Thread: African relations with China

Niger's president wins referendum on extending mandate
English_Xinhua 2009-08-08 00:28:59
LOME, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Niger's President Mamadou Tandja has won the referendum on extending his mandate, the electoral commission said on Friday, according to news reaching here.

Niger, a landlocked country in Western Africa, borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east.

It is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world, with over 80 percent of its territory covered by the Saharadesert. The country's economy is concentrated around subsistence and some export agriculture.

On the other hand ......

On Nov. 9, 2007, the government of Niger granted Société des Mines d'Azelik (SOMINA) a mining license for the Azelik uranium deposit. SOMINA was formed on June 5, 2007, by the state of Niger and its Chinese partners. On June 19, 2007, the company applied for a mining license for the Azelik uranium deposit. The application was accompanied by an environmental impact study which was approved in July 2007, and a technical-economical feasibility study. The license was granted, after the latter study had been modified, as requested by the authorities. (Tamtaminfo Nov. 9, 2007)

Sinohydro Corp. , China's leading hydraulic construction contractor announced it has secured a 140 million U.S. dollar uranium mine construction deal in Niger with China Nuclear International Uranium Corp. (SinoUranium). The contract calls for building a uranium mine with annual output of 600,000 tons, a coal-fired power plant and a hydrometallurgy plant in the African country, Sinohydro said in a statement on its website. The construction will last 900 days. (People's Daily Online Apr. 8, 2008)

Chinese uranium mining interests to revamp Niger's power supply

Niger government has sealed a deal with China to upgrade the country's power supplies. Niger which sources most of its power from Nigeria had several black outs since January due to systems collapse in Nigeria. In the deal aimed at improving Niger's power supplies, China - which is currently the main investor in uranium mining in the country - will transfer electrical power units to Niger. Niger's head of power plant in capital Niamey Mr Hamidu Mamudu, said the new equipment would help increase production of electric power by about 30% for the Niamey region saying equipment will also increase power output between 50 and 60 megawatts. (afrol News, 7 July, 2008)


Battle in a Poor Land for Riches Beneath the Soil

Niger’s northern desert caps one of the world’s largest deposits of uranium, and demand for it has surged as global warming has increased interest in nuclear power. Growing economies like China and India are scouring the globe for the crumbly ore known as yellowcake. A French mining company is building the world’s largest uranium mine in northern Niger, and a Chinese state company is building another mine nearby.

Uranium could infuse Niger with enough cash to catapult it out of the kind of poverty that causes one in five Niger children to die before turning 5. (NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL FEED Monday, December 15, 2008)

As far as China goes we don't exist anymore. Check this story in The Namibian out:

Namibia: China Blocks Namibia on Internet

Jo-MarÉ Duddy

30 July 2009

NAMIBIA has disappeared off the face of the earth as far as the Chinese government is concerned, at least.

People in China keen to read about the fate of fellow countryman Yang Fan following his appearance in a Namibian court in the Nuctech corruption case, were left none the wiser as all Chinese search engines are blocking a list of keywords pertaining to the probe, including Namibia.

Type in 'Namibia', and Chinese search engines spit out no results. The same goes for 'Namibia bribery investigation', 'Yang Fan bribery investigation', 'Nuctech bribery investigation' and 'southern Africa bribery investigation'.

Also for 'Hu Haifeng', Chinese President Hu Jintao's son, who as former Nuctech chief is linked to the case. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in Namibia is interested to question Hu junior, although he is not a suspect in the case.

Searching for any of the above keywords on a Chinese search engine produces an error message, which translated freely, means: "The search results may contain content not in line with relevant laws, regulations and policies," Times Online reported.

According to the newspaper, The China Digital Times - a US-based blog run by Xiao Qiang - of the Berkeley China Internet Project at the University of California, posted a copy of a notice it said had been issued by the Communist Party's propaganda department shortly after Yang, and co-accused Teckla Lameck and Kongo Mokaxwa appeared in court the first time.

The notice, issued to all search engines, read: 'Hu Haifeng, Namibia, Namibia bribery investigation, Nuctech bribery investigation, southern Africa bribery investigation. Please show no search results for all the above keywords.'

The Chinese government censorship is the latest in a series which includes micro-blogging sites like Fanfou, Digu and Jiwai, the Edmonton Journal of the University of Canada states. Also blacklisted is Facebook, while Zuosa, YouTube and Twitter are all intermittent. "Nobody is exactly sure what the crackdown is about or when it will end," the Journal says.

Sensitive anniversaries like Tiananmen Square and the outlawing of Falun Gong, as well as the upcoming 60th anniversary of the republic may all have played a role, it believes. According to Times Online, however: "China is always nervous about publicity surrounding the business activities of family members of its leaders, since the average citizen has long suspected that they enjoy huge privileges and unfair advantages."

The search ban on Namibia has sparked widespread criticism worldwide. "No more Namibia: China blocks search results for entire country," the OpenNet Initiative reported on its website.

"According to the Chinese government, Namibia a southern African country with a population of two million does not exist," said the group a partnership of the Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto; Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University; the Advanced Network Research Group at the Cambridge Security Programme, University of Cambridge; and the Oxford Internet Institute, Oxford University.

"Namibia, what Namibia?" The Dark Visitor, a website on Chinese hackers, reacted. Radio Netherlands Worldwide reported that "China's authorities appear to be blocking news" about the probe, with "state media making no mention of the case".

The on-line edition of Financial Times for China refers to a "sweeping campaign to purge any mention of a corruption investigation in Namibia from the Internet because it involves a company formerly run by the son of China's president".

Meanwhile, one of many posts on Twitter reads: "China gets overzealous and blocks all searches with 'Namibia' in it. If only that darn bribery scandal hadn't got out."

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has announced Beijing will loan African nations $10-billion at favorable rates during the next three years. Mr. Wen made the pledge at a China/Africa investment conference underway in Egypt.

The promise of the concessional loans further China's investment in the continent, aimed at improving such infrastructure as roads and energy production as well as developing agriculture and undertaking health and education initiatives.

Premier Wen also said Beijing would cancel debts owed it by some of the continent's poorest nations. And in a further gesture of goodwill, the Chinese leader promised help in building 100 clean energy projects, part of what China says is its commitment to fight global warming.

Trade has been growing by 30 percent annually for much of this decade, and now tops $100-billion a year. The new loans are double what China pledged at the first Forum on China Africa Cooperation three years ago in Beijing.

African Union chief Jean Ping told those at the conference that the money is coming at an opportune time, because African growth was "totally compromised" by the global financial crisis.

Ping said one of the lessons learned is that the world is paying for "the irresponsible and lax behavior" of large financial companies whose philosophy was to make short-term profits.

Critics of China's interest in Africa accuse Beijing of much the same thing. China's no-strings-attached lending has led to charges that it will do anything to get at the continent's rich resources, including propping up governments accused of repressing its citizens, in particular Sudan and Zimbabwe.

And the lack of any good governance oversight has meant that inevitably some of the money has gone to bribery, kickbacks and corruption.

Premier Wen addressed the problem at the conference, saying Africa is capable of solving its own problems, using African ways.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe told the conference he appreciates China's hands off approach and wants others to follow its example.

"We also wish to reiterate the calls by the African Union, SADC (the Southern Africa Development Community), COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa), the non-aligned movement and China to those who have imposed illegal sanctions against Zimbabwe, to leave them without further delay," Mr. Mugabe said. "These sanctions have caused tremendous hardships to Zimbabwe and her people."

The United States and others have placed economic and other sanctions on the Mugabe government, whose land appropriation policies coincided with a massive decline in the economy.

Leaders of nearly 50 African countries are attending the two-day conference, being held in the Egyptian resort Sharm el Sheikh.

VOA

China continues its aggressive pursuit of Africa’s resources

The ministerial Forum on China-Africa Cooperation met in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, last week, attended by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and representatives of more than 300 Chinese companies. Wen took the opportunity to chide the US for its large budget deficit.
He made it clear that China intended to press ahead with its programme of investment in Africa despite American opposition. He pledged $10 billion (£6bn) in concessional loans—loans with lower interest rates and longer repayment periods than standard loans—to Africa over the next three years. His offer was warmly welcomed by African ministers.
Within days of the conference closing, the US responded. The International Monetary Fund threatened to cut off lines of credit to the Democratic Republic of Congo if it did not scale back a Chinese investment plan. The IMF, a body dominated by the US, showed that it is quite prepared to plunge this war-torn and impoverished African country into financial isolation, a fate that has already befallen Zimbabwe, with disastrous consequences for the mass of the population.
The conflict over Chinese investment in Congo may only be a foretaste of what is to come. Stephen Roach, the Asia managing director of Morgan Stanley, has warned in no uncertain terms that a US-China trade war is a “big risk”. He told the Hong Kong-based DNA Money, “I am worried about US-China trade friction next year. It’s one of the biggest risks to the global economic climate”.
China has increased its economic involvement in Africa every year for the last decade. Its trade with Africa has grown from $18.5 billion in 2003 to $107 billion in 2008. China is now South Africa’s largest trading partner.
A new feature of the Chinese investment drive in Africa, which is up 77 percent in the first three quarters of 2009 over the same period last year, is the move to public-private partnerships. China now wins more than 50 percent of all new public works contracts in Africa, and Chinese companies dominate road construction in the continent. In shifting to public-private partnerships or concessions, China is following a pattern already established in the West, where construction projects are routinely financed in this way, with great profits for the financial institutions and private companies involved.
Whilst China’s banks escaped the worst of the turmoil that affected Western banks last year, its export-driven economy was hit hard. Approximately 25 million workers have lost their jobs and exports have plunged, down 21 percent on average compared with the same period last year.
Huge contractors backed by China’s large development banks now see the global downturn as an opportunity to get cheaper resources globally, particularly from Africa. According to the Ministry of Commerce, Chinese firms took on $8 billion of overseas contracts in the first two months of 2009, up almost 25 percent.
China has over $2 trillion in currency reserves and US Treasury bills, which are increasingly seen as a liability as the US dollar weakens. The Chinese government has begun to buy up tangible assets such as natural resources as a way of diversifying its currency reserves. In this context, low mineral prices are seen as a good investment opportunity.
Oil in Angola and Nigeria
In the last few years Chinese companies have attempted to sign exploration contracts in nearly every African country with potential oil resources. Earlier this year Sinopec bought the Canadian/Swiss company Addax, giving it access to vital offshore technology.
Angola is China’s largest African trading partner, and it provides 16 percent of China’s oil imports. Trade volumes between the countries reached $25.3 billion in 2008, or more than 23 percent of total China-Africa trade. Angola’s imports from China were up by 96 percent to 2.5 million tonnes, according to China Customs.
With Angola’s presidential elections due this year, Chinese construction projects are essential to President Dos Santos’s campaign. However Angolan companies in some sectors have complained that the Chinese presence is stifling development since supplies that could be obtained in Angola are often imported from China. China’s move to establish public-private partnerships is an attempt to overcome that kind of criticism.
In Nigeria, which has Africa’s largest gas reserves and its second-largest oil reserves, Chinese oil companies are interested in taking over $50 billion worth of oil reserves currently licensed to Western oil majors. The China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC)—China’s third-largest oil company—is trying to secure stakes of up to 49 percent in 23 oil licences, ten of which are operated by Chevron, eight by Royal Dutch Shell, four by ExxonMobil and one by Total, covering more than 10 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and substantial gas reserves.
According to Tanimu Yakubu, chief economic adviser to the Nigerian President, “Even at this early stage, where nothing has been agreed, it is clear that the Chinese are ready to pay very, very much more for some of these licences than the existing operators”.
If it is successful CNOOC would become the largest foreign partner in Nigeria.
Dams, ports and pipelines
In Ethiopia, Chinese construction companies are to build a number of large dams to harness the country’s hydropower potential and allow Ethiopia to expand domestic power coverage and export power to its neighbours.
In Kenya, the government recently approached China about a $3.5bn construction project involving a port in the tourist area of Lamu, and road and rail links to Kenya’s borders with Ethiopia and southern Sudan. Nairobi had been in discussions with Qatar about the project, which also included a lease on 40,000 hectares of land on which to grow crops. The transport corridor could provide an export route for Chinese oil from southern Sudan, which provides 6 percent of China’s oil imports.
Separately, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation is to begin prospecting for oil in northern Kenya, according to Kenya’s energy ministry, and it also has exploration rights for a second block in the Lamu basin.
In Uganda, CNOOC is negotiating to buy part of Irish company Tullow’s interests in oil reserves found under Lake Albert, which could amount to more than one billion barrels. Around $4 billion needs to be invested for a pipeline to the port and a refinery.
China is conscious of the need to protect its interests in Africa. It has sent a flotilla of destroyers to the Gulf of Aden using the pretext of combating piracy in the geo-politically sensitive waterway. Around 40 percent of China’s goods and raw materials trade pass through these waters. This marks the Chinese navy’s first major foreign engagement, outside of a UN mandate.
In Niger, China is now rivalling France as a buyer of uranium, and last year China National Petroleum Corporation signed a $5 billion contract for the Agadem oil bloc near Zinder. In Liberia, China Union is to spend $2.6 billion to develop iron ore mines in Bong County.
In Zambia, China’s Non-Ferrous Company-Africa recently bought out Luanshya Copper Mine, a $230 million mine which had $200 million in debts, and China Exim Bank is putting up 85 percent of $400 million for a power project at Kariba North.
China has also been in discussions regarding building a rail-link between the east and west coasts of Southern Africa, connecting Mozambique, Angola, Congo-Kinshasa and Congo-Brazzaville, Malawi and Zambia.
Agriculture and bio-fuels
In Mozambique, China Exim Bank is to loan $2.3 billion for the Mphanda Nkuwa dam on the Zambezi River. China also awarded $800 million in agricultural support to Mozambique aimed at boosting national rice production, and has discussed how to link Lake Malawi, in neighbouring Malawi, to Mozambique’s rivers and dams to improve its existing agricultural infrastructure.
Chinese companies have also been looking for land for cattle ranches and plantations in the Zambezi Valley and hope to settle 3,000 Chinese agricultural workers on other land leased in Mozambique, though this has met stiff resistance from locals. China has just 9 percent of the world’s arable land, but 16 percent of the world’s population, and is dependent on food imports.
In Uganda, China has leased 10,000 acres, and in Zambia, China has requested two million hectares of land for bio-fuel production. The Hong Kong-based tycoon Stanley Ho is rapidly building a bio-fuel empire worth some $40 billion, more than 10 percent of world output.
Under pressure to complete construction projects as quickly and cheaply as possible, Chinese companies have been criticised by trade unions across Africa for breaking regulations on minimum wages and on working conditions. A report by the trade union-financed African Labour Research Network (ALRN) released in late May described “tense labour relations, hostile attitudes by Chinese employers towards trade unions, violations of workers’ rights, poor working conditions and unfair labour practices”. The South African textile workers’ union believes some 60,000 jobs have been lost in the textile sector since 2001 due to local products being undercut by imports.
At Ghana’s Bui Dam controlled by Sinohydro, all workers are treated as casual labourers and are billeted twelve to a room, with little ventilation and poor sanitation. When the Sinohydro workers tried to form a union, they were intimidated and forced to abandon the plan.
Chinese financial institutions are becoming more aggressive in search of high returns on their investments following the recent economic downturn. World Bank President Robert Zoellick recently held talks with the China Investment Corporation, which manages nearly $300 billion of Beijing’s foreign reserves, about cooperation on investment in African manufacturing through special industrial zones.
The weakening of the US dollar is encouraging China to develop its own global financial strategies. A consortium of Chinese banks recently injected $1 billion through Standard Bank of South Africa to fund Standard Bank’s expansion in Africa and to bankroll more Chinese deals.
Beijing officials have also recently been discussing the possibility of using part of China’s foreign reserves to finance the world’s largest development aid programme, termed a “Harmonious World Plan”, the main recipients of which would be Africa, Latin America and Asia.
The fund would be capitalised at around $500 billion, with $100 billion of foreign exchange reserves and the rest in Chinese Renminbi (about RMB2.7 trillion). It would make loans through existing institutions, such as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, to developing states in a mixture of US dollars and Renminbi, which would be repaid in national credit or from the profits generated.
The plan presented by economist Xu Shanda to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in July is said to draw on ideas from the United States’ post-war Marshall Plan. It is an attempt to offset the impact of the global recession on Chinese industry by creating new export markets and establishing the Renminbi as a currency of international trade.
The ambitious nature of Chinese plans in Africa is driven by the global recession and the increasing trend of US policy towards protectionism. Inevitably, it will lead to great tension between China and the USA, as China intrudes on an area vital to US interests.

wsws.org

China and India compete to share Africa

New Delhi: Rivalry between India and China for control of natural resources and energy assets beyond their borders has acquired a new dimension.

The Asian giants are now competing to build parliaments in African countries deemed to be of strategic importance as they seek to gain an extra edge in their quest for energy resources.

India is building Ghana’s parliament. China is constructing parliaments in Malawi and Lesotho, and agreed to fund the construction of a third in Zimbabwe. In addition, India is building a parliament in Afghanistan.

Ghana, Malawi, Lesotho and Zimbabwe are all former British colonies that are seeking to distance themselves from their past. A growing sense of nationalism is seemingly finding expression in the construction of new capitols.

For China and India, it has presented an opportunity for economic diplomacy—a chance to gain goodwill in a continent where they have been locked in fierce competition for energy assets.

“What can be a bigger thing than a country calling you to build their parliament? It greatly helps in relationship building,” said a senior official in India’s ministry of external affairs who did not want to be identified. “While this is not a prescriptive approach, going forward, whoever asks us for assistance, we will help them with building their parliament,” the official added.

For decades, India enjoyed strong relations with Africa, stemming from a shared colonial past and India’s support for independence movements in the continent. But in more recent years, Chinese economic diplomacy and aid put India-African ties in the shade. India found that its economic interests in Africa were dwarfed by China’s.

Chinese companies have beaten Indian firms in Angola and Nigeria. Indian firms lost in Angola because they couldn’t match the Chinese offer of a $2 billion soft loan.

India’s trade with Africa stands at around $39 billion a year compared with China’s $100 billion. Strategic analysts are critical of India’s slow response to China.

“China, for the last 50-60 years, has focussed on a simple strategy. They want a building in the national capital, which is the centrepiece of the architectural plan and reminds of China. While the investment is nominal, there is a long-term symbolic benefit,” said Brahma Chellaney, professor of strategic studies at the Centre for Policy Research, a New Delhi-based think tank.

“It is for India to learn from China. The Indian government does not move till it is forced to move. China is making rapid moves in Africa and we have belatedly woken up to this realization. (Rather) than being a step ahead we are following their footsteps.”

Both India and China have extended line of credits to build infrastructure in energy-rich African countries as they seek access to oil and gas blocks to fuel their growing economies. At the India-Africa Forum summit held in India in 2008, the government announced credit lines of about $5.4 billion by 2012 to African countries. It has so far extended $1 billion in lines of credit and will give an additional $500 million to these nations.

Interestingly, China denies any link between the construction of parliaments and securing resources.

“We are not here for resources,” said Zhou Haihong, first secretary and deputy head of mission at the Chinese embassy in Malawi.

Mint reported on 9 January about possibility of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visiting Malawi this year for the parliament building’s inauguration. Besides hydropower potential, Malawi is rich in uranium, coal and bauxite deposits.

Questions emailed to the Chinese embassy in New Delhi have remained unanswered at the time of filing this story.

India depends on imports to meet 78% of its oil requirements and is particularly vulnerable to price volatility in crude oil.

“All African diplomacy is focussed on securing natural reources, primarily oil and gas. Building a parliament is a step in the process. It is a very visible sign of interest in that economy,” said Anish De, chief executive at Mercados Asia, an energy consulting firm.

As the world’s fifth largest energy consumer, India accounts for around 3.5% of the global consumption of crude. It will become the third largest oil importer after the US and China before 2025, with its energy demand expected to almost double by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency.

Livemint

Business Day

The main issue at hand has to do with Nigeria and global trade hiccups, which have become the bane of enterprises in the country. The issue came up at the second Annual Stakeholders’ Forum of the Nigerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry that held in Lagos recently. The question of Nigeria’s unpreparedness for absorbing technology from other economies also came up at the event. The participant who raised the issue said we do not have the capacity to absorb technology, that all we do is “operate.”

You will agree with me that technology is not only manufacturing sector related, it is all sectors-related. To address this, I will draw on an earlier discussion I had with a Nigerian engineer who studied in the US, now based in China and married to a Chinese woman. The Nigerian engineer and management consultant who has a bias for turning around dying or moribund enterprises, Busty Okundaye, said Nigeria had no strategy in place to deal with our newly-found business relationship with China. He was emphatic on the subject of strategy.

For him, it is the secret to success, secret to technology transfer. Malawi, according to him, has problem with the Chinese now. “Malawi is having problem with the Chinese because it did not put in place a strategy for relating with them. The contract Malawi signed with China did not specify that the companies being established in their country by the Chinese must have certain percentage of Malawians at the upper segment of the company’s workforce that Malawian employees could not just be cleaners, because at the level of a cleaner, they cannot influence decisions in the organisation.

“They could have specified for instance that the Chinese should not have more than 30 percent of their people in the executive cadre of the organisation, while the rest must be Malawians. You can say at the middle level, for instance, it should be a 50-50 ratio or 30-70.

“Malawians did not do this. Anyone dealing with the Chinese must make such demand on them; the Chinese are not going to be the ones to tell you to demand that your people are given key positions because they are business people too.”

He believes we have the technical background to take off from, that we have enough Nigerian engineers today who though, may not know what to do but are engineers that can make high-tech products such as a tape recorder, engineers who have the foundation to build on.

He stated that the Chinese engineers also had a similar problem at a point but got over it because the strategy was on ground for them to learn from America. Okundaye was part of the American team that passed on technology to the Chinese.

He explained, “It was very easy for us to teach them, and it was easy for them to comprehend the advance technology that we brought. We needed people with technical background to transform for technological growth, people well rounded in engineering, science, technology.

“Even those just coming out of school were able to comprehend the technology. When we explained it to them, figuratively overnight, they comprehended it. In the same manner, if here in Nigeria, we recruit graduates from the University of Lagos, and University of Nigeria, for instance, we can train them to realise our Vision 2020. We have enough money in this country to get to that level.

“We are not really going to invent anything, the technology is already available, we will use this to produce what we want, even produce the machine that will produce products like printers. We can actually set up companies here to produce printers. All we need do is just buy the technology, produce these printers, and export to other African countries such as Ghana. The technology is already available, not only in China but all over the European countries such as Germany.”

He argued that we have an advantage since unlike the Chinese; we do not have the problem of raw materials in Africa. The Chinese are currently buying raw materials all across Africa, because they want to boost their productive sector.

Bonded warehouses in Lagos and elsewhere across Nigeria are stocked with raw materials billed for shipment to China. So, it is raw materials demand in their country that is driving them into Africa. They need raw materials for manufacturing finished products. They don’t have. In Nigeria, we have most of these raw materials in abundance, in commercial quantities.

What we need therefore, are the right people, the right leadership with the right strategy to manage what we have on ground.

Okundaye gave the example of the telecom industry in China. GTE is a creation of the Chinese government. In 1984, they discovered they needed to be competitive in terms of global standards in respect of pillar industries such as telecom, electronics, and aerospace. At that time, a foreigner could not go to China and invest in any of these industries 100 percent, except you partnered a local Chinese to domesticate whatever technology you were bringing in.

This even applies now. If you partner them, both of you will start work the same day, same time everyday and close same time, so you do exactly the same thing. For each level, there is a pair. So, when an American is making those products, the Chinese is watching and both of them are engineers, so it is easy to learn and these Chinese are smart just like Nigerians.

By so doing, the time the foreign investor leaves three or five years later, the Chinese takes over. GTE that debuted in 1984 is now worth almost $3 billion, operating in about 50 countries, including Nigeria. They went and recruited Chinese people in different advanced countries of the world, Chinese working in telecom industries.

Today, GTE is now highly competitive; it is involved in our rural telephony network. For Okundaye, “These are the ways to develop a country technologically. And once those job opportunities are there, Nigerians in different parts of the world will come on their own to look for the job opportunities. It is the job issue that is keeping them away in other countries.

“If they can make the same amount of money ($200,000 or $300,000) they make in these foreign countries in Nigeria, most of them will prefer to be in their country.”I hope those concerned are listening.

George Ayittey, the Ghanaian-born economics professor at American University and libertarian argues that China's increased engagement with Africa has impeded the continent's halting steps towards democratic accountability and better governance, leading to neo-colonialism. He asserts that African countries receiving Chinese aid have little incentive to improve governance: "China's engagement with Africa should be a boon. Its overall trade with Africa rose from $10.6 billion in 2000 to $75.5 billion in 2008, propelling Africa's growth rate to 5.8% in 2008, its best performance since 1974. China is now Africa's second-largest trading partner after the United States, importing a third of its crude oil from Africa. Further, Africa needs the investment, in particular, to rebuild its decrepit infrastructure. A November 2009 World Bank Report states: 'The poor state of infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa — its electricity, water, roads and information and communications technology (ICT) — cuts national economic growth by two percentage points every year and reduces productivity by as much as 40 percent.' To close the infrastructure gap, an annual spending of $93 billion would be required. Thus, Chinese investment in Africa's infrastructure should be most welcome. But China's engagement is increasingly being seen as odious, predatory and brutish. The initial enthusiasm that greeted Chinese investments in Africa has now cooled."

Dr. Ayittey doesn't like how the Chinese do business: "The nature of China's contracts is most objectionable. They are secured through outright bribery by building presidential palaces (Namibia, Sudan and Zimbabwe) and sports stadiums (Democratic Republic of Congo and Guinea). Namibian prosecutors are investigating allegations of bribery and kickbacks on government contracts with China to supply Namibia with scanners at security checkpoints. Nuctech, the Beijing-based manufacturer and headed until 2008 by the son of Hu Jintao, China's president, is accused of paying $4.2 million in kickbacks to a Namibian front company (New York Times, July 31st 2009, p. A4). Another investigation involves a Chinese contract to build a key railroad link. Most alarming, the deals are opaque and on barter terms dictated by China. For example, in exchange for oil exploration slots, China will rebuild Nigeria's dilapidated railway system. But China will supply nearly all the equipment and technical personnel at prices determined by itself. There is no protection against overcharging or cost overruns. As with other projects in Africa, China will supply most of the workers. The potential for exploitation and plunder of Africa's resources is enormous in such contracts, leading irate African commentators to denounce what they see as 'chopsticks mercantilism'. With chopsticks dexterity, China can pick off mineral dumplings with relish in Africa, all to its advantage."

He zeroes in on the impact on local industries and local governance: "Further, China's engagement has devastated local industries in Lesotho, Nigeria and Zambia. In Nigeria, the influx of Chinese products has destroyed Kano's manufacturing sector. In 1982, 500 factories churned out textile products in Kano, but fewer than 100 remain operational today, most at far less than full capacity. In South Africa, the textile union says some 100,000 jobs have been lost as Chinese synthetic fabrics replace cotton prints in street markets across Africa.....More troubling, China's increased engagement with Africa has impeded the continent's halting steps towards democratic accountability and better governance. The West has made its aid conditional on progress on these fronts. But since China attaches no such conditions, African countries receiving Chinese aid have little incentive to improve governance. Indeed in 2003, when the IMF suspended $2 billion in aid to Angola, citing rampant corruption, China came to the rescue with a $2 billion oil deal."

He also accuses the Chinese of trying to colonize Africa by a stealth settlement policy: "The claim that China's intentions in Africa are noble is fatuous. Its real intentions are well known: to elbow out all foreign companies and gain access to Africa's resources at cheap prices; canvas for African votes at the UN in its quest for global hegemony; isolate Taiwan; and seek new markets for Chinese manufactures as European markets become saturated with Chinese goods. Less well known is its quest for African land to dump its surplus population. As a condition for Chinese aid, African states must accept large numbers of Chinese experts and workers as part of their investment packages. Chinese communes are springing up across Africa. In Namibia, the number of Chinese expatriates has reached 40,000, with 100,000 in Zambia and 120,000 in Nigeria. China even has a secret plan, called the ChongqingExperiment, to resettle 12m of its farmers in Africa. As Rene N'Guetta Kouassi, the head of the African Union's economic affairs department, warned: 'Africa must not jump blindly from one type of neo-colonialism into Chinese-style neo-colonialism' (AFP, September 30th 2009)."

Booker Rising

So far, media coverage of China’s involvement in Africa has mostly been about investment. Stories of Chinese engineers in hard hats standing by roads up mountains in Ethiopia. Stories of Chinese farmers moving to Zambia.

But, in a push to extent its economic reach, China is now making a very real effort to export its culture to the world’s poorest continent. Last year the Asian giant overtook the U.S. as Africa’s top trading partner, confirming to the West that it has a real battle on its hands to maintain its influence over African nations.

But, while China’s economic influence is now mighty and its cheap goods can be bought everywhere from Lagos to tiny tribal villages in remotest Ethiopia, Africans, especially young ones, still admire and try to copy U.S. culture.

Middle class teenagers in Nairobi dress like suburban kids from Atlanta, posters of Obama adorn minibus windows in Kinshasa, American hip-hop is everywhere.

China now seems to have realised this.

In Addis Ababa, China and Ethiopia signed an agreement to work on a “cultural exchange program” from 2010 to 2013. Ethiopia’s state news agency said the countries will dispatch “art troupes, artists, writers and art exhibitions” to each other. It will be interesting to see how mutual the traffic is.

And it’s not just China trying to use culture to secure access to a continent overflowing with mineral resources and a largely untapped consumer market of nearly 1 billion people with more money in their pockets each year.

Addis Ababa is host to Chinese, Indian and even Turkish schools where Ethiopian children must sing the national anthems of those countries every morning, where they learn their languages, their dances, their songs, their particular set of manners. And where they learn a foreign history alongside their own.

Such schools and “cultural exchange programs” are mushrooming all over the continent as the war for influence over African countries heats up.

Similar schools from the European powers have, of course, existed for years, educating and, sometimes indoctrinating, Africa’s elite. But the British, the French, the Germans and the Spanish are losing ground to the world’s emerging powers.

So how will this all play out? What will the impact of these new cultural imports be on the individual cultures of African countries, arguably still the most unique and preserved in the world? Is this really just imperialism version 2.0?

Africa led by the West has not been given the opportunity to become self sufficient. Post independence colonization has robbed us of our identity, self worth, values, diaspora, tradition and culture. Any alternative is better than the present sad state of Africa where nations in most cases churn out corrupt leaders that rush to rape the continent to death while their puppet masters keeping the loot. “Corruption”, I say, is not an African word.

China is the next Super Power that is not overtly bothered with holding Africa back, rather it’s focus is on keeping the momentum of it’s impressive economic growth fuelled by African resources. Africa must learn that the Chinese did this miracle the Chinese way and not the way of America or Europe…

Though our youths are in awe of the urban American culture ie new global culture, they are die hard fanatics of Chinese and Indian movies. I constantly surprise my Indian and Chinese friends in the UK by naming their most famous film stars. I grew up watching films like enter the dragon, snake in the monkey shadow, Amar, Akuba and Tony, The Promise, burning train et al.

The rich African Culture is similar to the Chinese one, where they are both male dominated, authoritative, spiritual, historical, respect for elders, children raised by the village and not the nuclear family, live off natural food not processed “food” and many more.

Africa will do a lot of business with China but this time we will negotiate from a postition of strength, as we are the last virgin at the party. No more twenty slaves for one mirror…Now it is one mirror for one mirror, period!

Oh it will play out well. China does not have colonial history with Africa, China stood on the side of African Liberation movements, when United States didn’t. African and Chines economic relations will play out well, and is the most positive aspect of this Chines surge toward Africa. China needs africa’s unexploited vast resources to power up its growing economy, and african states want investments and capital to develope their economies. On the cultural aspect, besides Chines Cusine & action packed movies, there is’t much cultural influence china can have over Africans. For style and cultural influences Africans look toward the United States.That is the fact.


Its a very interesting question. I hail from Mombasa and in the Museum You will find Chinese porcelain from [If my Memory's Museum serves me right] from the c16th. So China has not come out of absolutely nowhere though we had a very long Hiatus before the recent Hyper Growth Re Emergence.

The Finger Print Evidence resides in the Trade Hyper Growth Curve and the fact that Africa is providing the Fuel for the Chinese Locomotive. Today You will find all kinds of African Traders making their way back and forth from China. Look at the number of Airline Frequencies between Africa and China compared to just Ten Years Ago.
Furthermore, the Chinese and African History is a shared One and not an Imperial One. This gives China a singular Advantage.

The Cultural exchange is set to deepen and broaden. The Flow of Chinese to Africa and Africans to China will accelerate this late cycle Phenomenon. I have read there is a Chocolate City within a City in many Chinese Cities. Well the same applies here in Africa.

The Ubiquity of Western TV and Cinema is the Challenge but the World is as Flat as a Pancake now and the Proliferation of the Internet and Delivery Channels surely means that the Exchange of African and Chinese Culture and Understanding will soon inflect at a speed and Velocity just as quick as the Trade Curve.

And I do feel the Chinese are at Ground Level whereas many from the Western World are seeing Africa from behind an Air Conditioned Car or Office.


The major threat to Africa is Islam and backward evangelist US exports (to Uganda), not the Chinese economy.

africa is a consuming continent, we africans must ask ourselves this question .what are african nations producing or manufacturing ? what is job improvements in afarica? plz !plz!! plz!1! africa is not a dumping ground.china is worst esperience africa will have in future because even in nigeria all the small and medium scale industries have folded up.because of cheap and low and fake goods imported from china.no human right value in china.plz GOD give africans visions and learned leaders and removed from us those selfish and wicked ones that is pundering us day by day.

Posted by amara

God forbid! Africans are displaying the servility and inertia that has led us to where we are today. Africa can do business with any and everybody, but one thing is clear; there is no such thing as a free lunch. Chinese have more than a billion people which they are unleashing on the rest of the world. These guys want to subdue the world and they do not respect human rights. They have no mechanism for recourse except the Chinese communist party. Africans should shudder at the thought of having a tight embrace with this dragon. but no! “lets see what they bring to the table!!” What table? The table you will be sacrificed on one day. Just like at the Berlin conference when Africa was shared between western powers. After they had embraced them too closely, drinking their whiskey, selling their brothers, giving them land, all in the name of seeing what they would bring to that proverbial table. Only to discover that Africa was what was for lunch. Strange how history repeats itself. Only a fall does the same thing over and over expecting a different result.

Posted by njemnu


While China stood on the side of African Liberation, China saw thr golden opportunity in Africa. While the China and the African states seem to have a dynamic relationship now, let’s see 20 – 30 years down the road. Remember, there’s a price to pay for everything!

The US is short-sighted indeed when it fails to recognize the great potential in Africa and the ultimate benefit that can be realised from increased active trade between the two regions.

Posted by jvwh3b


Well, well , well, for those who see China as the promised one, pls do you research. China is in a quest to conquer the world. Where best to start than the wall that has toppled itself through corruption and inefficiency – Africa! A continent with vast but unguarded natural recourses. I live in Europe and where as a black person i can say that most western Europeans are racist, Chinese however go several notches beyond. Theirs is a government with no respect for her citizen, now using her citizen and cheap goods to snare sitting ducks – African countries. Most Chinese believe that Africans are barbarians anyway. Europeans will marry black, ditto Americans. Chinese however see black as leprous. If I were one of these African leaders, I’ll say, let stick with the enemy we know. Not these sneaky cheap Chinese!

Posted by lebon


Well, well , well, for those who see China as the promised one, pls do your research. China is in a quest to conquer the world. Where best to start than the wall that has toppled itself through corruption and inefficiency – Africa! A continent with vast but unguarded natural recourses. I live in Europe and where as a black person i can say that most western Europeans are racist, Chinese however go several notches beyond. Theirs is a government with no respect for her citizen, now using her citizen and cheap goods to snare sitting ducks – African countries. Most Chinese believe that Africans are barbarians anyway. Europeans will marry black, ditto Americans. Chinese however see black as leprous. If I were one of these African leaders, I’ll say, let stick with the enemy we know. Not these sneaky cheap Chinese!

Posted by lebon


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Posted by asksimba

Thanks to all my African Brothers and Sisters who express their ideas here, I must say the days of fouling African is over, we are ready anyone who is willing to do a business with us as long they are counter partnering with us to do business and not compromising our natural resources. We need to take stand and choice who is our real friends and have the best interest of our, free food’s day is over; we now need the seeds to plant of our foods and machines to produce the goods. Africa is in the stage where America ones where, “The industrial revolution” and we need all the help we can get from America, Europe, Middle East, Asia. We Africans no longer satisfied with the worlds hand out.
Africa needs a Marshall Plan what America did for Europe in June 5, 1947 See link “ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Pl an “ this is the only way Africa’s mind an harts could be won by America and allies, anything less, would be insult to Africa and Chine’s new relationship with Africa should not be under minded or anybody who wants to do business with.

Posted by Africantimes


Thanks to all my African Brothers and Sisters who express their ideas here, I must say the days of fouling African is over, we are ready anyone who is willing to do a business with us as long they are counter partnering with us to do business and not compromising our natural resources. We need to take stand and choice who is our real friends and have the best interest of our continent. The free food’s day is over; we now need the seeds to plant of our foods and machines to produce the goods. Africa is in the stage where America ones where in “The industrial revolution era”. We need all the help we can get from America, Europe, Middle East, and Asia. We Africans no longer satisfied with the worlds hand out and left over. Africa needs a Marshall Plan, what America did for Europe in June 5, 1947 See link “ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Pl an “ This is the only way Africa’s mind an harts could be won by Americans and allies, anything less, would be insult to Africa. Furthermore, Chine’s new relationship with Africa should not be under minded.

Posted by Africantimes


I tell you that Chinese has been in Africa 80 years before the coming of the west.The came only to trade and to intermedddle with the internal polotics.
When you talk about exchage of arm to resources people should know that there is a russian man arrested somewhere in asia,whom america and eruopean goverment has use to deliver arms to all government who opposit them in the world to fuel war for the past 50years.
People should do their reasearch on former Lome agreement with the west africa had with them what has it benefited us.people should ask the new EPA agreement that is been going on by the europeans who are sellling it to africa on a regional basis what is it going to benefit africa.
WE

Posted by ifydee


I tell you that Chinese has been in Africa 80 years before the coming of the west.The came only to trade and to intermedddle with the internal polotics.
When you talk about exchage of arm to resources people should know that there is a russian man arrested somewhere in asia,whom america and eruopean goverment has use to deliver arms to all government who opposit them in the world to fuel war for the past 50years.
People should do their reasearch on former Lome agreement with the west africa had with them what has it benefited us.people should ask the new EPA agreement that is been going on by the europeans who are sellling it to africa on a regional basis what is it going to benefit africa.
WE NEED UNITED STATE OF AFRICA which one ghanaia president promoted long time ago,which EU copied and is benefiting from it now.
My little secrect i will let any one who cares to know is that chinese will be in africa doing they trade of building roads,hosipital etc,for us which will help africa in the long run while the west will be busy fuelling wars which chinese will be seen been around supporting whatever dictator that the west is producing basical on development check Zimbabwe what the west to them and what the chinese came in an was doing.
One thing china is good at is that where the west causes problem they comes in,which the west dont like.this is check mate.

Posted by ifydee | Report as abusive


The Chinese are a catalyst for growth in some places and loss in others. e.g The Nigerian Local Shoe industry disappeared because shoes from china are half as cheap.

Africans should not bank on this relationship as the all-in-all. What happens if the Chinese bubble bursts?
Most african-chinese cakes would remain half-baked – a risk too ugly for either parties.

Eventually, china’s edge on manufacturing/exporting(their source of growth) will disppear to cheaper places e.g. Vietnam and eventually Africa. Thus they are preparing to own the african companies that will eventually take their place.

If you are African this is a time to build relationship with both the West and East to take advantage of this future benefit.

Solonzo The Great.

Posted by Solonzo


@Mixtapebox, I agree with you. @ Lebon, I strongly agree with you. I happen to also have some experience with the Chinese, Americans and the Europeans. As far as culture is concerned, I don’t see China getting anywhere in Africa. We trade with them, yes! History is against the West, but the Chinese are far more crafty to influence Africans. I have some reason to believe that the present boom in China-Africa trade will serve China’s selfish interest. Culture aside, unlike other people, Chinese lack the human passion of ‘feeling for someone’. In line with economies, compare the number of Chinese humanitarian organizations in Africa with those from the West to picture this.

I go to some University in North America where Chinese are almost the majority(Toronto), but they are almost in-existent socially. The Chinese are quite insensitive, this is not a good thing socially. A Chinese is not “racist” but will not want anything to do with Africans in the first place.For instance, after two years in the same team, a Chinese will asks you what your name ‘was?’! These days, like Lebon implied, you can easily get along with Europeans and Americans. These doesn’t happen with the Chinese! I feel like they still hold far nasty stereotypes about Africans, as in, a Chinese will always take the nearest route on meeting an African on a lonely street. These are factors that influence the transfer of culture. Arabs did not behave like that or they will not have succeeded like they did.

Another reason is English in Africa, considering the role of a language in establishing culture. I don’t see either Mandarin or Cantonese overtaking English in Africa soon.

I find African-Americans as part of the American influence amongst the African youth. people copy people whom they identify with. Besides trade, Chinese will always have themselves for themselves.

Posted by meja


Africafiles.org

China is stepping up its drive to get its hands on Africa's mineral wealth to fuel its ever-expanding economy through multimillion-dollar deals with autocratic regimes of every kind:

Beijing is offering crisis-ridden Guinea $1.5 billion for a 47 percent stake in the world's largest unmined reserves of iron ore. It will likely get it because China is offering huge investments in infrastructure -- highways, schools, industry, airports and the like -- in a barely functioning state that has little infrastructure.

Guinea is the world's largest bauxite exports but also one of the poorest states in West Africa. It also has significant deposits of gold, diamonds and uranium.

The country was recently plunged into turmoil by two military coups since the December 2008 death of longtime military dictator Lansana Conte. But multi-party democracy is unlikely to emerge.

In the meantime, Chinalco, the state-owned metals and mining company, is embroiled in a legal battle with Rio Tinto, the British mining giant, over the much-prized Simandou concession in the southwest.

China appears to be prepared to go to great lengths to secure the concession to increase the global supply of iron ore to throttle the power of Australian and Brazilian iron-ore companies to dictate prices.

In October 2009, the Hong Kong-registered China International Fund signed a $7 billion deal with Guinea's repressive military regime, which killed 157 protesters in the streets of Conakry a month earlier, for access to the country's bauxite and other minerals.

This has thrown an economic lifeline to a regime many consider to be rogue. This willingness to do business with such unsavory regimes lies at the heart of Beijing's success over the last few years in securing energy and raw material supplies across Africa.

In return, it promises huge infrastructure investments in countries that are badly run and usually impoverished through rampant corruption. Estimates of Chinese investment in Africa range as high $50 billion since 2001.

This has drawn mounting criticism from human rights organizations that China's dealings with Africa's dictators impedes the progress of social and political development in a continent wracked by war and civil strife and prevents good governance.

The Chinese have taken advantage of the economic upheaval in the industrialized West because of the global financial meltdown. The footholds it is establishing open potentially lucrative consumer markets for China down the road. Africa also offers Beijing important diplomatic backing on global issues.

CIF is a private company and its real ownership isn't clear. There is considerable speculation that it is ultimately run and funded by the Beijing government.

This company has been particularly active in the investment field. In Angola, Africa's leading oil producer, it has secured access to an important supply of energy from an undemocratic regime.

In return, CIF has brokered huge infrastructure projects that include 215,000 housing units, restoring 1,000 miles of highway and 1,665 miles of railroad, plus the construction of a new international airport in Luanda, the capital of the former Portuguese colony.

In troubled Niger, the Chinese have managed to oust the French, the former colonial rulers, for access to the West African country's vast uranium deposits.

In oil-rich Algeria, some 50 Chinese companies, most of them state-owned, have been awarded government construction contracts worth some $50 billion.

The Americans and Europeans have been the big importers of Algerian oil and gas for years, but China is muscling in -- while taking home a big slice of Algeria's petrodollars.

China's trade with Africa has soared 10 times since 2001, hitting $1 billion in 2008.

In Kenya, China is offering to fund a big piece of a $4 billion project to develop a port at Lamu on the Indian Ocean together with and oil pipeline and road and rail links that would connect it to southern Sudan and land-locked Ethiopia.

China has extensive oil interests in southern Sudan, which is expected to vote for secession from the Arab-dominated north in a 2011 referendum that is already threatening to re-ignite the country's ruinous civil war.

The Khartoum regime isn't likely to allow the oil-rich south to secede without a fight. The south's oil currently is piped to the north but a new export route through Kenya would give the south the basis for a viable economy.

UPI