"The Chinese claim to come here as investors, but they are trading just like us," said Dorothy Mainga, who sells knockoff Puma sneakers and Harley Davidson T-shirts in the Kamwala Market in Lusaka. "They are selling the same things we are selling at cheap prices. We pay duty and tax, but they use their connections to avoid paying tax."
Although Chinese oil workers have been kidnapped in Nigeria and in Ethiopia, where nine were killed by an armed separatist movement in May, the growing Chinese presence around the continent has produced few serious incidents.
Misunderstandings are common, however, and resentments inevitably arise. Africans in many countries complain that Chinese workers occupy jobs that locals are either qualified for or could be easily trained to do. "We are happy to have the Chinese here," said Dennis Phiri, a 21-year-old Malawian university student who is studying to become an engineer. "The problem with the Chinese companies is that they reserve all the good jobs for their own people. Africans are only hired in menial roles."
Another frequently heard criticism is that the Chinese are clannish, sticking among themselves day and night.
In Addis Ababa, in what is a typical arrangement for most large companies, the 200 Chinese workers for the Road & Bridge Corp all live in a communal compound, eating food prepared by cooks brought from China and even receiving basic health care from a Chinese doctor.
"After a day off, you wonder what you're doing here, so we like to keep working," said Cheng Qian, the country manager for the road building company in Ethiopia. He added that his family had never visited him during several years of work here. "They have no interest in Africa," he said. "If it were Europe, things would be different."
Sometimes, the Chinese approach has created serious frictions with African workers. At a leading hotel here in Lilongwe, breakfast guests stared as an agitated Chinese traveling salesman, sweating profusely, screamed at his staff minutes before his promotional pitch on nutritional supplements was set to begin.
"You say it is not your fault, but the way you are doing things is just stupid, stupid," the man sputtered before a clutch of humiliated-looking African assistants. "You people are unbelievable."
The scene was redolent of the waves of heavy-handed European colonialists, pushy American executives and members of the Indian and Lebanese diasporas who have settled in Africa to seek their fortunes, often to suffer worker revolts or failed businesses. When the salesman had finally left the room, members of the restaurant staff gathered near the door and vented their disgust. "We don't need people like that to come here and colonize us again," said one of them.
After nearly seven years in Malawi, Yang Jie, the ice cream maker, seems to have learned better. Greeting his workers at the ice cream factory, he begins the day by asking, "How did you sleep last night?"
One of them quickly replied, "Very well," sounding a bit formal.
"Don't tell me a lie," Yang answered with a sly, friendly smile. "It's OK to tell me your worries.""
RSS