THE NEW AFRICA

“I will be taking over Africa like the Chinese” was a hard punchline used by Khaligraph Jones (a very popular rapper) from Kenya on his track called ‘Wavy’. And this is really true because indeed, the Chinese are taking over Africa.

I have read so much about the sudden interest of Chinese in Africa, some months ago, some high profile personalities in USA had a video meeting with the current president of Nigeria (Mohammed Buhari) and they warned him to be aware of the influence of the Chinese in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. I can’t obviously talk about everything the Chinese are doing in all African countries but I can do so when it comes to my country Ghana.

It is with no doubt that the Chinese are investing millions of dollars into the development of the continent Africa, and this has given them the opportunity to take advantage the continent as well. Look at this scenario, Ghana goes for aid from China and in return, Ghana has to allow more Chinese nationals to infiltrate the Ghanaian market, making it difficult for the normal Ghanaian marketer to succeed. This is so because, mysteriously, the Chinese have their own way of making duplicates of original works and selling them at a cheaper rate on the Ghanaian market. A very good example is the Kente cloth. An original Ghanaian Kente could cost $15 per yard, the same cloth made from China would cost around $5. Kente is a genuine work and product of Ghana. If a Ghana product goes for $4 and the same product could cost $1 as the Chinese product, I would go for the $1 because logically, it makes sense and I would save money in return.

It is funny how I personally can’t own a gun without proper security reasons and authorization, but the Chinese in my country (especially those involved in illegal mining) have access to these weapons and they wield and use it at all times. It is very troubling to know that since 2018 when I personally started campaigning as against illegal mining in Ghana, I say this emphatically that there has been no arrest of illegal miners in the country without a Chinese national not being part. All arrests of illegal miners in Ghana since 2018 that I have heard, seen and read about, there are always Chinese nationals amongst them. This development is very troubling and we cannot really do anything out here because at the end of the day, our government would still run to the knees of the Chinese government to seek for funds to develop the country. It is like our hands have been tied behind our backs, and our stomachs are being used for punching bags but we cannot also scream. A week ago, two Chinese nationals were caught stealing electric wires from an electric pole in Ghana, one would be marveled to hear such events but indeed they are real and we can have countless testimonies of such events in each country in Africa.

The New Africa is the Africa of the Chinese, they are indeed doing many good things which are being projected onto the world but the bad aspect of their doings never make it to limelight, but indeed it is doing so now. I would love to hear from other African readers of this report to tell us what the Chinese are doing in their respective countries. Below are a few links to prove me right.

1.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sS6KKvO_5ZY

2.     https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-21960772

3.     https://chinaafricaproject.com/2021/04/29/two-chinese-nationals-arrested-in-ghanaian-army-crackdown-on-illegal-mining/

4.     https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2019/11/01/chinese-miners-illegal-hunt-for-gold-in-ghana/

5.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bufLHJwauZc

6.     https://www.myjoyonline.com/court-orders-deportation-of-4-chinese-involved-in-illegal-mining/

Green Cheers from Ghana.