Thread: China and Africa - What's going on?

On the bright side, that will keep them from migrating to Namibia. Let them frighten themseves away. Good riddens. I applaud the one who gave them none but the horrible sites

Cape Town (South Africa) - Chinese investment in African countries comes with few strings attached – which is exactly what concerns civil society organisations.


During the Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) held last week various members of African civil society organisations expressed concern about the terms of China’s increasing activities on the continent. The World Bank conference, organised with South Africa’s treasury department, ran from June 9 to 11 in Cape Town, South Africa.

‘‘Zambian civil society agrees that international finance is needed for development and it should not matter whether the assistance comes from Europe or China,’’ said Stephen Muyakwa, an agricultural economist in Zambia and chairperson of the Zambian Civil Society Trade Network.

‘‘But there are some problems with Chinese loans and development aid. First of all, loans offered by China are not transparent and neither do they come with conditions on how the money should be spent. This could fuel corruption, as African governments are free to use the money as they wish. This could have negative results.’’

Muyakwa contended that loans or any form of foreign finance should come with strict conditions. ‘‘You can’t just hand over a blank cheque to the minister of finance and assume everything will be okay. We the people need to know how the money will be spent. And China, or any other donor, needs to hold the recipient authorities accountable for that.’’

According to Muyakwa, governments should be watchful when accepting Chinese loans and development aid. ‘‘There might be hidden intentions. These offers of loans and infrastructural development usually seem to come with no strings attached. ‘‘Unfortunately it has happened more than once that China decided to claim a mine or a stake in a forest reserve – just like that. You can’t just give, make people think that there are no strings attached and then expect something. We rather want a donor country to say that you want to buy the mine, instead of claiming it as if it were part of the loan,’’ Muyakwa argued.

Luis Brites Pereira, deputy director of the Centre for Globalisation and Governance at the Nova University of Lisbon in Portugal, told the conference that there could a danger in accepting too many loans from China.
‘‘Chinese loans seem favourable due to low interest rates. Therefore, the chances of accumulating debt are high. Recipient countries need to manage their finances carefully.’’ Pereira also confirmed that the large Chinese companies dominating industries such as clothing and textiles are pushing African enterprises out of business.

Another point of concern among African civil society is the influx of Chinese labourers in Africa, a continent where millions of people are unemployed. ‘‘Not too long ago, the governments of Cameroon and China made a deal in which China would build roads and infrastructure such as stadiums and sports fields,’’ according to Marie Tamoifo Nkom, spokesperson for the African Youth Diaspora Forum (AYDF) in Cameroon, an organisation aimed at engaging young African emigrants their continent’s social, economic, and political development.

‘‘Everyone was happy, first of all because Cameroon is in great need of sports facilities for the youth. Second of all, this project would mean job creation. Unfortunately, the latter did not happen as the Chinese brought their own labourers.’’ Muyakwa is also worried about Chinese working conditions: ‘‘Last year, operations at a Chinese-owned coal mine in the south of Zambia were suspended due to unsafe working conditions. Most labourers were half naked and didn’t have protective clothing, dust masks, hard hats or shoes.’’

‘‘When a cabinet minister attempted to visit to the mine, Chinese managers prevented her from doing so. They said it was ‘their mine’. In the end the minister was given a tour. According to the minister’s report, the labourers were treated like animals. The mine was closed for a short while but then opened again.’’

Muyakwa recalled another incident that caused a stir in Zambia. ‘‘Two years ago about 50 Zambian miners were killed in an accident at an explosive factory. The bizarre thing is that no Chinese employee got hurt or killed. This makes you wonder about how committed the Chinese are to make a difference in Africa or whether they here only to serve themselves.’’

According to the International Monetary Fund, exports from Africa to China increased with more than 40 percent between 2001 and 2006. Imports from China to Africa increased 35 percent. The total trade from China to Africa is estimated 55 billion dollar per year and is expected to grow to 100 billion dollar by 2010.

Some wise person, a long time ago, predicted that Africa would eventually be "de-colonised" and then slowly be "re-colonised" by China! and we would all become grey people!

Seems as if this prediction is proving correct - firstly the economic colonisation and then the people follow.....

Any thoughts?

RamblingRose

Originally Posted by mutero alex makongwa

i have enough of Chinese poeple. I was soo hurt to see them showing the worse part of Namibia on their tv, telling the people that Namibians are diyng of hunger. They even show the unwanted part , why are they not showing the good part at the same time? What does the GRN to this type of news ? Why do they allow it to go out from the country ? Why our country dont allow good things to be showd? To tell the truth same part of Namibia is better than the parts in China ...our country must also try to tell our poeple about them tooo!!!!!

African country leaders are becoming worse than worse......I dont know when we will change!!!!! Become real leaders

Relax Boetie, the Chinese own Namibia nothing, right? Namibia owned China, okay? Namibians must pay the debt to become independent, and that means that Namibia is not as free as you think, okay?

Take a quick example ... why do you have more Chinese people with business in the Windhoek CBD then blacks? Why?

Chinese sell with every meal dog meat in all dishes and people do not realise that, but thats not the point, the point is that Namibia is now under Chinese control and so are 65% of Africa.

Boetie, next time when you go voting, do it right, okay? Its not about skin color but what you can deliver for the people on the ground. After independence the mayority of Namibians are worst off then during the South African occupation, and thats a fact.

Independence brought a new elite super power in Namibia, from all over the globe and the people of Namibia are long forgotten.

Get fricken real Boetie. 50 years ago Ghana got independence from the European colonial power England/Britian. What changed for the people of Ghana?

Idi Amin, Mobutu, Bokassa, Nyerere, Jerry Rawlings, Nkruhmah, Mugabe, Félix Houphouët-Boigny. Leopold Sedar Senghor, Patrick Lumumba are but a few of Africa's socalled leaders ... they could not change the situation of the blacks at all.

Where is the problem?

The leadership is the problem. The leadership are corrupt minded and boot lickers to the wealthy nations. These spineless people should be replaced, even if it means that might should be use, because we some times need a little might like in the case of Sadam Hussein. We can do it, if we really want to see change or we can keep on talking for ages, and stay oppressed till the end of time.

now is the time to act.

Do you perhaps have a better opinion that might change the situation for the better or do you like to stay cowardly and watch how politicians destroy our heritage?

The British refusal to admit defeat was a nuisance to Hitler. He wanted to invade the Soviet Union, not Britain. Both he and Göring continued to hope for a diplomatic solution, and Göring put on yet more peace feelers through Holland and Sweden, but yhey know they were unlikely to succeed. Undetered by his failure at Dunkirk, Göring still believed he could bring Britain down by an air war alone, making an invasion unnecessary. But whatever happened, the RAF had to be beaten first. Neither a seaborne invasion nor unrestricted terror bombing of British cities would be possible without control of the air.

Hope this make the picture a little more clear for you.

Marco Polo went to China once upon a time. HE like it a lot! The Chinese are so nice; so inscrutable; so unforgiving. Hitler would have loved them!

i have enough of Chinese poeple. I was soo hurt to see them showing the worse part of Namibia on their tv, telling the people that Namibians are diyng of hunger.

That my dear, naïve-but-nice Mutero Alex Makongwa, is called news! A boy/girl with bulging belly and food around its mouth and smiling is NOT news; a boy/girl with bloated belly, tears in its eyes and arms like a stick IS NEWS!

An excellent information resource for the presence of CHina in Africa:

Special Report: China In Africa (Part 1)

Special Report: China In Africa | Fast Company

Special Report: China in Africa (Part 2) Mozambique: A Chain Saw for Every Tree

Special Report: China in Africa (Part 2) Mozambique: A Chain Saw for Every Tree | Fast Company

Special Report: China In Africa (Part 3) Zambia: China's Mine Shaft

Special Report: China In Africa (Part 3) Zambia: China's Mine Shaft | Fast Company


Special Report: China in Africa (Part 4) Congo: A Moment of Truth

Special Report: China in Africa (Part 4) Congo: A Moment of Truth | Fast Company


Special Report: China In Africa (Part 5) Equatorial Guinea: A Strongman Turns East

Special Report: China In Africa (Part 5) Equatorial Guinea: A Strongman Turns East | Fast Company

Special Report: China in Africa (Part 6) Endgame: Hypocrisy, Blindness, and the Doomsday Scenario

Special Report: China in Africa (Part 6) Endgame: Hypocrisy, Blindness, and the Doomsday Scenario | Fast Company


LINK TO TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Table of Contents | June 2008 | Fast Company
---------------------------------------------------------

Infographic: The Race for Raw Materials
Thanks to aggressive deal making in the sub-Sahara, China has dramatically boosted its economic footprint in Africa.
http://images.fastcompany.com/magazi...-materials.gif

Infographic: Dead Heat
China and the U.S. are now neck-and-neck in their skyrocketing appetite for Africa's riches.
http://images.fastcompany.com/magazi.../dead-heat.gif

Infographic: Beijing's Leverage
China still has a huge war chest for African deals and, unlike the U.S., doesn't make demands for transparency or human rights.
http://images.fastcompany.com/magazi...s-leverage.gif

Infographic: China's Taste for Trees
In just a few years, China has become the world's top consumer of timber.
http://images.fastcompany.com/magazi...-for-trees.gif

Infographic: The Lure of Copper
China's demand for copper has grown sixfold in five years.
http://images.fastcompany.com/magazi...-of-copper.gif

Infographic: The Omnivore
China is gobbling up natural resources of all kinds.
http://images.fastcompany.com/magazi...e-omnivore.gif

Infographic: A Black Hole for Black Gold
China is the No. 2 oil consumer behind the U.S. -- and gaining fast.
http://images.fastcompany.com/magazi...black-gold.gif

It's just excellent to have China in Africa. More contracts should be awarded to China, because they helped us during the freedom struggle. In this way we will certainly get rid of the corrupt Europeans who just loot from Africa.

Sorry, I prefer the Europeans, as controversial as it may sound, chinese and most Asians are not relly trstworthy, you are looking for a bigger F up if you wanna be 'friends' with Asians...so far no one really put forth much convincing evidence as to why we should tolerate Asians, except for that they supplied arms during various African struggles, which we paid for , meaning it was a normal business deal and nothing to really be thankfull for, biz as usual....as opposed to Europeans who keep investing in Africa, developing human capital and investing real value in Africa and help catlyzed the establishment for proper infrastructure inAfrica....needless to say, I do not remember any Asians employing and empowering any Africans....all I remember abouit them is that they are really unfriendly cheap merchandise sellers in Windhoek .... :-(