China, Africa, and globalization
money to help African countries drive their economic growth, and with China and Chinese companies playing such a large role in the country today it is no surprise that within the next 50 years, China will be in a favourable position with what will be a developed Africa. With better training for workers, the people are currently in far better positions and if this has led to increased access to technology for African people, then they may have enjoyed much better standards of living and potentially even increased productivity levels. Also, with increased competition in the markets with lots of Chinese companies getting involved, not only will prices be driven down in the future but with the more companies getting involved there may be more revenue for the state in corporation taxes. However, this is not without potential drawbacks, such as the fact that when smaller Chinese companies are involved, they may be less concerned about ruining their reputation potentially leading to themmisusing and destroying natural resources within the countries, and there may not be that much employment of African workers, as private companies may bring over their own workers. While there is the huge issue of Chinese companies and the state bringing over Chinese workers to do their projects and work in their companies, and of course the fact that in the long run, China may be the ultimate winner in terms of resources gained, I believe it has still been beneficial to Africa in various ways. I would argue that even if they have only used Chinese workers to build infrastructure, there is no issue with this as the infrastructure is there to stay, and not only creates more tourist industries but also benefits the people. Furthermore, both the citizens who have invested there and private companies do usually end up creating jobs for African people, which I believe outweighs the negatives that have come from the small minority of cases in which there has been misuse of African natural resources. I would argue that Chinese globalization into Africa has proven to be, and could prove to be in the future a prime example of globalization done well, but not perfectly, which mutually benefits both the economies of Africa and China.
All diagrams used in this essay are original.
Bibliography
Bruguière, P. ‘ Chinafrica: African workers share experiences at Chinese factories ’, https://observers.france24.com/en/20120822-chinafrica-african-observers-share- experiences-working-chinese-companies-china-business-togo-cameroon-senegal [Accessed: 22/08/19] The Corner, Private Chinese Companies Primed For Success In Africa http://thecorner.eu/world- economy/private-chinese-companies-primed-for-success-in-africa/75096/ [Accessed 21/08/19] The Economist https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2018/04/28/africa-has-plenty- of-land-why-is-it-so-hard-to-make-a-living-from-it [Accessed: 22/08/19] French, H. ‘ Why 1 million Chinese migrants are building a new empire in Africa ’, https://qz.com/217597/how-a-million-chinese-migrants-are-building-a-new-empire-in- africa/ [Accessed: 09/08/2019] French, H. (2014) China’s Second Continent: How a million migrants are building a new empire in Africa. London International Trade Centre (2018) ‘ Guide to Chinese private investment in Africa ’, http://www.intracen.org/uploadedFiles/intracenorg/Content/Publications/Guide%20to%2 0Chinese%20private%20investment%20in%20Africa_final_Hi-res.pdf [Accessed: 22/08/19]
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