These days I noticed interesting articles on the growing influence of China in Africa on the BBC website.China will probably take the place of many Western agencies/donors in the next years. Hu Jintao, China's President, has announced a doubling of state aid to Africa: £2.6bn in trade credit and loans, new schools and hospitals, professional training for 15,000 Africans in Beijing.
What I read matches perfectly with what I am observing here in Cairo. The Chinese embassy, located a few steps from my house, is expanding. A quite big area in the island of Zamalek, it is protected by high walls and strong gates. For months now, I noticed workers coming and going, but I was never able to figure out what was going on in there.
The Chinese presence is still quiet, and silent. And this seems to happen in the rest of the African continent too. Just a couple of examples.
In Tanzania, people object that Chinese imports are shipped to the Chinese embassy in diplomatic containers from Beijing - but no-one can prove it. The stuff (mainly made of plastic) is then sold in the local markets at very cheap prices, killing local industries. While the foundations have been laid for the new National Stadium, the raw materials, machines, the pipe work and the scaffolding, they all come from Beijing.
In Angola, China is the main trading partner, after advancing a $5 billion loan to be repaid in oil. In the short term Angola will benefit from Chinese-built roads, hospitals, schools, hotels, football stadiums, shopping centres and telecommunications projects.
Picture and part of the text: Kate Eshelby, BBC news
3 comments:
Ciao Chiara. Sono finita per caso sul tuo blog ed ho visto che anche tu conoscevi il prof Detalmo PB. Io mi sono laureata con lui nel lontano 98...Volevo sapere se sei stata per caso al cimitero...mia mail: cinzia.sole@libero.it
ciao! Cinzia
nemmeno in cina sanno più dove mettere i cinesi...
cusin
ciao...confermo che in eritrea appena vedono un asiatico, lo chiamano china china. Mi sono detto, perchè conoscono così bene la cina? ebbene, da alcuni anni i cinesi hanno gli appalti per strade e ponti....ed lò'Eritrea non è esattamente un centro geopolitico a priorità strategica. So che in Senegal lo stadio l'hanno costruito i cinesi...diciamo che le consistenti macro-pressioni politiche cinesi viste in Sudan, sono in linea in tutti i paesi africani: la cina si presenta come la vecchia urss, agigungendo il fascino capitalistico. mix esplosivo, per la totale assenza di ideologia ed etica, schiacciate dal pragmatismo economico di un miliardo e mezzo di persone. teniamoci forte..
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