The Chinese in Africa: Empire builders or new pioneers?

10 Oct 2014 00:00

Liesl Louw-Vaudran

Howard French goes on a road trip to find out if China is indeed building an empire in Africa.

The influx of investment and people from China has become one of the defining narratives of Africa over the past two decades.

China, by all accounts, has identified Africa as the source of much-needed raw materials for its phenomenal growth, and Chinese business entrepreneurs see its sparsely populated interiors as a potential new frontier for manufactured goods.

This story of China in Africa has, however, largely been couched in government rhetoric and clouded by stereotypes.

Former New York Times Shanghai bureau chief Howard French attempts to lift the veil of secrecy that clouds many of the Chinese business dealings and give readers a glimpse of who the Chinese living and working in Africa really are.

His book, China’s Second Continent - How a Million Migrants are Building a New Empire in Africa, is a road trip of sorts to a select number of African countries that gives fascinating insight into the lives of Chinese workers, businesspeople and officials in Africa.

Through his conversations and descriptions of Chinese in far-flung-places like northern Namibia, Zambia’s copper belt, the Niger River irrigation scheme in Mali or in poverty-stricken Guinea, French debunks many of the myths surrounding the China-Africa relationship.

It remains debatable, however, whether China is indeed building an empire in Africa, similar to the colonial expansion of previous centuries. French’s evidence for this assertion is largely anecdotal.

French’s journey starts off with a trip to Mozambique where he meets entrepreneur Hao Shengli, who takes him to Massinga where the “new frontiersman” has a small farm.

Hao, like most of the Chinese whom French meets, works hard. Chinese in Africa pride themselves on the notion of chi ku (“eating bitter”) while working for a better life for themselves, says French.

Like ambitious immigrants around the world, they allow themselves few luxuries and never take holidays. After work they surf the internet or chat with friends back home on instant messaging platforms.

State channels, entrepreneurial spirit
While it is clear that the main thrust of Chinese expansion in Africa is through official channels, many of French’s interlocutors are on their own and, like Hao, operate largely under the radar

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