Africa – where the West has failed, succeed China | Business | News |
March 12, 2010 – 2:51 am
When skeptics say that China is in Africa, observes first of all its interests, Deborah Brautigan did not argue. However, it is perhaps one of the few American scholars who argue that the steps taken by China to favor and Africa too.
The point of view it stands in the recently published book ” Gift of the Dragon “(The Dragon’s Gift), analyzes the development of Chinese policy in Africa over the past decades.
The author argues that Chinese investment quickly integrate African countries into the global economy, because that, unlike the West, China is investing in a variety of industries. In Angola, for example, built roads, schools, hospitals and irrigation systems in the hinterland, although oil fields are located in the coastal zone. Brautigan quoted as telling remark of one of the Nigerian diplomat: “The Chinese are trying to participate in every sector of our economy. If we look to the West, it is oil, oil, oil, and nothing more “.
On this continent, where corruption is rife, the Chinese style of reserves actually less likely to theft of funds than the model of the World Bank, wrote in a review of new books are “Morning Star”. Rather than pass the money through a potentially corrupt government officials, China is paying the same Chinese companies engaged in infrastructure development projects.
American scholar acknowledges that sometimes the behavior of China in Africa is far perfect, says “GlobalEnvision”. Sometimes, the Chinese companies do not comply with local laws on labor protection, as happened at one of the mines in the Congo, the workers who complained that their Chinese employers pay them for their hard work for only three dollars per day, while neglecting the safety requirements that already resulted in injuries and even deaths of miners. Many also express concern that Chinese companies have a negative impact on the environment.
Recognizing these shortcomings, the study’s author still considers them to be insignificant compared with what could mean investment China to Africa, and in comparison with the failure of attempts by other countries. As noted in the review of “AidWatchers”, “in this book compares the Chinese and Western aid on the basis of the real situation, not good intentions”.
