Thread: Namibia's Geingob shows middle finger to China

About time, too! And it applies to all, I hope - Chinese, Europeans, Americans, you name them....

The Namibian had a report on the NCCI's statement by Jo-Mare Duddy on the 19th of February this year. It has been said before somewhere else on this forum, and many others throughout our Mother Continent that we will ignore the new Chinese colonialism at our own peril for its tentacles have spread far, and deep, and it is extractive in nature and not in our interest in the long run.

Yes, there are soft loans on offer and roads and other infrastructure is being built with Chinese money. But what for? What did the other colonisers build roads and public buildings for? They built it to let their own people take out our resources at an even lower cost and to influence our politicians and chefs, not to diversify and strengthen our entrepreneurs and our capacity to grow our economy with indigenous manufacturing and service capacity. Only we can do that, and we have to learn to dictate to China and others OUR TERMS, and NOT merely accede to and accept THEIRS. On this basis I welcome the NCCI's statement and the subsequent investigations by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

What better example to we need for this inherently unequal and economically oppressive relationship than the over 100 trucks imported by Chinese businesspeople into Namibia? These trucks will transport Chinese goods imported by Chinese businesspeople to Chinese shops all over the region who employ Chinese labour, and the money will go to Chinese businesspeople and back to China. There is nothing Namibian about this whatsoever. The trucks will not be used to transport Namibian goods to Namibian businesses who employ Namibians and who pay taxes to Namibia. Simple as that, at least in many cases. Many Chinese companies don't even pay taxes, never mind respect our laws. They operate in a murky and shadowy world of piles of cash on kitchen tables.

Many of those that do employ Namibians don't pay the minimum wage or adhere to our labour laws. I'm not talking loosely and irresponsibly, my friends, for numerous studies conducted over the past few years have confirmed this again and again. Our leaders are obviously not learning fast enough about the effects of their inaction and incapacity to address the rise of China strategically. They sit back and let the juggernaut roll on. Well. hopefully no longer.

Let us not fool ourselves: Some of them talk ill about us behind our backs, saying that we are slow and unproductive. We know all this stereotypes and we have heard it before from the Europeans before. Why will we let them tell it again?

My brothers and sisters let me tell you that many of these businesspeople are again taking us for a ride once again, and exploiting our naive hospitality and riches while only a few of our own selfish and greedy people line their own pockets, not that of our Republic.

And let us also be honest about those in our midst that have formed allegiances and partnerships with Chinese organisations and individuals and that are doing a brisk trade, whether it be in protected natural resources or goods. Of course not all of these relationships are bad or inherently illegal or to our nation's disadvantage. But many of them are. These local companies should be scrutinised just as much as their Chinese counterparts.

Is this colonialism revisited? I am not a xenophobe, and I am not anti Chinese. I am for Namibia and for building OUR economy and OUR capacity to grow OUR economy by manufacturing OUR own goods and exporting them and adding value to OUR resources - not that of the Chinese and China.

I am all for Chinese companies coming here and registering with the tax authorities and investing their capital in our economy by employing Namibians and adhering to our labour and other laws, and producing Namibian goods and services, even for export. I am all for that, because it is in our nation's interest.

NCCI wants investors checked

THE Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) yesterday called on Government to ban “piecemeal type” foreign investors who don’t create jobs or boost economic growth, but rather “kill” existing local businesses.

The Chamber issued a statement saying that existing foreign investment legislation allows Government “to declare some types of businesses as those which can be adequately done by Namibian entrepreneurs, and direct foreign investments into other areas”.

Asked whether this boils down to the NCCI expecting Government to ban such foreign investors, Chamber Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tarah Shaanika told The Namibian: “Yes.”

Spurring the Chamber’s action were more than a hundred new trucks which foreign businessmen recently imported so that they no longer needed the services of local truckers and transport companies to get their goods from the Walvis Bay harbour to Angola.

The NCCI claims that these trucks were also used to penetrate the local market.

Although Shaanika wouldn’t elaborate on the nature of the deal, The Namibian has learnt that the trucks were imported from China by Chinese businessmen.

China is virtually dumping these vehicles in Namibia, cutting the operational costs of Chinese businessmen and leaving the local transport sector without the power to compete, the paper’s source alleged.

The increasing presence of Chinese businesses in Namibia, snatching business opportunities from locals, has for long been a thorn in the NCCI’s side.

Chamber Chairman John Endjala already complained about it to President Hifikepunye Pohamba during a private meeting in 2008.

Trade and Industry Minister Hage Geingob told a business gathering in the North last July that his Ministry had received various complaints on the Chinese issue and that he had put together a team to investigate the matter.

Relations between the local business sector and the Chinese in the North are so strained that the Namibian entrepreneurs have called for a boycott of Chinese businesses in the region.

Several studies by the Labour Resource and Research Institute (LaRRI) have revealed illegal labour practices by the Chinese, and the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) have consistently voiced their concern with the status quo.

The NCCI’s latest statement refers only to a “few countries”, but Shaanika admitted that China was once again included among the culprits.

The Chamber is not only unhappy with the trucking incident.

“There are a number of new small-scale retailing outlets throughout the country, offering low quality products and replacing long existing locally-owned businesses,” it said in the statement. Shaanika said these businesses are threatening the local small and medium enterprise (SME) sector.

LaRRI last year said that there were more than 500 Chinese retailers registered with the Ministry of Trade and Industry. However, it pointed out that the majority of Chinese businesses are not registered.

The Institute further said that these businesses pay no import duties and taxes, and hardly use local banks. They also mostly deal in cash, which makes it difficult to find out what their profit is and tax them on it, LaRRI said.

“The cost to the economy is astronomical,” Shaanika said.

This is especially worrying as the latest official unemployment figure is 51,2 per cent.

“We are concerned that the type and level of foreign direct investment which Namibia is attracting, is not helpful to our efforts to diversify and grow the economy at a faster pace as well as to create jobs,” the NCCI statement said.

“It is an open secret that such investments are made by private entrepreneurs from a few countries with support by governments of such countries in many instances. However, the types of businesses established through such investments are not supportive of our national industrialisation and economic diversification agenda,” the Chamber said.

The NCCI wants Government to “properly screen” foreign direct investments and “only approve such investments which are clearly supporting our economic development priorities, rather than replacing existing Namibian-owned businesses”.

“In our view, some businesses such as small and medium scale retailing, road transport, cleaning services, small to medium construction services, security services, small-scale mining and catering services are some of the types of businesses which could be reserved for Namibian entrepreneurs.”
The Chamber said whereas Namibia should welcome foreign investors as far as possible, the country should be focused on what it would like to gain out of such investments.

“We are calling for an urgent dialogue with the Government on this matter so that the concerns of our members on this issue are addressed conclusively,” the NCCI said.
jo-mare@namibian.com.na

And with that Geingob's already evaporating chances of ever becoming president of Namibia have just been totally scuppered!

Shame, KK! You blew a fuse for nothing!