Zambia and China have engaged in talks to revive the defunct Mulungushi-China textiles in Kabwe.

Defence Minister George Mpombo revealed that a team of experts have been in the country carrying out technical assessment on the viability of the company.

Mr. Mpombo said the team of experts from China will be in the country for one month to capture and compile a comprehensive technical report which will be presented to both governments.

Mr. Mpombo disclosed this in an exclusive interview with ZANIS in Ezulwini, Swaziland.

He said the outcome of assessment which is expected before May would provide the way forward in terms of recapitalisation, investment and also strengthening the joint venture.

The Defence Minister said the two countries are committed to support and ensure that the company is competitive.

“The team of experts have so far captured a comprehensive factor of what we need to ensure the company is back into serious business and further strengthened. For us as government this is a significant development,” said Mr. Mpombo.

With the restoration of Mulungushi-China textiles about 2,500 jobs will be created and the out growers activities revamped.

“When the company closed down two years ago many jobs were lost and even the peasant farmers who were involved in growing cotton for the company lost their business. Now, once the joint venture is revived, about 2,500 jobs will be created thereby turning the economy of Kabwe around,” said Mr. Mpombo.

The Defence Minister pointed out that Zambia and China would like to ensure the company is utilised to its full capacity.

“For the last two years there has been serious hiccups in operations and a yawning capacity of that company. That company has the capacity to export and do miracles for the country,” said Mr. Mpombo.

Mulungushi-China closed down two years ago due to lack of capital injection paralysing economic activities in Kabwe.

Meanwhile, Mr. Mpombo commended the defence forces in the country for their professional conduct which he said has earned the country increased international recognition.

He said as a result of the high-quality conduct of the men and women in uniform, the United Nations has requested for an expanded deployment of Zambian peace keepers.

He has since advised the defence forces in the country to maintain the excellent conduct and to further be loyal to the government of the day.

“The defence and security wings should not divert from their core responsibility of maintaining peace and security in the country so that Zambians can do their businesses peacefully,” said Mr. Mpombo.

(lusakatimes.com)

(China Knowledge) - China Gezhouba (Group) Corp<600068>, one of the biggest engineering and construction enterprises in China, signed on Mar. 25 a construction contract worth US$406 million with the Housing and Infrastructure Bureau of Libya, according to the company’s statement on Friday

According to the contract, the Chinese company will offer services of survey, evaluation, planning, design and construction of an infrastructure project in southwestern Tripoli, the capital of Libya.  It will take about four years to finish the project.

The statement also said that the company has obtained approval from its board of directors to establish the Gezhouba Angola Limited with a registered capital of US$1 million to expand its business in the country.
Copyright © 2009 www.chinaknowledge.com

Angola Chamber of Commerce and Industry head António dos Santos and Association of Macau Small and Medium Enterprises head Stanley Au signed a co-operation protocol on Friday.
At the end of the ceremony Dos Santos said his group was taking one more step to work closely with their counterparts in developing trade and business.
Dos Santos added that most companies are small- to medium-sized in Macau, so the agreement represents another way to meet the current needs of Angolan entrepreneurs seeking to enter international markets.
The Chinese government donated five million yuan to Angola. Vice minister of Trade Jiang Zengwei said the authorities were satisfied with the co-operation established with Angola and the active role of Chinese companies reconstructing the country.
Despite the global financial crisis, he stressed the need to invest more efforts in both countries so obstacles could be “overcome” as they arise.
He added that the visit head of state José Eduardo dos Santos made to China last year contributed to further strengthening the friendship ties between the two countries.
Jiang also considered the conclusion of the agreement of reciprocal protection of investments signed earlier between both countries important, he said.
Funds were formally delivered on Friday through the signing of confirmation letters between Jiang and Angolan deputy foreign minister Exalgina Gamboa at the end of the China-Angola Intergovernmental Bilateral Commission in Luanda.
The Angolan vice minister said the government continues to honour its commitments and is committed to continuing program reforms, while calling for greater rigour in managing public expenses.

(macaudailytimesnews.com)

Rwanda’s ruling party leader Francois Ngarambe reaffirmed his country’s one-China policy in Beijing Tuesday.

“We hope the Chinese people will soon complete their long- cherished wish to realize national reunification,” Ngarambe told Luo Gan, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

Ngarambe, general secretary of the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF), is leading an RPF delegation on a nine-day visit in China.

Luo said China appreciates Rwanda’s adherence of one-China policy and its support to China’s efforts of realizing national reunification.

He also hailed long-term China-Rwanda cooperation, saying the CPC wants to improve exchanges with the RPF in ruling countries and upgrade bilateral relations to a new level through enhanced understanding and friendship.

Ngarambe thanked China for its help and support for his country over the past years. He also expressed Rwanda’s appreciation of China’s efforts in promoting China-Africa friendship within the framework of China-Africa Cooperation Forum.

The RPF has been Rwanda’s ruling party since 1994.

Source: Xinhua

with the World Expo Shanghai 2010 approaching rapidly the next year, the excitement and anticipation revolving around it have taken everyone under its spell. After the declaration of the venue and time, now it is the turn of the list of participating countries from round the world. Luckily, you have all the access to such information at the-world-expo.com website.

The website has earlier too announced the venue of World Expo Shanghai 2010 i.e. on the both sides of the river Huangpo near the Nanpu bridge-Lupu bridge area in the centre of Shanghai in China. The expected participants for this major registered event hosted first time by a developing country are 200. And so far, the list taken out has announced 194 participants from all over the continents. Following is the list
America-22
Europe-41
Asia-42
Ocenaia-14
Africa-48

Clearly, Africa is leading the race with 48 participants with Asia trailing close behind with a total of 42 participants. Besides these, there are 27 international organizations too like The World Tourism Organization, The Commonwealth Of Independent States etc. who are also participating.

The World Expo Shanghai 2010 will take place from May 12 to October 31 i.e. the Halloween day in 2010. The time is running fast and so are the preparations. If you are an interested visitor or tourist who plans to visit the city at this time, it would be good if you keep in touch with all the happenings in this mega event of sorts.

Log on now to http://www.the-world-expo.com for the complete list of participants from each continent and country and get updated about all the latest news and information on the World Expo Shanghai 2010.

(your-story.org)

A MAN has died after catching his girlfriend as she jumped from the seventh floor of an apartment block in China, a newspaper has reported.

The young Chinese man, identified only by the surname Wang, held out his arms to break the woman’s fall as she plummeted from their apartment in Quanzhou in south-eastern China.

The tragic incident occurred last night, the Straits Capital News (Haixia Dushi Bao) said today on its website.

Mr Wang was killed by the impact of his girlfriend landing on top of him, while the woman suffered bone fractures and other serious injuries but was not in critical condition, the newspaper said.

The couple had quarrelled shortly before the unnamed woman began threatening to jump from the apartment, it quoted witnesses as saying.

The witnesses reported seeing Mr Wang on the street below the apartment, trying to persuade his girlfriend not to jump.

The newspaper showed photographs of the injured woman in hospital and of the street below the apartment.

The woman appeared confused and unclear about how she fell from the apartment, sometimes giving her age as 18, and sometimes as 30, it quoted medical staff as saying.

She was under treatment for multiple fractures and required surgery, but she did not suffer any life-threatening injuries, it said.

Deutsche Presse Agentur

At least 22 people were killed yesterday at a World Cup qualification match in Ivory Coast when a stadium wall collapsed.

The falling masonry prompted a crush by stampeding fans during the home country’s 5-0 win over Malawi Abidjan.

Police, apparently believing there was rioting, reportedly also fired tear gas at the crowd, which is said to have added to the panic at the Houphouet-Boigny Stadium.

People help carry a boy injured in a stadium crush during match between Ivory Coast and Malawi at Felix Houphouet-Boigny stadium

The death toll is today expected to rise with 132 people yesterday reported injured.

Some 50,000 fans watched the victory by Ivory Coast, whose team includes Arsenal defender Emmanuel Eboue and Chelsea striker Didier Drogba, who scored twice.

The international side made sure of their place at the top of Group E with Bakary Kone, Salomon Kalou and Romaric also on the scoresheet.

Police reportedly also fired tear gas into the crowd, causing more panic

Stampedes are common at Africa’s crowded stadiums, especially at events that touch national pride, such as the World Cup qualifying matches.

Badly-equipped security forces are far outnumbered and are often unable to control the voluminous crowds.

Ollo Kambire, a reporter for Super Sport newspaper, said that a wall collapsed under the weight of the fans as they pushed toward the field. “We saw people falling. … Then there was panic and a stampede,” he said.

Ivory Coast won the match 5-0.

(dailymail.co.uk)

(kontraband.co.uk)

(.kontraband.co.uk)

March 29, 2009

Best African of the Week - Tidjane Thiam: From Ivory Coast to Prudential:

Instead of screaming with a hyperbole, we can begin with a simple statement: last week, it was announced that Tidjane Thiam, a black man of Ivorian descent, will take over as head of UK insurance giant Prudential, which is in the FTSE 100.  The FTSE 100 Index – informally called the “footsie” – is a share index of the 100 most capitalized UK companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.

And so what, you might ask: after all Barack Obama is now the leader of the free world, and was Obama’s father not an African from Kenya?  Well, for one thing, this is the other side of the Atlantic, where an arguable case can be made that racism is less violent but insidiously more deep rooted.  For another, this is the business world, and its another arguable proposition that political achievements for minorities always run ahead of economic ones.  Consider these facts, for instance: The FTSE got its first female chief executive, Pearson’s Marjorie Scardino, in January 1997 and its first Asian chief, Standard Chartered’s Rana Talwar, in June 1998.  However, before the appointment of Mr Thiam, there had never been a black chief executive.

So, now to the hyperboles: TT (as we will now fondly call him) was born in Ivory Coast to a father who would become a political prisoner.  The younger Thiam, studied in France and after a stint with McKinsey & Company, he returned to Ivory Coast in the 1990s to head several public bodies, including a ministerial appointment.  He returned to McKinsey after the Ivorian coup of 1999 to become a Partner (another wonder), eventually joining Aviva as Head of Strategy.  Prudential snatched him from Aviva and made him a Group Finance Director.

Go get more details on the life journey of this remarkable African (never mind the French connection), all you need to do is Google his name, or check Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidjane_Thiam).  So we will spare you the details and the significance of his ties to Africa here.  However, TT himself has always played down the significance of his racial background.  In an interview a few years ago: “I spent a lot of my childhood in Africa and I just cannot see myself as a minority - I see myself as a human being.  If you start wondering when something happens to you whether it is because you are you or whether it is because you are a minority, life becomes very complicated.”

Well said.  For being one of Africa’s freshest and most uplifting voice, Tidjane Thiam is Black Herald’s Best African of the Week.  In particular, and for those who believe that their African accents might impede their progress in the West, TT said he finds it especially odd considering he is a product of the French education system and not a native English speaker.

Worst Africans of the Week - President Kgalema Motlanthe of South Africa:

But for preventing the Dalai Lama from attending a peace conference in Johannesburg last week, President Kgalema Motlanthe is Africa’s Worst Person of the Week!  Mothlanthe’s excuse, wait for this, is that South Africa did not want to strain its relationship with China. The president’s spokesman added that South Africa did not want to be “the source of negative publicity about China.”

This is a disappointment on an astonishing scale.  Whatever realpolitik South Africa’s new placeholder president is playing is ignoble.   Among those with strong words of anger and condemnation are South Africa’s Retired Cape Town Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former president Nelson Mandela, the Nobel Institute Director Geir Lundestad.   And if as an African you are not saddened by this, consider this: apartheid’s last president, F.W. de Klerk joined in the chorus of condemnation - when apartheid’s last man standing thinks you are intolerant and against peace, you have to be worst person earth.

And so South Africa’s President Kgalema Motlanthe is Black Herald’s Worst African of the Week.

Worst Africans of the Week: First Runner Up: Ibinabo Fiberesima:

Our  runner-up for Worst Persons in Africa this week is Nigeria’s “Nollywood” actress and former beauty queen who killed a man in a reckless drunk-driving traffic accident four years ago. Ms Fiberesima was essentially given a slap on the wrist by a silly magistrate who found that she had caused the death of one Dr Giwa Suraj in a car crash on a highway in Lagos earlier in 2005, but nevertheless said Ibinabo had the option of paying a 100,000 Naira (about $600) fine instead of going to jail.  Yes, you heard it – a man’s life is worth just 600 bucks to Ibinabo and the magistrate!

Luckily, the prosecutors appealed against the judgment and the higher court found Ibinabo guilty of manslaughter, calling the original magistrate’s fine “judicial recklessness” and sentenced her to five years in jail.  Ms. Fiberesima had appealed against her five-year sentence but did not attend the hearing in Lagos.  Judge Deborah Oluwayemi, who was obviously angry, told the court that Miss Fiberesima should be in jail while she files her appeal.  “There are so many innocent persons in prisons awaiting trial while a convicted person is allowed to work about freely.  We should not give Nigerians the impression that because someone is related to a ‘big man’ in the society then such individual can ignore court order.”

We agree – and for trying to use the weak judicial system to avoid responsibility, Ibinabo Fiberesima is our second runner up for Worst African of the Week.

These are our judgments, but you may know someone who is more heroic than our hero this week, or viler than our villain.  If so, send us your comments at saint.james@blackherald.com.

(blackherald.egoong.com)

OTTAWA (AFP) — An electronic spying operation based primarily in China has infiltrated government and private computers in 103 countries around the world, including those of the Dalai Lama, according to a report released Sunday.

The report, compiled by specialists based at the Munk Center for International Studies at the University of Toronto, said the spying was being done from computers based almost exclusively in China.

“Up to 30 percent of the infected hosts are considered high-value targets and include computers located at ministries of foreign affairs, embassies, international organizations, news media and NGOs (non-governmental organizations),” the report said.

However, the researchers said they could not argue conclusively that the Chinese government was involved.

They insisted that attributing all these operations to intelligence gathering by the Chinese state “is wrong and misleading.”

“Numbers can tell a different story,” the report said. “China is presently the world’s largest Internet population. The sheer number of young digital natives online can more than account for the increase in Chinese malware.”

The investigation started when the office of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader, asked them to examine its computers for signs of malicious software.

Their work led them to a broader operation that had infiltrated at least 1,295 computers in in less than two years.

Some of these computers belonged to the Dalai Lama?s Tibetan exile centers in India, Brussels, London and New York.

“This report serves as a wake up call,” the authors pointed out. “At the very least a large percentage of high-value targets compromised by this network demonstrate the relative ease with which a technically unsophisticated approach can quickly be harnessed to to create a very effective spynet.”

The researchers said they believed that in addition to the spying on the Dalai Lama, the system, which they called GhostNet, was focused on the governments of South Asian and Southeast Asian countries.

The newly reported spying operation is by far the largest to come to light in terms of countries affected.

The operation continues to invade and monitor more than a dozen new computers a week, according to the report.

However, the researchers found no evidence that US government offices had been infiltrated, although a NATO computer was monitored by the spies for half a day and computers of the Indian Embassy in Washington were infiltrated.

Copyright © 2009 AFP

Luanda – The Angolan deputy minister of Foreign Affairs, Exalgina Gamboa, said Friday in Luanda that the country’s authorities received the announcement that China is ready to increase the financial cooperation, through the granting of one more loan.

Exalgina Gamboa was speaking at the opening of the 4th session of the Angola-China Bilateral Commission.

According to the deputy minister, the Chinese authorities are also ready to grant an additional non-refundable loan which, she added, confirms the Asian nation’s readiness to increase the volume of financial cooperation and expand existing technical cooperation programmes.

The official stated that the Angolan Government will continue honouring its commitments and is engage in continuing the programme of institutional reforms, while demanding a stricter management of the public expenditures.

As she said, measures to maintain the macro-economic stability and positive economic growth rates are being adopted.

According to her, the environment of comprehension and openness around the works of preparation of the session show that the two countries are on good path towards the continued strengthening of the programmes underway, and relaunch of new areas of
cooperation.

She reaffirmed the Angolan authorities political will to negotiate new cooperation accords in the domains of agriculture, industry, science and technology, environment and social assistance.

In his turn, the Chine minister of Commerce, Jiang Zengwei, said that his country’s authorities are happy with the trend the cooperation with Angola is taking and the active role the Chinese firms are playing in the national reconstruction process.

In view of the world financial crisis, the Chinese official stressed the need for a combination of effort between the two countries.

Jiang Zengwei added that the visit Angolan head of State, José Eduardo dos Santos, paid to China, in December 2008, contributed to further strengthen the friendship between the two countries.

However, the Chinese minister spoke of the need for the two countries to finalise a reciprocal investment protection accord.

(portalangop.co.ao)

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Will Africa finally get a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council during the Obama administration?  James Warlick, acting assistant Secretary in the State Department’s Bureau of International Organization Affairs told the Foreign Press Center in Washington last week that the clamor for a permanent Security Council seat for Africa was a legitimate concern.

In a question and answer session, Warlick reportedly said while the U.S. has not taken a position on whether Africa should get a permanent seat, there was no question Africa needed to have a voice in the Security Council.

Kabiru Mato, chief of the political science department at Nigeria’s University of Abuja told VOA that democratizing the Security Council to involve Africa would be a welcome development giving the continent’s immensity.

“I think (a permanent seat for Africa) is possible only to the extent that the United Nations itself continues to remain relevant in international politics, and the relevance of the organization in international politics, I think, must be understood from the perspective of the efficacy of decisions that the council normally takes. Not the United Nations organization that we have seen in the recent which basically has become a toothless bulldog where one or two superpowers within the Security Council may decide to behave unilaterally as America has behaved in Iraq in 1991,” he said.

Mato said Africa will benefit significantly from a permanent seat on the Security Council.

“Africa is the only continent that does not have a membership in the United Nations Security Council, that is permanently, and the real benefit of course would be that an African member of the Security Council will have a veto power. Apart from the veto power will have also leverage to participate in the very sensitive decisions that are taken by permanent members of the Security Council,” Mato said.

He said democratizing the United Security Council involving Africa is a welcoming development, and Mato said the Obama administration has a serious challenge in retaining the sanctity of the United Nations Security Council.

Mato said the International Criminal Court would not have been able to issue an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir had Africa been on the U.N. Security Council.

“I really think an African membership on the Security Council would have frowned at that because the position of the African Union as far as the arrest warrant is concerned is that it is illegitimate, and that it simply explains the nature of double standard that international capitalism apparently subjects to other countries that are economically less advantageous to them,” Mato said.

He said the International Criminal Court (ICC) cannot enforce an arrest warrant against Sudan because just like the United States, Sudan is not a member of the ICC.

(voanews.com)

The adage that a man develops hatred for anyone who marries his divorced wife, has become relevant in respect to China’s partnership with Africa.

History has it that the Western world had an engagement with Africa with the view to assisting her to translate her advantage in resources into advantages in development as evidenced by the ‘Scramble for Africa’.

On the contrary the Western world used the Continent’s natural resource to develop their economies at the expense of Africa’s development. The relationship was characterized by economic exploitation, divide and rule tactics that set one ethnic group against the other; social injustice and imposition of alien political systems that continuously breed instability.

Following the achievement of the Colonial Powers’ development objective, which included the depletion of Africa’s natural resources and the discovery of synthetic materials as substitute for Africa’s resources, the Continent was discarded like garbage.

To them, Africa without her resources had become a tattered old lady and worth to be left to her fate to battle with the terminal disease – poverty.

The imperialists in their quest to ensure the demise of Africa strategise to gradually spread Western Democracy to Africa even though they were aware that Africa has no political structures but social structures.

They overlooked the fact that Africa is essentially tribal and political parties could become tribal.

It is therefore a truism that Western-style constitutionalism has led to bloodshed in Africa. For example Kenya’s general election in December 2007 was followed by ethnic killings and the same can be said of the war-torn Somalia. This development poses a threat to Ghana’s democracy and needs to be unfrozen because forces are striving to maintain the ethnic status-quo

Multi-party activists accept that ethnicity plays a major role in African politics, but have overlooked this trend, emphasizing that the advantages of democracy over dictatorship are undeniable.

Mother Africa did not like this adversity. Yet, the best came out of this contrary situation as she found favour in the sight of the government of China. The Government of China assured Africa of hope and started to offer assistance to Africa in the form of aids, and trade deals

This sympathy marriage, however, metamorphosed into Sino-Africa partnership based on sincerity, friendship, equality, mutual support and common development.

To this end, China has this year increased the number of government scholarships to African students from the previous 2,000 per year to 4,000.

The Europe and especially America have now become jealous over the beauty of the Sino-Africa engagement with the result that they have developed strategies to truncate such partnership through Western-media propaganda.

To achieve the stated objective, the Western-media has reported less of China’s financial and logistic assistance to Africa and more of China’s alleged quest to colonize Africa because of her natural resources, especially oil.

The China People’s Congress (CPC) firm grip on the political and socio-economical development of the world’s most populous nation is something to be cherished.

But the Western-media sees nothing good about China’s development and had speculated that communism has characteristics of dictatorship. This according to western-media victimizes human rights, suppresses the truth and does not guarantee freedom of speech.

The Western-media had all the negatives about the Chinese weather, human right records among others prior to, during and even after the Olympics.

As if those were not enough, the Western-media has waged a relentless war on China in respect of her dealings with Tibet.

Tibetans are enjoying a dignified life under Chinese rule but the Western-media had made the outside world to believe that Tibetans are living in “hell” on earth.

The truth about the Tibetan situation is that the Dalai Lama and the aristocratic class reduced the majority of people into slaves under feudal system. These serfs are now free and enjoying the fruits of their labour with transformation of their society.

If West’s agitation for Tibet separation from China is premised on human right abuses, then the West must be told that it is equally guilty of such offence. Such stance gives credence to the adage that the greatest “tribute hypocrisy can pay virtues is vices”.

This is against the backdrop that, the Immediate-Past President of US, President George Bush masterminded the execution of Former Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, who also had the right to live because vengeance belongs to God.

What about the torture of prime suspects of the 9/11 attack on US  at Guantanamo Bay, which by the Grace of God current President Barack  Obama has found to be reprehensible and has, therefore ordered its closure?

It is also time for the West to realize that the Dalai Lama issue is not a religious or ethnic issue but one that impinges on China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The writer expects the international bodies to condemn Dalai Lama’s mindless conspiracy with the West slice Tibet from China.

As it is usually said that “fear the Greeks even when they offer gifts” so should African Leaders be weary of the imaginations of the West in respect of its cooperation with China.

Africa must have the option of practicing communism if she so desired as against the imposition of Western-democracy and its attendant shady election results and bloodshed.

What is needed under communism, using China experience is for the socialist leader to advance democracy with African characteristics. The Leader, should also accept supervision from the people, strictly exercise self-discipline, and serve his or her country and the people in a cautious, conscientious and clean handed way.

Mother Africa, you must realise that your symbiotic relationship with China has reversed your menopausal status to that of a virgin and you must strive to sustain and prolong the honeymoon.

The West is trying to sow the seed of discord between Africa and China so that the Continent would relapse into its former tattered state after which the Continent would be discarded again.

Are African leaders listening? A word to a wise they often say is enough.

Credit: Rex Annan

Source: GNA

Kigali — A-Link Technologies, a Chinese firm will soon assemble laptops and radios in Rwanda with an initial investment worth $0.5 million (Rwf283.7 million).

This will consolidate Rwanda’s stance as an Information Technology hub in the region whereas the firm increases its product line. Currently, it assembles mobile phones, making Rwanda the first country in the East African region to host such a plant.

According to Edward Yin, the President of A-Link Technologies, the two projects (laptop and radio) will be on the market by end of July this year.

“The laptops are expected by the end of next month, whereas the radio project is expected later on,” he explained.

Adding, “Our partners in China are currently developing the laptop chips.Once ready and shipped into the country, alongside other parts, the laptops will be assembled and sold on the local market.”

Management predicted that a laptop, which will be christened ‘A-Link’ like other products assembled, will cost about $400 (Rwf 226,960). This is $216 (Rwf113,480) less than the current price.

Currently, a laptop on the local in the likes of HP, Acer or Dell costs Rwf350,000 ($616).

Yin stressed that the projected price for the A-Link laptops may drop depending on the market, though the investment decision was attracted by their high prices.

Initially, A-Link had planned to venture into assembling television sets and radio after starting its operations with mobile phones last year.

However the Minister in the President’s Office in charge of ICT, Romain Murenzi was not aware of the developments when contacted. He promised to make an official comment after meeting with the Chinese investors soon.

Mobile phone assembling was the first project by A-Link with an investment of $0.5 million (Rwf283.7 million). It was after government started laying of fibre optic cables for wireless broadband in Kigali and the suburbs, a new technology intended to increase coverage of high speed wireless internet.

Since then, it has produced about 6,000 handsets, with an average output of 200 phones per day.

With already 30 Rwandans employed to assemble phones, the two projects (laptop and television) are expected to also employ more 30 citizens.

A-Link is an affiliate to China link Digital and Technology Company Limited, also a Chinese based electronics company.

After Rwanda, the company is targeting the East African Community and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) region.

(ALLAFRICA

– Mozambican Prime Minister Luisa Dias Diogo on Monday met with Deputy Chief of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) General Staff Liu Zhenwu, with the two sides stressing the importance of further enhancing military cooperation in future.

Diogo said the Mozambique-China friendship can be traced back to the era of Mozambique’s struggle to gain national liberation, while exchanges between the two peoples last even longer.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, Diogo said, bilateral relations have been developing in a comprehensive and steady manner, with the two nations conducting exchange and cooperation effectively in various fields.

Mozambique highly values its military relations with China, and wishes to further enhance cooperation between the armed forces of the two countries, she said.

Liu said the Chinese side would actively implement the spirits of the Sino-Africa cooperation forum held in Beijing, and keep promoting Sino-Mozambican military cooperation.

The Chinese military delegation led by Liu arrived here on Sunday on a two-day visit to Mozambique.

On March 12, 2009 I attended a presentation by Dr. Henning Melber, the Director of the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, in Uppsala Sweden. He
revisited the Sino-African relations debate at the Institute for Security & Development Policy (ISDP). I posted his 2008 debate on “Chinese-African Relations Today” here.

I observed that this time Dr. Melber was more direct, bold and critical to both China and the West than he was last year, when he was more cautious. Revisiting the topic meant looking at the implications of the ongoing global financial crisis and what effect it may have on Africa. The majority might lose and so the question is: “What is in it for the African people and not just their governments?” asked Dr. Melber. Therefore, securing a common platform on such issues is very important.

Dr. Melber who considers himself “a free speaker”, expressed his thoughts openly and even lodged a scathing attack on the West which for many years, has seen Africa as its own backyard. He gave an overview of the Sino-African relations, stressing that historically, the Chinese have been for the emancipation of Africans; supporting the losers in various political struggles, and not the winners. The Europeans on the other hand, have a record of suppression, slavery, and scrambling for Africa’s resources, which they continue to exploit heavily.

The speaker felt that suspicions, aversions and other negative responses had initially dominated the discourse on Sino-African relations for a period, but currently there is more calm in the discourse. The fear of the unknown is common at the beginning of bilateral cooperation but since China changed its policy and became familiar with issues pertaining to the collaboration, it’s become remarkably good. China slightly improved its policy after being criticized for supporting the Sudanese government despite the ongoing war in Darfur. For instance, by supplying more material and personnel than any other country globally, China has taken center-stage in such issues.

Key Issues

The Chinese have had an indirect presence in Africa through building sports arenas and the well-known Tazara Railway, which was built to connect Tanzania and Zambia for the copper trade. This is a great infrastructural landmark. The Chinese approach is through friendship, politeness and respect. Their top leaders have traveled to Africa to acknowledge their friendship in the recent years, something that very few Western leaders have done, despite having dominated bilateral matters for years with the Africans. Dr. Melber then referred the audience to Walter Rodney’s book entitled: “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa”.

The Chinese leaders do not wag their fingers at African leaders and do implement the policy of non-interference. China is therefore becoming a preferable partner in bilateral relations. There was an increase in capital investments from the West to China in the 1990s. In Africa, the increase was remarkable through Chinese companies contracted by companies in the West. There are currently 800 private Chinese companies in 49 African countries. They have minimum rules and regulations which should not violate the Chinese government rules. Their government gives security just like those from the Western countries.

Double-standards are quite visible in the way Westerners regard Sino-African relations. They criticize them yet do the same. The West was not very strict when the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre took place and continued trading with China as usual. Sweden also follows a “value-oriented” policy that is a Nordic model yet is unethical in some instances, like the suspected bribes during the sale of Swedish jets to South Africa ten years ago. But economic interest seems to be heavier than other values and they still trade with rogue governments.

Former President Mobutu of then Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), committed atrocities yet the Belgians, French and the USA traded with him for many years, at the expense of the Congolese people. Nothing has been said openly by the West about the conduct of King Mswati III of Swaziland. Somalia and Somaliland got onto the world map when Somali pirates began hijacking ships with expensive cargo owned by the West being transported across the Indian Ocean. There lacks a coherent perspective on human rights and the West should be criticized as much as China. “Who is the West to lecture China on moral conduct yet they do the same?” wondered Dr. Melber.

Rapid Industrialization in China

In 1997, China’s trade turnover in Africa was between 5 to 55.5 billion US dollars, making it the third biggest trade partner after USA and Britain. In 2005, the turnover was USD 105 billion, a volume that was expected in 2010. India and china are in control of the highest dollar reserves outside USA, amounting to three trillion US dollars. A high dollar value is good for their exports. Africa’s economy means a lot for China so as to meets its rising demand for oil, gas and other minerals.

During their recent entry on the continent, the Chinese invested immensely in Southern Africa, thus reviving the Zambian copper mining industry and Namibia’s diamond industry had a lucrative market in China. However, since the beginning of the current financial crisis, the mining industry has plummeted and many mines have closed in Zambia and Namibia. Half of Namibia’s economy is fuelled by diamonds. In the diamond-rich country of Botswana, things are just as bad because the global demand for diamonds has reduced drastically due to the deteriorating economy. Diamond owners might instead sell them for cash, which would affect the country badly, since 80-90% of its economy depends on it. Growth rates in Africa projected at 7-10% per annum will be halved.

During the recent “Changes Conference” in Dar-es-Salaam organized jointly the government of Tanzania and the International Monetary Fund, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said this about the financial crisis: “We could be facing the economic equivalent of a tsunami”. In Angola, which has vast oil and gas resources, the generated profits are not ploughed back to elevate the majority of citizens from poverty. Poverty has been reduced in China, while it is on the rise in Africa. The Sino-African relations might not have a “trickle down effect” on many Africans after all.

Dr. Melba recalled that during the 2007 World Social Forum (WSF) in Nairobi, a Chinese civil society delegation attempted to ‘lecture’ Africans on human rights and met the wrath of some seasoned Africans, who were quite aware of the Chinese penetration into petty trade in Africa. They were informed of how they had entered competition with hawkers by flooding many African markets with their cheap goods. They were told that their trade methods were worse the Europeans’ because they even brought cheap labor from China, and do not employ local laborers.

The Chinese have a monolithic policy which is not modeled to deal with outside matters. On the other hand, the Westerners have a policy of enhancing democracy. For instance, there are common interactions among social movements in America, Europe and Africa, while the Chinese do not interact with the local people when they come to Africa. The unknown is always threatening and this is why the degree of racism towards the Chinese in some parts of Africa is extreme. Dr. Melber referred to the textile industry in Togo is almost collapsing, since the Chinese entered to compete by selling their cheap clothes. The Togolese refer to them as: “The Chinese Devils”. The Chinese have forged friendly relations with many African countries, but not the ordinary Africans. Although many aspects of life in China are still strictly regulated, more Chinese are now able to travel abroad as tourists, and might gradually understand other cultures.

Commitments

China has big plans for Africa and in the recent past has been offering massive soft loans and grants. Is this sustainable amidst the current financial crisis? Will these loans harm Africa? There is an upward spiral in mineral and oil-rich countries like Angola because of China’s demands, yet there is an imbalance in the trade which involves exploitation of natural resources like oil and gas at 62% and other minerals at 13%. But Africans governments must also share the profits widely by improving the infrastructure.

China is among the top three exporters of arms to Africa and in 2008 was forced, after worldwide pressure, to recall its “Ship of shame” a term coined for the ship that had exported massive weapons to Zimbabwe after the botched presidential elections.

Remarkable policy change has been noted from China in the case of Darfur. However, more is required. Economic development needs to go hand in hand with democracy, accountability and human rights. Democracy and participation in societal values is required in Africa for prosperity.

The European-Chinese-African discourse seeks to reconcile issues and shape policy even at the European Union level. Is the Chinese presence in Africa an alternative? So far, China offers more options for Africa but might still bring “more of the same interest” like the West.

(AfricaPath)