets are now full of cheap, filthy, worthless Chinese products. Shoes break in a matter of weeks. Pants need to be sowed after less than a month. Jeans are actually painted so if you buy a pair and wash it the color stays in the water. Everything is so cheap that everyone affords it but it’s all trash. My father has a souvenir shop in Kampala. A couple of weeks ago we found out from some tourists about a store that was just open about 8 streets from out store. Now the filthy Chinese are producing Ugandan souvenirs as well. Puppets, whistles, birds. All of them. And you, the guy from Nigeria, dare telling me this is equality? That China cares about me and my family? That it respects our wishes? Did I go to China and start my own souvenir business over there? No I did not. Now they are even taking over the indigenous affairs here. I’m sure this is a unique case. You say that “If the Western powers behaved like China during colonial and post-colonial rule, perhaps our view of them would be favorable.” How many Europeans started creating souvenirs for themselves? How many cheap goods were dumped in my country? This is a wonderful land. But it becomes more and more occupied by sick, filthy Chinese who are sucking the blood out of my country. And you’re telling me this is good for me?

Chima N.Okezue Says:
July 21st, 2008 at 4:58 pm

Karuba,
I believe that some of your statements are purely xenophobic and plain offensive (racist) against Chinese people. I spend time in Europe where racism is endemic and therefore, I am sensitive to people who use xenophobic/racial slurs. Please keep this debate civil and stop describing your fellow human beings as filthy. Please remember how your country’s economy collapsed rapidly when the dictator Idi Amin expelled the “filthy” Ugandan Indians.
Please look at the big picture, I am describing here. I have no interest in small-time Chinese traders who are eke out a living via retail outlets such as shops. I am talking of huge investment - I call it investment because UNCTAD says so and I believe it - which China is making in different sectors of the economy. I am talking of large state owned Chinese companies and Chinese private companies that are signing partnership deals with Nigeria’s indefatigable private entrepreneurs like the entrepreneurs of industrial clusters in Eastern Nigeria. These private entrepreneurs have being braving the odds of poor infrastructure to keep manufacturing and had no opportunity whatsoever of attracting partnerships from skeptical and virulently afro-pessimistic Western businesses. They are business partnerships which they would never have the chance to do if there was no China in Africa. Western companies do not have much fate in Africans. That is why most of them missed out in the telecommunications revolution sweeping the continent. When the Sudanese businessman, Dr. Mo Ibrahim left British Telecom to start CELTEL in Africa, his British business friends thought he was mad because they believed Africans are only thinking of food and cannot understand or afford phone services. Well I guess latest statistics of phone usage on the continent from the International Telecommunications Union will shock those skeptical Brits into silence.
The Chinese have since expanded beyond resources and are now investing in Banks, IT sector and real estate. I will take a Chinese concessionary loan any time as opposed to ridiculously exploitative loans which the West gave us in the past in exchange for economic policies that wreaked havoc on African countries.
Karuba, you are right the Westerners do not settle and open small shops to compete with local Africans. They actually do worse: they settle in Africa and snatch land by force for farms, private residences and businesses. Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa are yet to get over that legacy.

Karuba Says:
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:13 pm

I personally think you are more racist against whites and I am against Chinese. Yes white men did a lot of bad things 50-60 years ago. Yes, they might have snatched land from Africans. Buy that is history. Here in Kampala I’ve met a lot of white volunteers, adventurers, tourists who’ve never shown prejudicious behavior against me. I know what you say with Amin. But that was different. In that case it was the obsession and stupidity of one man who thought he owned Uganda. It was his choice. Here it’s different. It’s the people who are discontent with China. Amin was stupid and selfish. The way Mugabe thinks he owns Zimbabwe. And now are you telling me Mugabe was right in seizing the land? Thousands of people bought that land after the independence and it was still seized by the government. I’m not happy with either Mugabe or Museveni. They are both old leaders who should retire and let the new generation redress the economies of their countries. You think China is better than Europe? Think again. White took what they wanted by force at once. Chinese have a different technique. They are taking over my country step by step, slowly, patiently. Would you prefer to die at once or be tortured slowly for a long period of time? Chinese are building a national road in Uganda right now. But let me ask you one thing. When the road is done and the Chinese leave, how will that road be maintained? My country is still poor. The government has no money or people are too corrupt for that street to last. It will last for little time. And then it will be a mess again. And then we will need more money, China will give it again, take more of our goods, sending more cheap products. We Africans will be worse and worse. Chinese sell themselves cheaply. They are like prostitutes who don’t mind having sex with strangers for only one buck. And in the meantime, we starve. We lose jobs. They come and go and we get worse and worse. I think you are optimistic about China just because you live in Europe. If you go back to your country you will change your mind. Living here in Africa is enough to see how bad the situation is. The “great China” is only taking away what we have, in a piecemeal progression. They are in no hurry. But they are no better than Europeans. I tell you man: China in Africa brings bad weather.

Chima N.Okezue Says:
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:49 am

Karuba,
It is a shame that you continue to use offensive language in your posts instead of having a civil debate. I said that I spend time in Europe. This does not mean that I live full-time in Europe. I went to university in Nigeria and also in Great Britain. I can count a lot of Whites as friends. If you cared to discern the messages I have been psoting all along, you will see that I use the term “West” to mean Western governments. Western people can be nice or bad, it depends on who you meet. But generally my experience with many individual westerners in the UK have been wonderful. This is of course not the case in certain parts of continental Europe. So I make a distinction between individual westerners and their governments. Yes,I do not trust Western governments who practise democracy at home under the watchful eyes of their people while subverting democracy abroad. I was in England, when a lot of Whites joined Blacks to protest against apartheid, but that did not stop Margret Thatcher’s and Ronnie Regan’s government from giving covert support to the racist regime in south africa. US government vetoed UN resolutions condemning apartheid regime a shocking 16 times!!
As for Zimbabwe, I never said that I support Bob Mugabe. I am proud that the autonomous State of Kwara in West Central Nigeria not only invited White Zimbabweans to settle there, but actually provided them with money and land to farm. The local citizens of the state were very supportive. So was former president Olusegun Obasanjo who insisted on meeting them personally. In any case, Zimbabwe is not the issue here, is it?
Talking about the horrible legacy of colonial rule and post-colonial interference in the internal affairs of African states by European colonial powers and USA is not in any way racist. Uganda was a victim of it because British government supported Idi Amin initially until he finally went off the rails. The tragedy of DR Congo can be traced to the 1960s-80s when American and Belgian governments took turns to distabilise that nation. Congo was the only country to fight a civil war just days after independence due to the break-away of the Belgian controlled puppet statelet, the “Republic of Katanga”. Belgium wanted Katanga (now called Lumumbashi) for its rich natural resources. USA was interested in DR Congo because the uranium used in the Manhattan Project was sourced from there. In case you don’t know; the “Manhattan project” resulted the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. America installed Mobutu Sese seko, Africa’s most kleptocratic dictator, as the DR Congolese ruler and was complicit in the murder of democratically elected Congolese leader, Patrice Lumumba who was labelled “Marxist” simply because he appealed and got support from USSR to fight the Belgian sponsored rebels there. Mind you, he only went to USSR after America turned him down. I guess there is no point talking of wars in Angola and Mozambique or about French intereference and participation virtually all coups in its former african colonies.
If the Western governments wants to help and compensate Africans then they should institute Marshall Plan similar to the one used to develop europe after world war 2. Corruption of African governments was in some cases (not all cases) their fault since they installed the thieveing despots in power or supported those who came to power on their own while turning a blind eye to human right abuses.
Chinese involvement in Africa has spurred other regions of the world to sit up and notice us. The indians and the Arabs are trying outdo each other to clinch business deals that will drive economic growth. Europe, Japan and USA are slowly realising that they should look at Africa as the land of opportunity not as “dark” continent ravaged by war, disease and death as potrayed by the one-dimensional, negatively driven, afro-pessimistic Western media. Please Karuba try to read all what I have said, analyze them and then give a congent response free of personal insults and crude invectives

Jadene Says:
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:29 pm

Right On! A Real Analysis of the crap China, Inc is causing in Africa Afrika

African Says:
August 11th, 2008 at 4:36 am

This is total crap article,people must not read these kinds of propaganda,it is unhealthy - I am African and I work for a chinese company in Africa and I am aware of our relations with China,this is total crap,the admin must remove these types of articles before they misguide our people in Africa

Codrin Arsene Says:
August 11th, 2008 at 11:16 pm

@ African
I’m currently in Nairobi Kenya. As I was coming towards the internet cafe I noticed people working on a refurbishing a road here in Nairobi. I was told it is built with Chinese funds. I did not have to be told that though. Most people working there were Chinese. So tell me again how this thing works. the Kenyan government builds a road here in the capital with Chinese money and the workers who are getting part of the money are predominantly Chinese. It doesn’t sound to fair to me. Do you have another perspective on things?
Best
Codrin

M. P. Blimpo Says:
August 12th, 2008 at 10:12 am

The question is what is the alternative, Codrin? No road? If your article was in the tone that was that African should negociate a better deal, then I would have agreed with you. And we could reflect more on how to get to that. But to portray China as devil for what they are doing in Africa is to go a bit too far.

If the “non-devil” (or should I say ex-devils?) western countries propose a better deal than the Chinese to Africa, Africa will take it, and moreover, the Chineses will be forced by the market to propose a better deal too.

Until then the empty rhetorics, whining and complains aren’t going to change anything.

Chima Okezue Says:
August 13th, 2008 at 9:14 am

African and Blimpo,
I totally support your points. I prefer the Chinese to scheming Western governments whose only concern with China’s involvement in Africa is that it is losing influence. All this talk about human right concerns is nonsense if you look at the track record of Western governments. The West and the eurocentric IMF had over four decades to do the right thing in Africa, but they did not instead they installed dictators who looted their various nations and sponsored wars in the name of fighting communism simply because USSR for non-altruistic reasons decided to back freedom fighters fighting to liberate their homeland from centuries of racist colonial rule. Ironically, the West wants us to be grateful that they are giving chicken feed aid us, when it was partly their fault in the first place that corruption took hold in Africa. The first electoral fraud in Nigeria took place in 1954 when the British gerrymandered constituencies to give the docile and pro-colonial Northern region more seats in parliament than Southern region that vehemently fought colonial rule to the end. Post-colonial Nigeria is still suffering the aftershocks of this British divide and rule system.
China showed friendship in the 1970s by backing Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle and building the Zambia-Tanzania railway to circumvent the virtual trade/economic blockade imposed by apartheid South Africa.
China (and increasingly India and Russia) are in Africa to stay. The West should live with it. USA’s African Command (AFRICOM) will never tolerated in our continent.

Muhammed Says:
August 17th, 2008 at 9:22 am

Hello everyone
I am Muhammed from Sudan. I have just come across this article. Personally I think it is saying the truth about China. I don’t understand how my fellow Africans can be so blind about this. China is a danger and we welcome it with our arms opened. This is really bad. In 20 years we will look at this post and say the author was so wright. In the meantime we praise China for being a fellow partner. That’s crap!
Here in Sudan there are places where you cannot even go because the Chinese army is guarding them. I, in my own country, cannot go to many cities. Officialy, we are told those cities cannot be visited because of security purposes. But if you try to go there you are stopped by Chinese officers who barely speak either English or Arabic and tell you that you cannot go any further. It is worse than during colonialism. I studied the colonialism in Congo at university between 1900 - 1940s where Congolese could not move freely from one part of the country to another. That’s how Sudan is right now. You guys look at China as the good boy. This good boy will ship millions of Chinese on our continent, he will sponsor genocide and kill millions of us just to allow them to come here. There is a population pressure already in Africa. When Chinese come here, where do Africans go? Into the ground, that’s where. If you try to buy guns illegally all of them will be Chinese. I own two guns. One is with me at all times the other one with my older sister. We bought both of them in Rumbek from a Chinese guy. We use them for protection and never actually fired at anyone. But thousands of Sudanese, if not millions use to kill each other. I am a Sudanese student and getting from school back is always a struggle. But I would not hesitate to use these guns if my family would be in jeopardy. Guns sold to us by Chinese. 400.000 of my kind died because of the Chinese weapons. So honestly, screw all of you who tell me that China is good for Africa. You will find out soon how bad it really is. Just the way I found.
Muhammed

Chimaoge Okezue Says:
August 17th, 2008 at 11:16 am

Muhammed what is happening in your nation is bad, but the fact is that there are 53 african nations and majority are benefiting from China’s presence, including my own country, Nigeria.
The problem in your country is the al-Bashir dictatorship not China per se. The west have played roles far worse than you have described in many African nations. Examples include Uganda where the Brits installed Idi Amin; D.R. Congo where the Belgians sponsored war and conspired with USA to remove the democratically elected government; French involvement in virtually all coups and wars in francophone African nations; American support for the brutal regime of Nguema-Obiang in oil-rich Equitorial Guinea, etc. The list is endless.
It is up to you guys in Sudan to do something about your dictatorship after all al-Bahir has been in power long before China dreamed of coming to Africa in search of natural resources

Chima Okezue Says:
August 18th, 2008 at 7:21 am

Real Estate Investor Says:
August 31st, 2008 at 10:45 pm

Good article, it\’s nice to read other pple\’s viewpoints!

Meimei Lin Says:
October 12th, 2008 at 3:25 pm

I have a question, why do your westerners always act as victims. If Chinese cheaper commodities don’t give any economic benefits to the world, why they are so popular? Have you ever thought, if all the stuffs in your home ‘made-in-China’ instead by made in …west, how many times more expense it would be. By the way, your concern that unemployed African people go to other rich countries is Chinese fault. I can not agree with you on this point at all, the thing behind this is that most of African people are enjoying the benefits they got from Chinese investment. They have better living condition and also cheaper commodities. Personally, I think if western countries could offer Africa better or fair deal in the very beginning, the situation in Africa would not be that bad.

innov8 Says:
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:17 pm

I’m Celil from Turkey I have read the post and the comments here and I say I completely agree with the author. Since Chinese firstly started to come here they have been slowly taking over our businesses. All markets are now full of cheap, filthy, worthless Chinese products. Chineese produces are cheaper than our traditional produces. My father left his job for chineese So I dont like chines

innov8s last blog post..Samsung i850 fiyat? (Samsung innov8)ee

Chima N.Okezue Says:
July 21st, 2008 at 12:35 pm
If Western nations were truly interested in developing Africa and compensate for colonial misrule and plunder, why did they not institute a Marshall plan similar to the one used to rebuild Europe after World War II ? Why do they offer useless “aid” packages designed to make them feel good about themselves rather than remove all the unfair trade practices that are obstructing Africa’s economic growth.
Why did Western governments destablise African nations from the 1960s to the early 1990s in the guise of fighting communism? Why did they sponsor civil war in Angola and Mozambique which lasted for over twenty years. Africans don’t want aid, we want fair trade because that is what will resuce us from poverty.
Unlike the West, China in exchange for our resources to fuel its roaring economy is happy to grant relatively fair trade concessions, invest massively in african infrastructure,schools, power stations, railway systems, highways, etc. In exchange for oil concessions in Nigeria, the chinese are investing a billion US dollars in revamping the derelict railway system. Unlike the americans who invest mainly in oil, the Chinese are not limited to natural resources. They also invest in other sectors such as IT, Banks, real estate, etc. According to UN Conference for Trade and Development (UNTAD), Chinese investment in the continent by 2005 stood at 1.6 billion dollars. Thanks to favourable tax-free agreements, trade between Africa and China is growing at 50% annually. This has led to a 400% growth from 2002 to 2005 and this follows 700% growth in the decade of the 1990s, and this is poised to continue. China has surpassed Britain in terms of trade and is poised to surpass the U.S. and France in 2010. Trade between the continent and China are mutually beneficial since it is churning out goods which are affordable to chinese and the Africans.In the long term, technology transfer may turn out to be the greatest gain Africa has accrued from its relationship with China and the increasingly powerful India who are also investing in our beloved land.
Chima N.Okezue Says:
July 21st, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Just for the record, African governments, not the Chinese, choose which infrastructure the chinese would invest in exchange for resources, so the idea of China solely building roads so that she can transport goods back home is completely untrue. The African governments China deals with are not puppet administrations like the ones that the West imposed in several african countries decades ago. It seems to me that your anti-Chinese blog is largely driven by jealousy that China is now in a place that used to be the undisputed “backyard” of the West. Well too bad, If the Western powers behaved like China during colonial and post-colonial rule, perharps our view of them would be favourable.
Codrin Arsene Says:
July 21st, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Chima
Firstly, I totally agree with you that Africa wants and needs fair trade. Read my latest post to see that it is exactly what I’m arguing.
Again, I thought I was pretty clear when I argued that what China is doing in your country, Nigeria, is not investment. I was very specific when I checked that. It is not investment, it’s a program of concessional loans. Investment means you don’t pay the money back. FDI’s traditional definition is “a company from one country making a physical investment into building a factory in another country.” Well China is not doing that. The Chinese government is not building roads in Africa. as a matter of fact, China is the beneficiary and your country is the contractor. It’s rather simple. I lend you 10 bucks so you can pay me 8 for my services of, for example writing on this blog. That’s what China is doing and it’s giving people like you the illusion that it is actually investing in your country. Please study the politics behind concessional loans or soft loans. It will help you understand exactly what’s going on.
You say:
“The chinese are investing a billion US dollars in revamping the derelict railway system.” False again. The project you are talking about is not financed. It’s going to be administered by the China but Nigeria will pay the loan back in oil. Yes, it’s going to be beneficial to your country. Yes, it’s good China is doing it because otherwise no one would have done it. But don’t tell me this is investment, because no economist will ever admit this is FDI. It’s an “investment” by convenience (railway system is necessary for other exports).
In terms of hoe beneficial the trade is, think again. Try to read more about Lesotho where most of the local entrepreneurs are in shock after the Chinese have dumped they trashy goods into their market. Thousands are unemployed for that matter and are now looking for jobs in South Africa.
Of course the trade will surpass England or the United State. Both governments are too focused on the war in Iraq and are missing the point. Also, they still cannot see Africa as a prolific business environment. It’s their fault. But what about the trade deficit. I mean if we exclude the natural resources, which is the only reason China is in Africa, you will see the trade deficit is enormous. In other words, China is dumping more trashy products in Africa than Africa is sending manufactured goods in China. Basically that means this is more advantageous for China than for Africa.
M. P. Blimpo Says:
July 21st, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Thanks, Chima! I have nothing to add to your comments.
Codrin Arsene Says:
July 21st, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Chima
you say: “Just for the record, African governments, not the Chinese, choose which infrastructure the Chinese would invest in exchange for resources.” Is that so? Look at five examples I know very well: Tanzania, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Please try to track the infrastructure programs financed by China. you will see that all are linking the trade nods in their country. There is not one single infrastructure project in these countries that is outside the commercial interests of China, with the exception of the programs financed by the World Bank where Chinese corporations was the bid to build those infrastructure-related projects. Moreover, let’s put in bluntly. How do you think this project works? What is the methodology to get money from China. There are two ways: you either apply or it is suggested to you. The only countries that voluntarily applied for money from China are Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Gabon and Congo. In Nigeria for instance, most of the investment comes from China soliciting it to your government. So let me put it in simpler terms. China suggests a program and them makes the budget. It explains the terms and shows the benefits on the long term. Then it gives your country a 5 year grace period saying that in these five years money from other sources is going to come to your government hence having enough money to pay back China. In the meantime, the roads are built and China can safely get the resources out of the country.

There’s absolutely no jealousy man. I actually approve the outcome. I’m happy China is doing all these for 2 reasons.
a) being in charge of the infrastructure programs it surpasses corruption. They are actually building these roads. I am happy for that. The money is not just siphoned out by corrupt politicians.
b) infrastructure is the most needed asset for Africa. The more they build, the more business opportunities arise.

I criticize China for being hypocritical. But I’m sure that these projects will eventually help Africa lift millions of people from extreme poverty. I, as a person who loves Africa deeply but lives abroad, am excited about what China is doing in Africa. Your leaders should not. They will have to pay those loans back, not me.
Chima N.Okezue Says:
July 21st, 2008 at 1:43 pm
As human beings, we know that capitalism is all about survival of the fittest. Therefore China may want to rip us off. But our various governments have an opportunity to say “Yes” when they think a business deal with China is in our interest and say “No” when it is not. This is not 1860 or 1960, we are intelligent enough to take charge of our own affairs and destiny. Recently, Nigeria renegotiated a deal which China had already signed with the previous government to remove an undisclosed “unfavourable” clause. This was never possible when Western governments dominated the scene. In those dark old days, our governments -democratic or not- realized the unfairness of the Western economic deals/aid/financial packages, but were powerless to act against them. If you opposed any clause imposed by IMF or a Western country, you simply did not get any money or closed any deals. Desperate cash-strapped African nations were basically blackmailed into receiving economically exploitative loans from Western nations determined to keep us perpetually undeveloped and suppliers of raw materials for their industrialised economies.
It is true that China says that 70 percent of workers in huge infrastructure projects must be Chinese. I do not see a problem in this at all: If someone (China) came to buy cocoa and you (Ghana) cajole that person to invest and partly fund a capital project (600-million dollar 400 mega watt-power station) from which he (China) would derive no direct benefit, it is not too bad if he insists that his countrymen (Chinese workers) should benefit as well. In any case, the China wants its own workers to side-step issues of labour unionism among african workers. The chinese attitude is bad, but understandable since China does not allow unionism in their own totalitarian country. Naturally, there would be clashes between Chinese workers and local africans who feel that “their jobs are being taken away by foreigners”, but the benefits of chinese investment in capital projects far outweigh the down sides. Africa countries are experiencing unprecedented economic growth not just due to upswinging commodity prices, but also from booming stock markets and a rapidly rising private sector. The only obstacle to this growth is infrastructure, so Chinese help is welcome indeed!
Finally, India and Gulf Arabs are increasingly investing as well in our various nations. It is a challenge to you westerners to up the ante by investing not giving funny speeches about democracy while backing Saudi Arabia and massaging your egos with cosmetic pallatives such as “aid” packages
Andrew Says:
July 21st, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Chima
I’m an American living in South Africa. I have been observing Chinese “taking over” the country for the last ten years now. I don’t approve what they are doing. But I completely disagree with my government’s decisions as well (I’m talking about America). Now as far as this blog is concerned I think you’re not reading it well. I’ve been subscribed to its feed for over two weeks now. Codrin Arsene is signaling out every government, institution or organization which is acting in a way that is not accountable to the people it claims to represent. This article is no different. He doesn’t say China is bad or China is the “red monster”. He writes about what he thinks are the main problems with the opinion Africans have on China. Here, in South Africa, there are two institutes whose main mission is only to keep a track of the Chinese investments. More and more scholars are worried about the implications of these investments. China vetoed a resolution on Zimbabwe and will support another one on Sudan.
Chima, I agree Africa did not have a chance 20 years ago to speak up for its own good. But you’re arguing it as if this Portal is saying something else. You are arguing as if this blog is totally opposing your ideas. And that is false as far as I am concerned.
I also believe you’re getting the wrong perception of the business model China is using in Africa. What this article shows is rather different from what you are saying. I believe the blogger would agree with me when saying that China is charging double in this business. If I got it right, China lends money to Nigeria (for example), money that will anyway be repaid in let’s say ten years, and it also forces Nigeria to give 70% of it back to China by paying for the Chine labor and the supplies used in the process of building an infrastructure. So, in a way, China is worse than the World Bank because it takes twice as much back. China is doing business with itself while giving the impression that it’s doing business with Africans. In real terms that means you make a loan of one billion but you actually get only 300 million to use as investment. The rest goes back to your lender, twofold (directly to its citizens and through repayment).
Karuba Says:
July 21st, 2008 at 3:00 pm
I’m Karuba from Kampala, Uganda. I have read the post and the comments here and I say I completely agree with the author. Since Chinese firstly started to come here they have been slowly taking over our businesses. All markets are now full of cheap, filthy, worthless Chinese products. Shoes break in a matter of weeks. Pants need to be sowed after less than a month. Jeans are actually painted so if you buy a pair and wash it the color stays in the water. Everything is so cheap that everyone affords it but it’s all trash. My father has a souvenir shop in Kampala. A couple of weeks ago we found out from some tourists about a store that was just open about 8 streets from out store. Now the filthy Chinese are producing Ugandan souvenirs as well. Puppets, whistles, birds. All of them. And you, the guy from Nigeria, dare telling me this is equality? That China cares about me and my family? That it respects our wishes? Did I go to China and start my own souvenir business over there? No I did not. Now they are even taking over the indigenous affairs here. I’m sure this is a unique case. You say that “If the Western powers behaved like China during colonial and post-colonial rule, perhaps our view of them would be favorable.” How many Europeans started creating souvenirs for themselves? How many cheap goods were dumped in my country? This is a wonderful land. But it becomes more and more occupied by sick, filthy Chinese who are sucking the blood out of my country. And you’re telling me this is good for me?
Chima N.Okezue Says:
July 21st, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Karuba,
I believe that some of your statements are purely xenophobic and plain offensive (racist) against Chinese people. I spend time in Europe where racism is endemic and therefore, I am sensitive to people who use xenophobic/racial slurs. Please keep this debate civil and stop describing your fellow human beings as filthy. Please remember how your country’s economy collapsed rapidly when the dictator Idi Amin expelled the “filthy” Ugandan Indians.
Please look at the big picture, I am describing here. I have no interest in small-time Chinese traders who are eke out a living via retail outlets such as shops. I am talking of huge investment - I call it investment because UNCTAD says so and I believe it - which China is making in different sectors of the economy. I am talking of large state owned Chinese companies and Chinese private companies that are signing partnership deals with Nigeria’s indefatigable private entrepreneurs like the entrepreneurs of industrial clusters in Eastern Nigeria. These private entrepreneurs have being braving the odds of poor infrastructure to keep manufacturing and had no opportunity whatsoever of attracting partnerships from skeptical and virulently afro-pessimistic Western businesses. They are business partnerships which they would never have the chance to do if there was no China in Africa. Western companies do not have much fate in Africans. That is why most of them missed out in the telecommunications revolution sweeping the continent. When the Sudanese businessman, Dr. Mo Ibrahim left British Telecom to start CELTEL in Africa, his British business friends thought he was mad because they believed Africans are only thinking of food and cannot understand or afford phone services. Well I guess latest statistics of phone usage on the continent from the International Telecommunications Union will shock those skeptical Brits into silence.
The Chinese have since expanded beyond resources and are now investing in Banks, IT sector and real estate. I will take a Chinese concessionary loan any time as opposed to ridiculously exploitative loans which the West gave us in the past in exchange for economic policies that wreaked havoc on African countries.
Karuba, you are right the Westerners do not settle and open small shops to compete with local Africans. They actually do worse: they settle in Africa and snatch land by force for farms, private residences and businesses. Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa are yet to get over that legacy.
Karuba Says:
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:13 pm
I personally think you are more racist against whites and I am against Chinese. Yes white men did a lot of bad things 50-60 years ago. Yes, they might have snatched land from Africans. Buy that is history. Here in Kampala I’ve met a lot of white volunteers, adventurers, tourists who’ve never shown prejudicious behavior against me. I know what you say with Amin. But that was different. In that case it was the obsession and stupidity of one man who thought he owned Uganda. It was his choice. Here it’s different. It’s the people who are discontent with China. Amin was stupid and selfish. The way Mugabe thinks he owns Zimbabwe. And now are you telling me Mugabe was right in seizing the land? Thousands of people bought that land after the independence and it was still seized by the government. I’m not happy with either Mugabe or Museveni. They are both old leaders who should retire and let the new generation redress the economies of their countries. You think China is better than Europe? Think again. White took what they wanted by force at once. Chinese have a different technique. They are taking over my country step by step, slowly, patiently. Would you prefer to die at once or be tortured slowly for a long period of time? Chinese are building a national road in Uganda right now. But let me ask you one thing. When the road is done and the Chinese leave, how will that road be maintained? My country is still poor. The government has no money or people are too corrupt for that street to last. It will last for little time. And then it will be a mess again. And then we will need more money, China will give it again, take more of our goods, sending more cheap products. We Africans will be worse and worse. Chinese sell themselves cheaply. They are like prostitutes who don’t mind having sex with strangers for only one buck. And in the meantime, we starve. We lose jobs. They come and go and we get worse and worse. I think you are optimistic about China just because you live in Europe. If you go back to your country you will change your mind. Living here in Africa is enough to see how bad the situation is. The “great China” is only taking away what we have, in a piecemeal progression. They are in no hurry. But they are no better than Europeans. I tell you man: China in Africa brings bad weather.
Chima N.Okezue Says:
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:49 am
Karuba,
It is a shame that you continue to use offensive language in your posts instead of having a civil debate. I said that I spend time in Europe. This does not mean that I live full-time in Europe. I went to university in Nigeria and also in Great Britain. I can count a lot of Whites as friends. If you cared to discern the messages I have been psoting all along, you will see that I use the term “West” to mean Western governments. Western people can be nice or bad, it depends on who you meet. But generally my experience with many individual westerners in the UK have been wonderful. This is of course not the case in certain parts of continental Europe. So I make a distinction between individual westerners and their governments. Yes,I do not trust Western governments who practise democracy at home under the watchful eyes of their people while subverting democracy abroad. I was in England, when a lot of Whites joined Blacks to protest against apartheid, but that did not stop Margret Thatcher’s and Ronnie Regan’s government from giving covert support to the racist regime in south africa. US government vetoed UN resolutions condemning apartheid regime a shocking 16 times!!
As for Zimbabwe, I never said that I support Bob Mugabe. I am proud that the autonomous State of Kwara in West Central Nigeria not only invited White Zimbabweans to settle there, but actually provided them with money and land to farm. The local citizens of the state were very supportive. So was former president Olusegun Obasanjo who insisted on meeting them personally. In any case, Zimbabwe is not the issue here, is it?
Talking about the horrible legacy of colonial rule and post-colonial interference in the internal affairs of African states by European colonial powers and USA is not in any way racist. Uganda was a victim of it because British government supported Idi Amin initially until he finally went off the rails. The tragedy of DR Congo can be traced to the 1960s-80s when American and Belgian governments took turns to distabilise that nation. Congo was the only country to fight a civil war just days after independence due to the break-away of the Belgian controlled puppet statelet, the “Republic of Katanga”. Belgium wanted Katanga (now called Lumumbashi) for its rich natural resources. USA was interested in DR Congo because the uranium used in the Manhattan Project was sourced from there. In case you don’t know; the “Manhattan project” resulted the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. America installed Mobutu Sese seko, Africa’s most kleptocratic dictator, as the DR Congolese ruler and was complicit in the murder of democratically elected Congolese leader, Patrice Lumumba who was labelled “Marxist” simply because he appealed and got support from USSR to fight the Belgian sponsored rebels there. Mind you, he only went to USSR after America turned him down. I guess there is no point talking of wars in Angola and Mozambique or about French intereference and participation virtually all coups in its former african colonies.
If the Western governments wants to help and compensate Africans then they should institute Marshall Plan similar to the one used to develop europe after world war 2. Corruption of African governments was in some cases (not all cases) their fault since they installed the thieveing despots in power or supported those who came to power on their own while turning a blind eye to human right abuses.
Chinese involvement in Africa has spurred other regions of the world to sit up and notice us. The indians and the Arabs are trying outdo each other to clinch business deals that will drive economic growth. Europe, Japan and USA are slowly realising that they should look at Africa as the land of opportunity not as “dark” continent ravaged by war, disease and death as potrayed by the one-dimensional, negatively driven, afro-pessimistic Western media. Please Karuba try to read all what I have said, analyze them and then give a congent response free of personal insults and crude invectives
Jadene Says:
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Right On! A Real Analysis of the crap China, Inc is causing in Africa Afrika
African Says:
August 11th, 2008 at 4:36 am
This is total crap article,people must not read these kinds of propaganda,it is unhealthy - I am African and I work for a chinese company in Africa and I am aware of our relations with China,this is total crap,the admin must remove these types of articles before they misguide our people in Africa
Codrin Arsene Says:
August 11th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
@ African
I’m currently in Nairobi Kenya. As I was coming towards the internet cafe I noticed people working on a refurbishing a road here in Nairobi. I was told it is built with Chinese funds. I did not have to be told that though. Most people working there were Chinese. So tell me again how this thing works. the Kenyan government builds a road here in the capital with Chinese money and the workers who are getting part of the money are predominantly Chinese. It doesn’t sound to fair to me. Do you have another perspective on things?
Best
Codrin
M. P. Blimpo Says:
August 12th, 2008 at 10:12 am
The question is what is the alternative, Codrin? No road? If your article was in the tone that was that African should negociate a better deal, then I would have agreed with you. And we could reflect more on how to get to that. But to portray China as devil for what they are doing in Africa is to go a bit too far.

If the “non-devil” (or should I say ex-devils?) western countries propose a better deal than the Chinese to Africa, Africa will take it, and moreover, the Chineses will be forced by the market to propose a better deal too.

Until then the empty rhetorics, whining and complains aren’t going to change anything.
Chima Okezue Says:
August 13th, 2008 at 9:14 am
African and Blimpo,
I totally support your points. I prefer the Chinese to scheming Western governments whose only concern with China’s involvement in Africa is that it is losing influence. All this talk about human right concerns is nonsense if you look at the track record of Western governments. The West and the eurocentric IMF had over four decades to do the right thing in Africa, but they did not instead they installed dictators who looted their various nations and sponsored wars in the name of fighting communism simply because USSR for non-altruistic reasons decided to back freedom fighters fighting to liberate their homeland from centuries of racist colonial rule. Ironically, the West wants us to be grateful that they are giving chicken feed aid us, when it was partly their fault in the first place that corruption took hold in Africa. The first electoral fraud in Nigeria took place in 1954 when the British gerrymandered constituencies to give the docile and pro-colonial Northern region more seats in parliament than Southern region that vehemently fought colonial rule to the end. Post-colonial Nigeria is still suffering the aftershocks of this British divide and rule system.
China showed friendship in the 1970s by backing Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle and building the Zambia-Tanzania railway to circumvent the virtual trade/economic blockade imposed by apartheid South Africa.
China (and increasingly India and Russia) are in Africa to stay. The West should live with it. USA’s African Command (AFRICOM) will never tolerated in our continent.
Muhammed Says:
August 17th, 2008 at 9:22 am
Hello everyone
I am Muhammed from Sudan. I have just come across this article. Personally I think it is saying the truth about China. I don’t understand how my fellow Africans can be so blind about this. China is a danger and we welcome it with our arms opened. This is really bad. In 20 years we will look at this post and say the author was so wright. In the meantime we praise China for being a fellow partner. That’s crap!
Here in Sudan there are places where you cannot even go because the Chinese army is guarding them. I, in my own country, cannot go to many cities. Officialy, we are told those cities cannot be visited because of security purposes. But if you try to go there you are stopped by Chinese officers who barely speak either English or Arabic and tell you that you cannot go any further. It is worse than during colonialism. I studied the colonialism in Congo at university between 1900 - 1940s where Congolese could not move freely from one part of the country to another. That’s how Sudan is right now. You guys look at China as the good boy. This good boy will ship millions of Chinese on our continent, he will sponsor genocide and kill millions of us just to allow them to come here. There is a population pressure already in Africa. When Chinese come here, where do Africans go? Into the ground, that’s where. If you try to buy guns illegally all of them will be Chinese. I own two guns. One is with me at all times the other one with my older sister. We bought both of them in Rumbek from a Chinese guy. We use them for protection and never actually fired at anyone. But thousands of Sudanese, if not millions use to kill each other. I am a Sudanese student and getting from school back is always a struggle. But I would not hesitate to use these guns if my family would be in jeopardy. Guns sold to us by Chinese. 400.000 of my kind died because of the Chinese weapons. So honestly, screw all of you who tell me that China is good for Africa. You will find out soon how bad it really is. Just the way I found.
Muhammed
Chimaoge Okezue Says:
August 17th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Muhammed what is happening in your nation is bad, but the fact is that there are 53 african nations and majority are benefiting from China’s presence, including my own country, Nigeria.
The problem in your country is the al-Bashir dictatorship not China per se. The west have played roles far worse than you have described in many African nations. Examples include Uganda where the Brits installed Idi Amin; D.R. Congo where the Belgians sponsored war and conspired with USA to remove the democratically elected government; French involvement in virtually all coups and wars in francophone African nations; American support for the brutal regime of Nguema-Obiang in oil-rich Equitorial Guinea, etc. The list is endless.
It is up to you guys in Sudan to do something about your dictatorship after all al-Bahir has been in power long before China dreamed of coming to Africa in search of natural resources
Chima Okezue Says:
August 18th, 2008 at 7:21 am
Muhammed what is happening in your nation is bad, but the fact is that there are 53 african nations and majority are benefiting from China’s presence, including my own country, Nigeria.
The problem in your country is the al-Bashir dictatorship not China per se. The west have played roles far worse than you have described in many African nations. It is up to you guys in Sudan to do something about your dictatorship after all al-Bahir has been in power long before China dreamed of coming to Africa in search of natural resources
Real Estate Investor Says:
August 31st, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Good article, it\’s nice to read other pple\’s viewpoints!
Meimei Lin Says:
October 12th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
I have a question, why do your westerners always act as victims. If Chinese cheaper commodities don’t give any economic benefits to the world, why they are so popular? Have you ever thought, if all the stuffs in your home ‘made-in-China’ instead by made in …west, how many times more expense it would be. By the way, your concern that unemployed African people go to other rich countries is Chinese fault. I can not agree with you on this point at all, the thing behind this is that most of African people are enjoying the benefits they got from Chinese investment. They have better living condition and also cheaper commodities. Personally, I think if western countries could offer Africa better or fair deal in the very beginning, the situation in Africa would not be that bad.
innov8 Says:
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:17 pm
I’m Celil from Turkey I have read the post and the comments here and I say I completely agree with the author. Since Chinese firstly started to come here they have been slowly taking over our businesses. All markets are now full of cheap, filthy, worthless Chinese products. Chineese produces are cheaper than our traditional produces. My father left his job for chineese So I dont like chines

innov8s last blog post..Samsung i850 fiyat? (Samsung innov8)ee