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china goes africa
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china goes africa
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When the government's initial favorite, Canadian-run Ivanhoe Capital, withdrew its bid after sluggish negotiations, the path was clear for the Chinese. They were awarded the contract for the bargain basement price of $20 million.
From that point on the Chinese investors began celebrating what they called their "staunch solidarity" with their new business partners. "There is a long history of friendship between the Chinese and the Zambian people," the buyers pointed out, reminding the Zambians of the activities of their Maoist predecessors, who had built an 1,860-kilometer railroad, called the Tazara, from Zambia's copper belt to the mainport of Tanzania. But back then Beijing's rulers were still dreaming of world revolution and those in Lusaka of a Christian communism.
The Chinese promised to bring salvation from Africa's woes. They flattered the many African leaders who were mainly interested in securing their power. The new investors couldn't have cared less about human rights violations in Zimbabwe, corruption in Nigeria or atrocities in Darfur. On the contrary, they awarded an honorary doctorate to Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe in 2005 and named him "China's No. 1 Friend." Any sanctions the United Nations Security Council seeks to impose on Sudan are routinely blocked by the country's new allies in Beijing.
The Chinese praises the relationship between China and Africa, calling the Africans "good friends, good partners and good brothers" and highlighting what it calls a common history of old civilizations, both having had their "experiences with colonial devastation."
For this reason alone, said former President Jiang Zemin, there is a natural partnership between "China, the largest developing nation on earth, and Africa, the continent with the largest number of developing nationsChina's current ascent in Africa is all but unstoppable. Whether it will be a blessing or a curse for the continent remains to be seen. But it is already clear that hardly any other region in the world is deriving as much benefit from the economic boom in the Far East as Africa. It could even make Africa a player -- and a winner -- in the globalization game, which so far has passed the continent by.
China imports everything the continent produces: tropical hardwoods, oil, metals and even a small amount of cotton. Africa's five most resource-rich countries -- Angola, South Africa, Sudan, Equatorial Guinea and Congo -- account for more than 80 percent of all African exports to China.
In return Africa gets cheap, mass-produced items, basic consumer goods like household devices, television sets and clothing. From South African supermarket shelves to Uganda's flea markets, the products with the strange characters printed on their packaging are available everywhere. In fact the flood of cheap Chinese goods has already destroyed the textile industries in Swaziland and Lesotho.
"When it comes to production, it is difficult for Africa to compete with China. According to a report, despite low wages in Africa "the continent's disadvantages, such as poor infrastructure and high transport costs" make African products too expensive.
The initial enthusiasm is slowly turning into fear of these successors to Africa's former colonial masters. This explains why Chinese President Hu Jintao makes so many trips to the continent, courting the Africans and making statements like: "China is a peaceful nation and will most certainly take no steps that would damage the interests of Africa and its people." Be it in Cameroon, the Seychelles, Liberia or Zambia, Hu has forgiven debts and handed out low-interest and even interest-free loans. He has lifted trade barriers on many products, 440 at last count, from 28 particularly poor countries.
Beijing is building power plants, hospitals, roads and schools, and it is installing railroad tracks and water pipes. The country has sent thousands of doctors and nurses to Africa; China is doing things in a big way in Africa.
In Nigeria, it was not the World Bank but the state-owned China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation that secured the construction contract for a new railroad from Lagos to Kano. The project is worth $8.3 billion. The Chinese offered the Nigerians better terms than all other bidders, and Chinese banks will provide the financing. And unlike the World Bank, the Chinese demand neither proper accounting of funds nor the fair treatment of workers.
The two countries also appear to see eye-to-eye in the weapons business. The Nigerian air force has purchased 14 Chinese warplanes, while the navy has ordered patrol boats to fight rebels in the oil-rich Niger Delta. It is easy to understand why China is eying the black gold in the Gulf of Guinea so covetously. Experts estimate oil reserves in West Africa alone at about 110 billion barrels. It's an enormous prize, and the Chinese are not exactly holding back in the fight for this wealth.
To elbow out foreign competitors from the competition for a large oil field, the state-owned China Eximbank granted the Angolan government a low-interest loan for $2 billion. The contract was promptly awarded to Chinese energy company Sinopec. Oil deliveries will serve as collateral for the loan.
China's rulers are also busy wooing Africa's political leaders. Last fall the Chinese Communist Party invited 53 African heads of state to a summit meeting in China, the largest international conference the Chinese had ever hosted. Forty-eight Africans attended, prompting the Beijing leadership to draw comparisons to the old days, when Mao Zedong (who famously said: "We will never forget our black friends") celebrated his partners from the nonaligned world. People say China gives without demanding anything in return." For this reason, the few African leaders, are tired of the West's big brother attitudes, are willingly accepting China's generosity.
But what Africans see as a stroke of luck only strikes fear into the hearts of European development aid ministers: China's indifference to the misdeeds of African potentates and cleptocrats, and its avowed commitment not to intervene in the internal affairs of another country.
The Sudanese shopping list for Beijing, which Amnesty International recently published, is also long. According to Amnesty, China provided the Sudanese army with Chinese-made Z-6 helicopters, its "East Wind" military trucks and many other weapons which can be used to hunt down rebels in the Darfur region.
China has good reason to be so accommodating to the government in Khartoum. The China National Petroleum Corporation now owns 40 percent of Sudan's Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company, which controls the country's biggest oil fields. State-owned company Sinopec has built a 1,600-kilometer (994-mile) pipeline to Port Sudan on the Red Sea, where another Chinese state-owned company has already built a tanker port. Sudan already exports about 60 percent of its oil to China.
China's unconditional willingness to engage in trade and its vehement "defense of the principle of sovereignty is only helping Africa's tyrants.
This Chinese-African relationship is governed by the old principle of give and take. In return for defending the Chinese government against criticism for the Tiananmen Square massacre or even, as former Namibian President Sam Nujoma did, congratulating the Beijing regime for putting down the "anti-revolutionary" democracy movement, Africans receive Beijing's blessing for their own ruthless treatment of dissidents. Hardly any region seems as open to providing favors as Africa, which has many votes in the UN. China hopes to win these votes, especially when it comes time to position itself against the powerful United States. Wenping, a petite scientist who wears her hair short and has an office in the former imperial ministry of the navy, is convinced that "nothing can happen without Africa."
There is yet another reason to explain China's growing push into Africa. More and more Chinese workers and farmers are settling in Africa because they can earn more money there.
More than 300,000 Chinese were already working in Africa. More than 100,000 of them have put down roots permanently -- as merchants, farmers and bar and restaurant owners.
The Chinese prefer to work in Africa, even if it is dangerous, it is still better than working in the fields at home."
The people are peaceful and friendly, despite widespread anti-Chinese sentiments, many Chinese plan to stay in Zambia, and have already learned English.
They miss China sometimes, especially for its food. But they have not returned home yet, not even for a visit. There is a Chinese saying, he says, that goes like this: "When the tiger is in the mountains, the ape becomes king and we human beings must enrich one another. They will learn discipline from us, and they will teach us how to carry sunshine in our hearts."
All the best.
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