Chinese investment is lowering the poverty rate in Africa

[AbdiJew]

 

[Ras]

Africans outsourcing all their infrastructure development to the Chinese is like outsourcing their future.

Every developing country had a time where they were figuring things out for themselves...

and that period's generation taught the next in how to build their own civilization.

Africans instead will always depend on foreign technology transfers to keep up.

Relying on the generosity of foreigners and the leadership of African dictators isn't what I hope Somalia's future ends up as.

 

[Prince Abubu]

Selling off your natural resources (worth trillions of dollars) to the Chinese for them to send their own contractors to build cheap infrastructure isn't a viable solution to Africa's poverty. It is better than the usual Western approach of looting Africa, but it's still an unequal relationship, which China profits from greatly.

In return for building a railway or a hospital worth a few hundred million, the Chinese get oil, gas, rare metals and raw materials to fuel their industrial growth. They also get to solve their employment problem by shipping all their unemployed skilled young men to Africa to work on projects that Africans themselves should be employed to do. Thereby ensuring that Africans never learn how to catch a fish, but rely on foreign fishermen to catch it for them.

 

[Deactivated]

Selling off your natural resources (worth trillions of dollars) to the Chinese for them to send their own contractors to build cheap infrastructure isn't a viable solution to Africa's poverty. It is better than the usual Western approach of looting Africa, but it's still an unequal relationship, which China profits from greatly.

In return for building a railway or a hospital worth a few hundred million, the Chinese get oil, gas, rare metals and raw materials to fuel their industrial growth. They also get to solve their employment problem by shipping all their unemployed skilled young men to Africa to work on projects that Africans themselves should be employed to do. Thereby ensuring that Africans never learn how to catch a fish, but rely on foreign fishermen to catch it for them.

This will change when the market decides. African companies are not growing because access to capital reserves from banks is minimal or non existant.

The other problem for Africa is the lack of State owned corporations that set the tone and trajectory for industries to follow. Many African companies need public investment through national stock markets. I read one report that in 2003 Nigerian banks had $50mill of available liquidity to loan businesses--That is a problem when your emerging iron ore manufacturers can only get 2 months of runway on liquidity.

Until African companies are supported by the public, state and financial markets there will always be someone who will trade you a pipe for ore.

 

[Deactivated]

Africa needs 1million more men like Dangote.