The No. 2 killer in Africa by parasite, after malaria, is an organism called Entamoeba histolytica -- or "Eh" for short. It was discovered in 1873, the year it took the life of missionary-explorer David Livingstone, that great champion of British imperialism on what his countrymen called the Dark Continent. I know this because, when I returned home from reporting in the sub-Sahara, the same pathogen was drilling through the walls of my gut. It would colonize there for months, unbeknownst to me, absorbing my nutrients and spewing its toxins, as I grew weak and emaciated.
A skillful intruder, Eh can produce a population explosion in a very short time. While its plan of attack is complex and still not entirely understood, it seems to trick human defense mechanisms into thinking all is well in the homeland. (It achieves that by killing local immune cells, then hiding the evidence by eating the cells' corpses.) Unfortunately, the more virulent the strain, the more the parasite risks killing the host -- sometimes by invading the brain -- rendering everyone homeless. Nonetheless, the more I've learned about Eh, the more I admire its resourcefulness, its work ethic (talk about intestinal fortitude!), and its resolve to survive and propagate. It's a shame we couldn't just get along, that my ecosystem couldn't sustain us both.
I likely picked up my dose of Eh in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, an epicenter of virulent disease, from flies that transported it from infected human feces to food. "If you were a malnourished kid in a refugee camp in Congo," remarked my doctor, a tropical-disease expert who has labored in dozens of such camps, "you would probably die from this infection." As it happened, I had just made it to age 47, the statistical end of the line for the 770 million people who live in sub-Saharan Africa. By their standards, I was already an old man.
An unfathomably vast terrain comprising 49 nations, the sub-Sahara represents nearly one-fifth of the earth's landmass. Yet its total economy is tinier than Florida's. Here, 300 million people get by on less than $1 a day. Until they don't: It is the planet's biggest tomb, where compared to the 1960s, twice as many children under the age of 5 are now dying each day from disease; a bottomless badland where $500 billion of Western aid since World War II (more than four Marshall Plans) has barely made a dent in the poverty; a region whose market share of world trade is shrinking by the hour as it gets left behind, perhaps permanently, in the dust of globalization; a place so desperate for everything -- cash, trade, investment, infrastructure -- and so powerless to negotiate strategically, that it's pretty much up for sale to the highest bidder.
During my recovery, I had time to dwell on parasites, how they invade and deplete their hosts, much as successive colonial powers have done over the centuries in places such as Africa. Anyone who thinks that kind of ravenous acquisition of resources is a thing of the past should take a close look at the suction China is applying in the sub-Sahara. The region is now the scene of one of the most sweeping, bare-knuckled, and ingenious resource grabs the world has ever seen.
The sub-Sahara is now the scene of one of the most bare-knuckled resource grabs the world has ever seen.
While America is preoccupied with the war in Iraq (cost: half a trillion dollars and counting), and while think-tank economists continue to spit out papers debating whether vital resources are running out at all, China's leadership isn't taking any chances. In just a few years, the People's Republic of China (PRC) has become the most aggressive investor-nation in Africa. This commercial invasion is without question the most important development in the sub-Sahara since the end of the Cold War -- an epic, almost primal propulsion that is redrawing the global economic map. One former U.S. assistant secretary of state has called it a "tsunami." Some are even calling the region "ChinAfrica."
There are already more Chinese living in Nigeria than there were Britons during the height of the empire. From state-owned and state-linked corporations to small entrepreneurs, the Chinese are cutting a swath across the continent. As many as 1 million Chinese citizens are circulating here. Each megaproject announced by China's government creates collateral economies and population monuments, like the ripples of a stone skimmed across a lake.
Beijing declared 2006 the "Year of Africa," and China's leaders have made one Bono-like tour after another. No other major power has shown the same interest or muscle, or the sheer ability to cozy up to African leaders. And unlike America's faltering effort in Iraq, the Chinese ain't spreading democracy, folks. They're there to get what they need to feed the machine. The phenomenon even has a name on the ground in the sub-Sahara: the Great Chinese Takeout.
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Recent Comments | 38 Total
May 16, 2008 at 11:08pm by Woody M. Collins
This article highlights my concern of China's invasion of sub-Saharan Africa. The West (the US and the EU) is finally getting engaged and confronting China. However, it may be too late!
Woody Collins
www.EndingExtremePoverty.org
May 23, 2008 at 8:16am by Tian Chen
Woody, how is this an "invasion"? Is there an army marching into African capitals?
If there's any invasions at all, it's the invasion of *cash*, something the Africans need for their developments.
May 23, 2008 at 8:30am by Tian Chen
Richard Behar:
While we are on the subject of Eh, the west itself has been a leading example of the Eh. By way of comparison, American consumers consume and produce contaminants like green house gases at a rate 5 or 6 times that of other developing countries. The west's exploits in Africa was done by the barrels of guns.
China, on the other hand, paid for resources at market values, and forced to take risks in investing in mines where western company wouldn't set foot in.
May 25, 2008 at 5:07am by Vince Mullins
Tina, I think the author's point is that economic stimulus and investments like these could be considered a new form of warfare or even "acquisition".
If Africa had a united voice it might express the same concerns that Americans had when japanese investment in American real estate ran rampant in the 70s-80s.
Plus history has shown that throwing cash at the African problem works rarely due to weak or dishonest political structures.
May 27, 2008 at 9:18am by Scott Mills
Why wasn't this the cover story for the June 2008 edition. While the PC-Apple marketing story is probably more tantalizing it doesn't match the importance or relevance of the China-Africa story.
May 27, 2008 at 1:50pm by James Forrest
We are attempting to finance the construction of a railroad in the Copperbelt region. The Chinese bought a mine and brought in 2,000 Chinese workers so they would not have to hire Zambians. This is not what the Zambians expected when the Zambian Government granted the concession to Chambishi Mining Plc. The Chinese briefcases and zero interest loans are no joke. They play rough.
Here is an article from the Zambian Times
Popular resentment toward the Chinese is growing. "They're not liked. They're not wanted here."
Africans Lash Out at Chinese Employers
by Robyn Dixon, Times Staff Writer
October 6, 2006
MAAMBA, Zambia — Deep in the tunnel of the Collum mine, coal dust swirls thickly, and it's stifling for workers such as Chengo Nguni. He describes his $2-a-day job with a sigh: His supervisor yells incomprehensibly in Chinese. His rubber boots leak. The buttons to control the flow of ore out of the mine often deliver an electric shock. But the worst thing about life in the Chinese-owned mine in southern Zambia is that there is no such thing as a day off. Ever.
When the government minister concerned with the region, Alice Simango, saw the conditions at the Collum mine, she wept on national television and accused the management of treating workers like animals, prompting the government to close the mine for three days in July.
China's hunger for raw materials and energy is driving new investment across Africa, with trade between China and the continent up more than 300% since 2000 to more than $40 billion a year. China is the main market for Sudan's oil. It has invested in Nigerian oil, provided oil-rich Angola with a $2-billion loan with easy terms and improved relations with Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwean regime, which is criticized by economists and human rights activists. Critics say Chinese environmental and labor standards are often poor. In Ghana, environmentalists have accused Chinese oil company Sinopec of desecrating a national park.
In Zambia, there is a growing backlash over low wages and poor conditions in Chinese operations. At the NFC Africa copper mine in Chambishi, a Chinese-owned operation in northeastern Zambia, hundreds of workers rioted in late July over reports that the management was reneging on a pay increase. Four were shot and wounded by Chinese employees of the company. Another was shot by police.
Like their counterparts at the Collum mine, the NFC workers rail against poor working conditions, low pay and lax safety standards. Last year, a blast at an NFC subsidiary explosives factory in Chambishi killed every worker on the site — more than 50 people. NFC is a subsidiary of China's government-owned Chinese Non-Ferrous Metals Corp.
The growing resentment sparked an acrimonious debate in Zambia's recent presidential elections, with Chinese Ambassador Li Baodong making comments suggesting that Beijing might sever ties and investors might pull out if leading opposition candidate Michael Sata won the Sept. 28 vote. Sata, who at one point threatened to expel Chinese traders if he became president, lost the election, and he alleged massive vote fraud. In the heat of the campaign, his Patriotic Front claimed that the use of Chinese computers to tally the count could skew results in the government's favor, an accusation strongly denied by Chinese Embassy officials.
May 31, 2008 at 1:35pm by David Murray
I was on the point of recommending this article having read most of it apart from the first page. Then I read the disgracefully slanderous attack on the reputation of the missionary-explorer David Livingstone. A man who courageously fought the slave trade in Africa for year after year, ultimately at the cost of his own life is put down as an agent of British imperialism. Even it were remotely true, how about American imperialism?
I'm no advocate of what the Chinese are doing in some African countries. Their lack of concern about corruption, kleptocracy and abuse of human rights is extremely worrying, especially as it comes just as Western countries are beginning to have their consciences stirred on these subjects. However, for America and the West to have a meaningful competitor for hearts and minds might just shake them out of their complacency. Let's hope this happens without abandoning what bit of economic conscience has recently developed.
But ethical standards in African economies are not down to Western interventions. Africans themselves are leading the way. Nigeria's recent record in addressing endemic corruption is extremely encouraging, even if there is a great way still to go. Its leadership, not only in Africa but globally, in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has been exemplary. Both China and the West should be prepared to collaborate with indigenous African agents of honest and transparent development, and so make the worries and criticisms redundant.
June 4, 2008 at 2:38am by Long Pan
I was a Fast Company subscriber for a year and stopped doing that because of the poor quality of the articles. This one is no exception. There is no solid facts. Simply just a collection of highly biased, pointless points, which have no relation to his personal experience in Africa whatsoever. I don't even bother to comment on his amateur writing.
Fast Company editors, if your goal is to provide trash, congratulations, you are getting there!
June 4, 2008 at 8:30am by John Phiri
Murray (the reader's) defense of David Livingstone is at odds with the facts. While true that Livingstone was opposed to the transatlantic slave trade, he and his associates helped usher in a different form of slavery in the imperial fiefdoms of the British and the Belgians. He is now looked back upon as culturally arrogant in his determined quest to open up Africa to his "3 C's: Christianity, Civilisation and Commerce.
June 5, 2008 at 10:37pm by Yele Odofin
I would like to commend the journalistic efforts of this writer, whom I first saw on Lou Dobbs show. Most of Richard Behar's arguments were spot-on; however, these positions were understandably based on North American perception of Africa, as a homogeneous continent of beggars and "Have Nots". Having worked on development policy issues in Nigeria, as well as reviewed a significant number of other African nations’ foreign policies. I would like to stress some points Richard omitted in his piece.
Firstly, African countries have strategic needs and these needs vary quite significantly. There is a growing fear among most African political and academic elites that a strong economic ties with the West would come with a lot of unrealistic strings such as the imposition of liberal social issues all in the name of 'Human Rights', there is also a need to diversify economic, diplomatic and military interests. It’s a no brainier that make these countries less vulnerable to external influence and western sanctions most of these countries have learned from the Zimbabwe experience. Most African countries have actively pursued the so called "South- South" development partnership. Nigeria and other African states, in the last decade have seen a huge bi lateral trade boost with countries like Brazil, Russia, India, and countries in the Middle East.
The reason for the Chinese acceptance by African leaders has little to do with corruption as there are many havens in the Caribbean, some European Territories, South America and Middle East to launder such funds.
Finally, contrary to North American media and Hollywood’s exaggerated depiction of desperate living conditions in places like Western Sudan, Somalia, Liberia, Sierra Leone and some parts of Congo. I wish to state that as a result of institutional reforms in financial sector, communication and industries, Nigeria, Ghana, Botswana, Ethiopia and many more African countries have witnessed unprecedented increase of their respective middle class populations.
The Chinese are not exploiting Africans; they are simply filling a vacuum.
June 6, 2008 at 1:41am by Bob Hurd
Africa's current condition is the result of neo-colonialism. Africa is being "sharecropped" for its non-renewable resources by the industrialized nations and aspiring industrialized nations (such as China).
In the past, Europe and America (also Japan and South Korea) have used the IMF and the World Bank as their agents to extend loans to African countries which for the most part were headed by despot leaders who lined their own pockets and thus, they had little regard for human rights/civil rights and the economic wellbeing of its people.
Metals and minerals originating from Africa such as platinum, palladium, coltan and a host of other exotic materials are classified by the U.S. as strategic minerals because they are vital to our national security. We must obtain these minerals irrespective of the cost and by any means necessary!
Western countries include a human rights component in government-to-government agreements with African countries. The Communist Chinese are under no such obligation. That’s why they are rapidly expanding their influence throughout the African continent. The Western countries and the Chinese will continue to exploit Africa for its non-renewable resources through the use of tried and true neo-colonial methodologies including fomenting tribal differences and encouraging the formation and continuation of an elite upper class of Africans and autocratic African leaders. The beat goes on!
June 10, 2008 at 7:08pm by taris_ milton
What is the problem? American never cared of investing in Africa. You went to Asia and did not want to put a dine in Africa. AID is not development, so as long as the chinese are building roads, really investing then they are welcome in Africa
June 12, 2008 at 4:30am by Marcelo Da Silva
Great article! No doubt the best article in the past 12 months about the Chinese influence in Africa. It is worth a review from all presidential candidates. As we move into the 21st century, we need to think about policies that can counter balance the Chinese influence and its consequencies. What is happening in Africa is just snapshot of the Chinese expansion worldwide. An expansion that unfortunately has been made possible by western countries consumption.
June 15, 2008 at 9:45am by iew gnem
Let's look at reality here: what's the point of "human rights" if everyone's dead? The restriction on trade with African countries under the excuse of "good governance" has caused hundreds of millions to die of poverty in the past 50 years, what China's argument is, lets make sure they are alive before worry about how much of the money ends up where.
the US ultimately cares about its own national interest, but its rethoric of "human rights" has been going on so long people can't help but to rationalize the various economic sanctions on Africa as being good for them. Theres a fundemental problem with US, and indeed western approach to Africa, they can't get out of the mindset of exploitation, Africa is and will always be that poor pathetic kid on the block that we, the morally superior, have the right to push around and tell them what to and not to do.
Reality is the only way to judge an idelogy, the western ideology in Africa has done NOTHING to improve African's lives for as long as anyone can remember, the same donnation advertisement on TV you see 10 years ago are still playing. The reality is the US does not care for Africa's development, and when it dosn't, there's no harm in starting a few rethoric and slashing sanctions left and right on coutries already in poverty.
What China is doing is to tell them, you have natural resources we need, they are worth nothing without buyers, so we are going to build an industry in your country for you so you can sell them to us, we are going to build roads, bridges, infrasture for you, so you can use them to trade with us. Will it work? nobody knows since nobody tried this before, but seeing Africa is growing at the fastest pace in history, it looks promising. On the other hand, we are pretty sure what dosn't work: sticking to the rethoric of "human rights" and "good governance" at the cost of hundreds of millions of dead, that is what I call genocide.
June 25, 2008 at 12:49pm by Jon Gos
I'm so sick of the West looking at Africa like a charity pit. Some companies have built billion dollar business off of providing endless AID to Africa. That's great, I know it's greatly appreciated but what Africa needs is to engage the world economy. More than that, that's what many African's want. To create wealth, not to live off the World Bank forever.
China just so happens to be allowing for that to happen more so than America. The problem with holding ourselves to some sort of "holier than thou" agenda when it comes to China is that we tent to villainize things the Chinese do even when they make since.
Africa (as a whole) is one of the last untapped emerging economies with an incredible amount of potential when you consider there are millions of people that make up a growing middle class....especially in places like Kenya and Uganda. Yes, some people there are caught up in never ending tribal conflict and civil war. But I'd say a greater part of the continent is becoming educated and looking for ways to prosper. The Chinese don't care about Africa anymore than the U.S. cares about the Middle East...it's pure capitalism. It's not their problem if people like Mugabe are corrupt. We can't keep excluding entire groups of people because of what their dissidents and corrupt governments do.
I wrote about this here - http://appfrica.net/blog/archives/16
There's a huge amount of untapped talent in the Africa diaspora, and if China wants to invest where the U.S. won't, so be it.
- Jon in Uganda
June 26, 2008 at 2:00pm by allen taylor
China has traded with Africa for over a thousand years. They do not have a history of divide and conquer, guns for slaves, colonies or any other Darwinist agenda. They trade, their relationship is proven. And have done so without any major conflict. Why all of the red flags, now?
I am an expat American (Black American) living in Ghana for the last two months. My firm has offices in Asia and in Africa; I have spent the majority of my life, living in both Asian and African influenced cultures. Daily, I see Chinese working on roads, owning small businesses and working and living side-by-side with Ghanaians. On the other hand I see westerners, mostly Caucasians, living in expat ghettos, shopping at Shoprite and in other stores the average Ghanaian could never dream to step into. I am not a hater: I too live in the expat ghetto and shop at Shoprite but I notice the mistrust Ghanaians have toward white people (they include me as being a white man, too- but I do have a few more points for my skin color- lol).
The Ghanaians do not trust Americans/Westerners or the Chinese. But the Chinese have boots on-the ground, cheap import products and have employed everyday local people in their shops and restaurants. Westerners have not done enough on the local level beyond Government sponsored donor work…it’s not enough to counter the influence the Chinese have earned. Most Ghanaians survive hand to mouth.
The local people want jobs. The Chinese are delivering stable yet low paying employment. Westerners do not. The Indians are here, too. The Japanese have doubled their donor aid to the region. Swiss are banking on shoring up the Banking industry. Everything is in play. It’s a modern day gold rush.
The only hope for the USA turning this situation around is the successful election of Obama. Believe me that is the only option that will cause enough momentum to open up the opportunity to get Africom on Africa soil…a state visit by a newly elected African American President. If I were Obama, one of the first official state visits would be to Africa and most probable Ghana.
July 10, 2008 at 4:25pm by Krista Donaldson
Kudos to the author for a GREAT article.
My husband and I lived in East and Southern Africa from 1998 to 2003 and we noticed a lot of Chinese projects back then. This article resonated for us because when we moved from Nairobi to Cape Town in 2002, we drove down and it was hard not to notice many of the things mentioned in the article. There was a shocking amount of clear cutting of trees in the southern Tanzanian highlands (along with the railway cars loaded with timber interestingly stamped UNHCR). We passed a dam with Chinese signs, Chinese-built soccer stadiums, Chinese-built highways (which granted were an improvement over what previously existed) - and while in Blantyre saw a parade with the Taiwanese president and the Malawian president (I'm curious the status of that relationship now).
Thanks to this article - these sights (sadly) make much more sense.
July 17, 2008 at 4:15pm by osereimen omoike
July 17, 2008 at 4:29pm by osereimen omoike
This article was just a great read. As a Nigerian-American I have always figured the reason why the continent of Africa is hard-pressed to succeed is mainly due to rampant Corruption. This article points out that in order to satisfy the appetite of the Chinese people for raw materials, they are essentially exploiting corruption for their own benifit. I read in several comments how the Chinese have built roads, hospitals, soccer stadiums, but didn't the westerners also do that? Essentially what Africa doesn't need are more objects of "success" but rather the Knowledge of how to convert the raw materials into finished goods. This however, is what the Chinese and every other colonialist power has done to Africa; exploit the raw materials and make the finished goods elsewhere where their value exponentially explodes. Does anyone think that China will stick around after all the raw materials have been plundered? The answer is sadly no. Note that once the western powers left Africa, none of the hospitals or roads survived. Corruption and violence breeds chaos which essentially destroys all that has been built. It has been said that slavery set the continent of Africa back several centuries. Essentially, the world, not just China, is now part new Slave Trade(instead of slaves, now raw materials) in which the continent of Africa will not reap the benifits and find it even more difficult to survive.
August 16, 2008 at 4:19am by Loressa Clisby
The same thing is going on between China and Kazakhstan and Siberia - relentless immigration, logging and gas and oil resources. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/crossing_continents/7338623.stm
September 18, 2008 at 4:01pm by Michael Ballard
It is an invasion. Don't fool yourself.
August 31, 2009 at 7:49am by john smith
figures.. china is out of control these days!
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September 1, 2009 at 2:45pm by John Chellaiya
I wonder how they call this as an invasion.. Invasion means that a country is completely controlled by another country. I don't think that happened here.
September 1, 2009 at 2:46pm by John Chellaiya
I wonder how they call this as an invasion.. Invasion means that a country is completely controlled by another country. I don't think that happened here.
John
September 6, 2009 at 9:45pm by steve venson
I don't think America is interested in investing in Africa. There is no sign of any development to be made in Africa. Providing aid is not development.
Stevenson
September 8, 2009 at 6:34am by Robin Son
I think you are right steve. American companies also never concentrated on investing in African countries. They mostly prefer asian countries. Robinson
October 3, 2009 at 9:50pm by valter chaves
China just so happens to be allowing for that to happen more so than America. The problem with holding ourselves to some sort of "holier than thou" agenda when it comes to China is that we tent to villainize things the Chinese do even when they make since.
Africa (as a whole) is one of the last untapped emerging economies with an incredible amount of potential when you consider there are millions of people that make up a growing middle class....especially in places like Kenya and Uganda. Yes, some people there are caught up in never ending tribal conflict and civil war. But I'd say a greater part of the continent is becoming educated and looking for ways to prosper. The Chinese don't care about Africa anymore than the U.S. cares about the Middle East...it's pure capitalism. It's not their problem if people like Mugabe are corrupt. We can't keep excluding entire groups of people because of what their dissidents and corrupt governments do.
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October 11, 2009 at 11:59am by Andreas Riemer
There are on the Internet so many sides nobody needs.
But this side is really interesting.
Many thanks for the share of the information.
Thanks,
Andreas
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October 17, 2009 at 11:04am by Howard Carl
China is now the world's economic dynamo. Africa offers abundant economic potential, hence the interest and effort by China. Time will tell if it evolves as a partnership or as explotation. Btw, that's one nasty parasite. Howard the car negotiator.
October 17, 2009 at 11:49am by Valter Hugo
Thats quite an inspiration!As a Nigerian-American I have always figured the reason why the continent of Africa is hard-pressed to succeed is mainly due to rampant Corruption. This article points out that in order to satisfy the appetite of the Chinese people for raw materials, they are essentially exploiting corruption for their own benifit. I read in several comments how the Chinese have built roads, hospitals, soccer stadiums, but didn't the westerners also do that? Essentially what Africa doesn't need are more objects of "success" but rather the Knowledge of how to convert the raw materials into finished goods. This however, is what the Chinese and every other colonialist power has done to Africa; exploit the raw materials and make the finished goods elsewhere where their value exponentially explodes. Does anyone think that China will stick around after all the raw materials have been plundered? The answer is sadly no. Note that once the western powers left Africa, none of the hospitals or roads survived. Corruption and violence breeds chaos which essentially destroys all that has been built. It has been said that slavery set the continent of Africa back several centuries. Essentially, the world, not just China, is now part new Slave Trade(instead of slaves, now raw materials) in which the continent of Africa will not reap the benifits and find it even more difficult to survive.
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October 19, 2009 at 4:49pm by Mads Nielsen
Very refreshing indeed. About time that someone tried to make a change. America is only involved with risk free solutions.
Be safe out there !
Greetings from Mads the webdesigner
October 20, 2009 at 7:28am by apikongzad zadman
There are on the Internet so many sides nobody needs.
But this side is really interesting.
Many thanks for the share of the information.โปรโมทเว็บ รูปภาพการ์ตูน รูปการ์ตูน สระบุรี apikongzad
October 29, 2009 at 6:35am by Krishna Pandey
good ieda
November 10, 2009 at 2:56pm by John Karanja
The Chinese are engage in Technology transfer as well as trade and infrastructure development. Africans have to manage this process to ensure sustainability.
We the world can do it no need for westerners to be afraid of this relationship just worry about your own problems.
November 23, 2009 at 2:28pm by Faraz Alam
Well i think that During my recovery, I had time to dwell on parasites, how they invade and deplete their hosts, much as successive colonial powers have done over the centuries in places such as Africa. Anyone who thinks that kind of ravenous acquisition of resources is a thing of the past should take a close look at the suction China is applying in the sub-Sahara. The region is now the scene of one of the most sweeping, bare-knuckled, and ingenious resource grabs the world has ever seen.
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December 7, 2009 at 11:56pm by Ryan Bartlett
Another great article from you here Richard. Very thought provoking and insightful. I enjoyed reading through the comments as well, some great points brought up from the community.
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