The short answer is no. China’s investment in Africa has been controversial and a double-aged sword to the continent. On one hand, Africa wants China to help feed its massive infrastructure appetite that has grown exponentially for the last twenty years. On the other hand, Africa feels
short-changed because the projects often do not help alleviate poverty or create jobs across the continent. Africa can live without Chinese Investment. What Africa needs to do is build the continent at its own pace. There should be no rush among African leaders to sign bad deals with the Chinese at the expense of Africa’s resources. Looking at what has been happening lately, it’s fair to say that Africa has been receiving the raw end of the deal here. How then should Africa deal with the Chinese as we enter a new decade?
Natural Resources for Human Resources?
China has been hungry for Africa’s natural resources to support its domestic demands. I was recently living and working in China and I have never been to a country where there is so much construction. There are so many new high-rise buildings and new roads in China. All this needs
resources from minerals to timber to oil–and Africa continues to be the cheapest source to meet this demand.Instead of just coming to get natural resources from Africa, African leaders should demand that China provides African human resources to work on the projects. It’s commonplace to see
Chinese workers working as laborers on many projects that are run by the Chinese. Africans should not only be laborers but should work alongside their Chinese counterparts as consultants, project managers and so on. Besides, once the Chinese leave Africa, someone will need to service power stations or airports. Are we going to ask the Chinese to come back and do basic maintenance on these projects? The need for skilled human resource in Africa is very important. In fact, Africa has the skilled human resource already. It just needs to be put to work. Its workforce should be engaged in high-level projects so that it gains experience and participates in building Africa.
Contracts for Citizens
According to the SAIS China-Africa Research Initiative at John Hopkins University (2020),almost $50 billion was spent on Chinese construction projects in Africa in 2018. Zambia was one of the top spenders with more than 2.7 billion-dollar contracts awarded to Chinese construction
companies. Zambia was only outspent by Algeria $7.5bn, Ethiopia $4bn, Kenya 4.3bn and Nigeria $4bn. Now, where a small economy like Zambia would spend such an amount of money on construction is a question for another day.Because of the massive amount of money spent on Chinese projects, would it help Africa if there was a way to give contracts to African citizens who partnered with the Chinese? This will ensure that at least half of the money remains in African banks or circulates in the African economy. In addition, African companies will also employ other Africans. African leaders must get creative in how they deal with contracts that they make with the Chinese. They must remember that their obligations are to the Africans and not to the Chinese.
Borrowing with a plan
The Harvard Business Review (26 Feb 2020), reports that Djibouti, the Republic of Congo, Niger and Zambia owe at least 20% of their nominal GDP to China. Now, that’s scary considering how small the GDP is for these countries. In addition, it is estimated that Africans have borrowed
close to $150 billion between 2000 and 2017. While borrowing is necessary for many African governments, there is need to exercise restraint
and create a feasible plan of repaying the debt. Otherwise, Africa will forever be indebted to China. In fact, it already is. China pretty much owns Africa now.
African citizens must begin to demand accountability from their leaders. What they pay back is just as important as what they borrow. Citizens should demand to see a plan on how the debt will be repaid. Even more important is that citizens, either through parliament or other ways,
should have a big say in what, when or from whom they borrow. This will likely create transparency.
Racial tensions must stop
Racial tensions have risen over the recent months between Africans and the Chinese. Africans in China have been harassed simply for being in the country. Oftentimes beaten and attacked in public places such as trains and shopping malls. In some cases, these attacks have turned fatal.
This is unacceptable. Both the African governments and the Chinese government need to do better to make sure that this comes to an end.
I must say that, while living in Shandong province, I was treated very well by the Chinese people in that region. Even when I travelled across the country, I didn’t feel like my life was in danger. Most people were just fascinated by my race. I bring this up so that people realize that
China is bigger than Guangzhou or Beijing. There are a lot of good people between the two cities.
So, who benefits?
Well, it all comes down to who needs the other one more. For the most part, the relationship between Africa and China has been mutually beneficial. The only challenge is that Africans have not used their resources as a leverage. Or is it because these deals tend to put lots of cash in
African leaders’ personal pockets, so they focus on what they get and not what Africa gets?
By Wesley Ngwenya
Wesley next time try to summarise or just do a ka part one then two.
Having said that, let me tell you that Zambia like any othe country in Africa has depended on China since since.
KK was no f00l to partner with China to build you Lake Kariba. He was definitely no f00l to partner with China to build the rail line and pipe line from Tanzania to Kapiri. You are part of the problem. From school, you can’t innovate, you graduate with cooked projects, you can’t complete simple projects when government gives you projects, you first try to quench your poverty before you get to work. Yes for serious projects for now, you need serious foreigners to do the job for you as you put your hands in your pockets. In Zambia today every one wants to be trained for the office. Engineers are solution…
… givers and their work areas are no office environments for longer times.
Can you imagine that right now you can’t mine your own God given Gold, you can’t make a razer blade, you can’t do tooth pics, you can’t assemble vehicles any more, you can’t make roads, you can build military houses, you can’t ‘build hospitals’. You Zambians can’t do small things. You just politick and yap when in opposition day in day out. Chinese are cleaning up your mess. China is in fact cheaper than your masters, the West who dumped you after clinching the mining rights indirectly and hammered you with loans through the evil IMF and World Bank.
Like in Zambia they depend on Chinese conctruction
Let’s change our country Zambians open ur eye and ears to see and hear what is happening in ur country.
You can’t rig for oil. This $#!+ don’t come easy. You got Gold and other precious minerals, you can’t mine it. It is my conviction that you got oil too. You got land. Arable land but who owns active Commercial farms in Zambia? If it is actually the Chinese Government behind these Chinese companies in Zambia, guess what? Our parastatals are so archaic and managers there have lamentably failed. Can you recount parastatal companies in Zambia? Zanaco failed, Zampost has failed, the Lime company in Ndola has failed, ZISC has failed, Zambia Railways has failed, Zamtel has failed, Zesco has failed; question is what can you successfully do as Zambians?
The GDP of 54 African countries combined= $3Trillion versus China’s GDP of $15 Tr . We can easily see who needs the other more.
Instead of yapping and whoofing China this, China that; get your acts together and get to work niggaz.
I am glad your tuma little travels is opening up your minds.
I will be in Europe in the next few weeks as the Covid-19 restrictions ease.
@This thorn in the flesh. Read, analyse ad talk. Yes we need to partners bt not fully dependency like wht we a now.
Look back before 1991, the UNIP govt built all those projects in partnership ad later let go of tht to be run by Zambians eg we’ve Indeni, Zamefa, Tazama, Tazara, itezi tezi dam, NCZ, ZCCM etc all those were Zambian run, foreigners were working in these industries side by side ad all ws well, standards were good.
Bt after KK’s leadership the all system ws in a mess, privatization ws rushed ad without any second thot ”wht if…. or inga” this fells. Becos our leaders didn’t think, they sold all, now we a in a mess. This thing we a in is bcoz of leadership, our leaders whn doing anything, first think of a foreigner than us. End result we a lacking behind in everything…
@African
Read and analyse my comments and then talk or react. Through my commentary ‘jibberish’, I thought that you were going to pick the main point.
I put it plainly to you here.
Kindly put your acts together as Zambians.
Get properly schooled to safely handle massive projects for the country; we need that. China is not only in Zambia or Africa. They have construction and technological deals in America north and South, Europe, Asia. They are all over. The money you’re saying you’re paying them actaully came from them in a deal no other country could render. You’re so poor because you cannot exploit your own resources due to lack of capacity in knowledge, technology and capability in human capital. It will take millions light years away for us to get there if we don’t put our…
…put our heads to it. Has your school served you right?
Zambian Jerabos: “Definition of sleeping giant. : one that has great but unrealized or newly emerging power.”
“I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”
Jerabos please come to the rescue of your generation.
PF time-out
You don’t have rights to the running copper mines because h² and FTJ sold them cheaply. IMF and World Bank told you to sell them. Meaning the mines are in Zambia but that resource is theirs. During LPM reign, these two organisations pressured you to declare upon your lives that you’re poor and heavily indebted – a $illy mind game preparing you for handouts. So you declared with your mouth and pen on paper that you were HIPC in the most dehumanizing circumstances. To make you feel nice for the embarrassment they unscrewed the economic pressure and made LPM smile with a K4/$1 reward. This excited you. My point is, focus on and manage what you have. God gave it freely to you. Your Nature Resource. Unscrew your minds from the shackles of poor connotation.
We all know the answer to that. Why you think there are more Chinese here in Zambia than there are Zambian in China?
Better we fill your belly then think of Chinese not first foreigners then us. Thts rubbish thinking, if thts the case now, Zambia is a dead wood.
Our leaders are more in support of foreigners than us. They look at us second hand foreigners whn we own the land. Foreigners won’t develop this land bt reap all our natural resources ad after nothing is left, it’ll be wasteland ad they will go back to their countries. Us here with nothing ad we won’t be accommodated, or accepted.
They like Africa bcoz of wht we have, natural resources not us the people. Africans wake up, ad unite.
@the thorn in the flesh (100% PF) – correction, Kariba dam ws not a Zambian project or built by the Chinese, read your history. Zambia just inherited it frm the Federal govt. Check our history.
Fair comment by a concerned citizen. 20% of any number is still 20%. So it doesn’t matter if the economy is small or big. There’s a language barrier and a work ethic problem btwn Chinese and Africans. I also suspect that if they want to cut corners during construction, Chinese contractors don’t want Africans to know. The Chinese want Africans to remain dependent on them so that the money keeps flowing. Who wouldn’t do that if given a chance to influence a future business relationship?
Wow wow wow@Thorn in the flesh has finally found Jesus and sense. I like your comments bro. Congrats on your new found religion or is it because you’ve been sober because of quarantine so that native intelligence is slowly sipping back? Anyway you are spot on. Wesley, at the risk of sounding controversial, are you aware that China owns $1.3 trillion dollars in American debt? America owes China that much. I mean we can politcize inkongole all we want but Zambia just owes a paultry $11 billion. I am not saying debt is a good thing, but it is necessary if you have a proper plan for it. Since today is a Sunday though ndenwa kikikiki…,but the parable of the talents from the good book is great lesson on how an individual or nation should manage debt. Goldman sachs(American) funded Bank of…
….Bank of China Hong Kong and China telecom in the 80’s, today the borrower has become the lender. Wisdom chabe!!