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During the19th and the first half of the 20th century, the continent of Africa was pretty much carved up by the various European powers into colonies. After WWII, all these colonies gradually became independent countries some are fledging democracies while others were ruled by dictators or military strongman. But during the last two decades, a new phenomenon is developing – Economic penetration by Chinese.

As China gains economic ascendance, she needs oil and mineral deposits which some African countries have in abundance. Many Chinese also see opportunities to start business, big or small, in these countries. As a result Chinese presence in many African countries became dominant. The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) recently did a 4-part series of documentary film about “Chinese are coming to Africa”, each about 15 minutes long. I don’t know if YouTube is available or not in China. But the films are well worth watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY6WK0Ni4hI&NR=1 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeSQJvSC5qw&NR=1 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZQpl3SzvjA 

Here is what I gathered from watching the film:

1.     As a rule, the Chinese are much more hard working than the local natives. As a result they often out-compete and drove out local business. This has caused certain amount of resentment by the locals (remember a few year ago, the Spaniards in Madrid had a riot and burned down many local Chinese leather good shops which took over the leather goods business in Spain).

2.      While China help built many infrastructures such as highway and railroad in these countries, business and individuals return the profits they made all to China and not enough in feedback and reinvestments locally.  But the Chinese definitely helped the local economy by providing jobs and lower prices. Thus, sometimes it is a love-hate relationship. 

3.     The Chinese buy a huge amount of oil and minerals from these countries.

4.      The Chinese tend to keep to themselves and do not integrate well with the locals

My youngest daughter who has been working in Africa (Tanzania, Ivory Coast, and the Democratic Republic of Congo) for the past three years for an international charitable organizations also tells me that she sees Chinese every where.

In a related video, Martin Jacques on: “Understanding the Rise of China”. Speaking at a TED Salon in London, economist Martin Jacques asks: How do we in the West make sense of China and its phenomenal rise? The author of "When China Rules the World", and a columnist for the Guardian and New Statesman,  a co-founder of the think tank Demos,  he examines why the West often puzzles over the growing power of the Chinese economy, and offers three building blocks for understanding what China is and will become.

http://www.ted.com/talks/martin_jacques_understanding_the_rise_of_china.html