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Post by amadain on Aug 25, 2012 23:27:16 GMT 3
Fresh from the BBC: Angola deports China 'gangsters'
Angola has extradited 37 Chinese nationals, accused of extortion, kidnappings, armed robberies and running prostitution rings.
They allegedly targeted other Chinese, kidnapping businessmen for ransom and sometimes burying victims alive.
They lured women to Angola, promising well-paid jobs, but then forced them into prostitution, Chinese police said. www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-19378660
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Post by Titchaz on Aug 27, 2012 5:19:41 GMT 3
Jakaswanga,Here is the arms twist according to Washington Post... China’s arms exports flooding sub-Saharan AfricaBen Curtis/AP - Soldiers from the Uganda People's Defence Force engage in weapons training at the Singo training facility in Kakola, Uganda on Monday, April 30, 2012. By Colum Lynch, Published: August 25 UNITED NATIONS — China’s arms exports have surged over the past decade, flooding sub-Saharan Africa with a new source of cheap assault rifles and ammunition and exposing Beijing to international scrutiny as its lethal wares wind up in conflict zones in violation of U.N. sanctions. Weapons from China have surfaced in a string of U.N. investigations in war zones stretching from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Ivory Coast, Somalia and Sudan. China is by no means alone in supplying the arms that help fuel African conflicts, and there is no proof that China or its arms exporters have intentionally violated U.N. embargoes in any of those countries. But China has stood apart from other major arms exporters, including Russia, for its assertive challenge to U.N. authority, routinely refusing to cooperate with U.N. arms experts and flexing its diplomatic muscle to protect its allies and curtail investigations that may shed light on its own secretive arms industry. The stance highlights the tensions between China’s responsibilities as a global power and its interests in exploiting new markets. It has also raised questions about whether Chinese diplomats have a grip on the reach of the country’s influence in the arms industry beyond its borders. Beijing has responded to the disclosures not by enforcing regulations at home but by using its clout within the Security Council to claw back the powers of independent U.N. arms investigators. Those efforts have helped undercut the independence of U.N. panels that track arms trading with Iran and North Korea. “This is really a case of unbridled capitalism, and I think the Chinese government is not even always aware of what these companies are doing,” said David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, which has been tracking Iran’s and North Korea’s procurement of nuclear technology from Chinese companies. When the Chinese are “confronted with evidence,” Albright said, “they respond very defensively and legalistically.” China has blocked the release of embarrassing U.N. revelations of illicit arms transfers, stopped the reappointment of an arms expert who uncovered Chinese weapons and sought to restrict the budget to fund investigations. It has also consistently refused to allow U.N. investigators to trace the origin of Chinese weapons discovered in war zones. The country’s mission to the United Nations did not respond to repeated requests for comment for this report, but its representatives have repeatedly denied accusations that the country is violating sanctions. More broadly, China has made clear that it has a philosophical aversion to sanctions, which were imposed on Beijing by the European Union following the Tiananmen Square events in 1989, and that it believes most major political disputes are better addressed through diplomatic talks. Council diplomats say China has gone along with the proliferation of U.N. sanctions panels in order to maintain a cooperative relationship with the West, particularly the United States. Today, the United Nations enforces arms embargoes against 13 countries or groups, including the Taliban, al-Qaeda and seven African countries. www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/chinas-arms-exports-flooding-sub-saharan-africa/2012/08/25/16267b68-e7f1-11e1-936a-b801f1abab19_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines_nonlocal&socialreader_check=0&denied=1
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Post by akinyi2005 on Aug 30, 2012 20:09:50 GMT 3
China is described as the evolving powerhouse of the future. what we forget to add is that, it's also a kleptocracy of a scale perhaps never seen before in recent history (we are soon joining that league).
As we deal with useless distractions on a daily basis, the mboys ie the looting brigade are busy at work having found in the chinese more than a willing partner in crime.
someone brought this clip to my attention and it left me seething with rage. where are the local leaders? why aren't they talking? where is kalonzo the VP? why is he quiet? what is going on here? who are these kenyan owners of fenxi mining company?
BTW, jukwaa has gone eerily quiet, anyone still at home?
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Post by tnk on Aug 30, 2012 20:45:10 GMT 3
BTW, jukwaa has gone eerily quiet, anyone still at home? it was until you guys started making noise again ;D
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Post by akinyi2005 on Aug 30, 2012 21:41:04 GMT 3
BTW, jukwaa has gone eerily quiet, anyone still at home? it was until you guys started making noise again ;D ;D ;D ;D hurricane migush has left MV Jukwaa listing dangerously but am not about to abandon ship.
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Post by podp on Aug 31, 2012 17:31:11 GMT 3
China is described as the evolving powerhouse of the future. what we forget to add is that, it's also a kleptocracy of a scale perhaps never seen before in recent history (we are soon joining that league). As we deal with useless distractions on a daily basis, the mboys ie the looting brigade are busy at work having found in the chinese more than a willing partner in crime. someone brought this clip to my attention and it left me seething with rage. where are the local leaders? why aren't they talking? where is kalonzo the VP? why is he quiet? what is going on here? who are these kenyan owners of fenxi mining company? BTW, jukwaa has gone eerily quiet, anyone still at home? my mole tells me that good KM he who is current vice PORK has already sold soul and steak to the Chikas. he is soliciting that a railway be built from Kitui to Lamu to transport the coal when it is brought to the surface. oooh poor lady/man. you ask such beautiful questions. but the men who have answers only know ugliness. deceit is their nature. let us sing 'God is watching us From a distance' before telling you close your eyes we pray and when you open you will be holding the holy book and they will be holding the title deeds to that barren land filled with coal underneath. they will be holding the tender. you wail who is behind fenxi? do you remember kasuku’s thread? www.businessdailyafrica.com/Corpo....yz/-/index.htmlMan behind Chinese firm in Sh3.4tr Mui coal mines Read more: jukwaa.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=6228&page=13#ixzz258M8awjQ30% is Kenyan owned with the gentleman in the businessdaily as the front of among others clean and meek spotless KM the current vice PORK. madam Rainbow will dares raise her voice as she has obtained a degree to stand in the next election and if she does not graduate soon she will have togo for bigger sit...ooops got a twit from Jeff Koinangeþ@KoinangeJeff Wrapping up the week on THE BENCH at 8p, 'Mama Rainbow',Charity Ngilu, who's about to declare her Candidacy in the Race to State House!
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Post by jakaswanga on Sept 1, 2012 17:31:34 GMT 3
KENYA'S VANTAGE POSITION REALISED BY OTHERS FROM AFAR When Dr. Oburu Odinga was made deputy to Uhuru Kenyatta at the Finance Docket, my first quip was to tell Jaduong' Xxx, that the two drunkards were a cretin duo. This was because I was sure it would occur to neither of the twins, that they were the finance minsters of an area of 120 million consumers. Therefore the Kenyan treasury must do what the German Treasury used to do with its D-Mark before the advent of the Euro. The models running that currency, and the decisions based on them, ran on the premise of the D-Mark being the operative currency benchmark from Amsterdam to Kiev. It was often summarized in the statement: When the D-mark sneezes, Western and Eastern Europe catches a cold. And the D-Mark was the prototype for the Euro. Sizing up Oburu and Uhuru, I concluded they could not see the historical parallels. .. That a well managed Kenyan shilling would be the prototype for the union currency when, finally, at long last, SS, R&B, greater Eastern DRC, Ug, Tz and Somalia, became the single economic block they are destined to be. Kenya, being the local giant, must draw a budget with mandazi sellers in Kivu in mind ---that is open a branch of KCB in the small towns of Congo, just like the colonialists opened the same branches of this bank in obscure towns like Siaya, Homa Bay, way back in the dark 50s! (That is the idea of capital expansion, or, as we say, recruiting the hinterland into the financial orbit). In this respect I must salute EQT Bank. Things like this will be done at their historical moment, whether one likes it or not. ENTER THE DRAGON.In the Africa policy paper presented recently in FOCAC Beijin 2012, the Chinese coherent position was illuminated vis-a-vis Kenya. Kenya is one of the SEZs [special economic zone] selected in Afrika in accordance with the Chinese own historical experience, and model. Import substitution manufacturing zones. The launchpad to what is called East and Greater Eastern Afrika, a region set to boom in the minds of others, and set to collapse in the minds of others, but in any case a potential 150 million consumer market already visibly upcoming, from import statistics from China. With most of the consumer markets already carved out --Europe --EU or East is saturated; USA too; Latin America has Brazil and Mexico as their manufacturers, and Asia with Korea, Japan, China and Indonesia is a closed market competitively, the virgin markets of Africa are the places to develop. --Of course African governments do not see it this way, otherwise most of the things China is doing in Afrika would have been our own initiatives. But we sleep, like Uhuru and Oburu were doing at CBK meetings. So quietly, China moved in through the backdoor into Kenya with a vision, and replaced the traditional Western leading partners: Great Britain, the Netherlands, Japan, Scandinavia, Canada and the USA, as the toughest guy in town. But before she could close the backdoor after herself, India, Brazil, Turkey, Iran, Israel, and South Korea too, slipped in. This is how the Kibaki 1 regime changed Kenya. The turn was so natural that there was no jar when the ship made it. In fact, comparative to Moi's last years, the Kibaki 1 was an outrageous performance. Warning Kenyans of just what they had lost under Moi. Had the momentum of Kibaki 1 been continued, the MOU not trashed and a successful change in power accomplished, we would be talking a golden age, relatively speaking.CHINA IN KENYA. www.businessdailyafrica.com/China++India+replace+Britain+as+Kenya+s+top+sources+of+FDI+/-/539552/1232240/-/s7u7l3/-/index.html This article from business daily will be very illustrative, together with subsequent publications from KIPPRA. That would be the institute for policy research and analysis, Kenya. 1. Telecommunications: Led by the giants ZTE --doing the Telekom 3G-network, Huawei --doing the safaricom 4G, Aucma. They have swept the board of contracts which include Star DTV's Kenya digital TV transmission switch.NB: It must be said the South Koreans complained China won because of 'political clout' not necessarily because Samsung is dunder!2. Traditional markets. These are your Oil explorations; Infrastructure, and Military contracts. LAPPSET is huge. 3. The motor plant manufacture and assembly plant FUTON planned to churn out 10,000 units per year will deserve special mention. If successful, like the battery venture which killed EverReady, then the traditional kings of the motor market in East Afrika, --DT Dobie, CMC, Simba colt, Toyota, GM are looking at a death warrant. May be that is why the bosses of CMC were stealing in open air, looting from the deck of a sinking ship! Using offshore accounts as life boats for the top brass! These SEZs, and the companies doing import substitution, five SEZs in total for now across the continent, will be major recipients of the business loans promised by the Chinese in Beijin 2012. The Chinese have no intention of having their money treated like NGO money in Afrika. A looting racket. That is why they insist on their drivers too. A Chinese lorry-driver who sells fuel on the black market, letting okada/apiko people siphon off the gigantic Hoho/Faw tank, knows he will be sent back to China and be executed. You can not do that with an Afrikan in his own country, can you? In this confrontation with the Chinese, I suggest we upgrade our mental toughness. China did not rise to her current global dominance on naivety. I would not jump to that conclusion:
First, a great deal of China's investments (as opposed to loans) go to a relatively small number of African countries. Kenya is actually not one of the major beneficiaries, although there certainly has been quite an increase in Chinese investments in Kenya.
Second, we import far more from China that we export to China, resulting in a continuing net trade deficit. In fact, our "main products", agricultural products and tourism, seem to be of little interest to China. Also, the top destinations for our exports are the EU and the rest of Africa.
Third, we have to consider that Western countries provide financial support (non-loans) that if they did not provide we would have to borrow from some place. A typical example is the US allocating $500 million+ per year for our health system.
Fourth, it is not clear that the Chinese, growing though their investments, have been, have that much to do with the claimed "high growth in the economy". Otishotish, The trick will lie on China doing batter trade with Afrika. Direct raw materials for the services, without first selling the raw materials in convertible currency, like the dollar or euro. so it means Congo, practically bankrupt, (and when Canadian companies quit copper mining when copper prices collapsed too, can 'fund' one of the biggest infrastructural projects in the region. If she were to do it selling minerals first to the world market, the projects would have stalled long ago.
I would love to know how this US health allocation works: to import drugs from specified companies? that is bonded aid?] But the kind of amounts the Chinese invest in the continent are a game changer, and it shows on national statistics[/size].[/[/b][/quote]
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Post by jakaswanga on Sept 1, 2012 19:53:06 GMT 3
Jakaswanga, Man Who Appreciates One With!: So, what exactly is/should be the role of Africans in all this? Perpetual bystanders in the matter of their own fate? special attention to otishotish Scroll down this link to the map of the TRANS-CENTRAL RAILTRACK TRACK. Note: this is not the Mombasa-Kampala-Douala! This is the Luanda-Dar via Lusaka. The Benguela-Tazara.www.thebeijingaxis.com/tca/editions/the-china-analyst-jan-2010/74 The fact that we are brain-dead, infrastructurally unimaginative, does not mean everybody else around the world is. Every part of the world that has made it, had her period of tough builders. In Russia they built the rail from Vladivostok to Moscow. Transpacific in Canada from, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_Canada_TrailIn the USA From New York to Chicago, and from Chicago to Los Angeles. Australia from Darwin to Adelaide or from Perth to Sydney. And latest, from Shanghai to Lassa in Tibet. These are the transcontinentals from other peoples experiences. Then China arrived in Afrika, and proposed the Benguela-Tazara, also known as the Loanda-Dar Rail. 3000 km, meeting Zambia with the one to start from Maputo going to Lagos. Concurrently Inga Dam with the 40,000 MW potential to rival the Great Seven Gorges Dam --Wonder of the World. Honestly many minds just blew up. IMF, WB, any financier you may know. Their minds short-circuited when the yellow devils started to talk MONEY.Be honest Otishotish, who can you mention on the political landscape of Afrika, who can discuss these 3 projects simultaneously? Not even financially. J ust discuss without putting anything to paper! Remember Kibaki Raila, Kiir and Museveni could not even discuss the Lamu harbour without falling asleep and making it look a sham! These things are to be done otishotish, and yes, your role is to relax under the mugumo tree in the shade, watching lazily as labourers from China move mountains, create lakes bigger than Victoria {Great Inga reserve), tear great tunnels through mountains across Afrika, in a a word called integrated infrastructure. Because you say IMPOSSIBLE. For us yes, for others, lets do it. Not even Obama would have an idea of what we are talking about here. Otherwise he would come himself to commission the Alexandria to Durban railroad. Which world war I stopped the British from putting into practice. Now, any more questions? The proposed railway line from Luanda to Dar-Es Salaam. Map of route. [map failed] ==========================================
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Post by OtishOtish on Sept 4, 2012 0:46:59 GMT 3
Honestly many minds just blew up. IMF, WB, any financier you may know. Their minds short-circuited when the yellow devils started to talk MONEY. I'd be very interested to see actual figures of MONEY flowing into Africa from the various sources. Then we can make a solid comparison before we get excited. Does the visibility of the Chinese---e.g. some small men enjoying a few Njeris on the road to Thika---necessarily translate into more free goodies? I don't know. But let me give you a couple of examples of things I know: One: A year or so ago, I looked into what China was putting into Kenya. The loans totaled about $400 million over a period I don't recall right now; the grants totaled about $20 million. Is borrowing from the Chinese better than borrowing from elsewhere? I don't know; but what I know is that borrowing is borrowing, unless the "human rights" issues (lack of) are an added bonus. Two: Some years ago Norway paid off all of Tanzania's debt. Yes, all it. They simply wrote a cheque for $4 billion, and that was that. Norway also wrote off parts of large debts for some other African countries. Can you think of anything similar for your Chinese friends? Three: China now is engaged in huge infrastructure projects in Angola, including huge housing projects, as an example. Is it free? No. They are being paid in oil, which they would otherwise have to pay for. However, they have a lot of small men running around working on those projects---instead of employing local labour---so every says, ah the Chinese are here helping us. Four: China is now a major---in fact, probably the leading---source of FDI into Kenya. People make much of this because they see small men running around all over the place. The story less told is that India and South Korea are also now major sources of FDI for Kenya. Five: It is true that China is now putting more money into Africa than it has ever done before? But where is it going and how "free" is it? I don't know. What I do know is that apart from a few countries whose natural resources are being thoroughly exploited, the overall transfer of money is in China's favour. Kenya is actually a very good example of this. Actually, if you look at all the crappy deals, even those resource-rich countries are getting the sharp end of the Chinese stick but don't realize it. Six: Some time ago, I saw figures suggesting that 65%-70% of industry in Kenya is actually owned by foreigners who have provided the necessary capital. Who would those foreigners be? See above. In particular, I'd be keen to see some real figures rather than just "there are a lot of Chinese running around doing stuff". ;D I don't wish to rain on this happy Chinese parade, but my view is that, if things don't change, one day we will wake up and realize that all the Chinese simply took over from where the rest of the world had left off in screwing us. And it is a tragedy that we are always allowing foreigners to stick it to us under the guise of helping us. What the Chinese really do for us---and, if I read correctly, you have alluded to this---is give us the free time to indulge in the mayhem and nonsense that our great continent is famous for. There is a massacre in Tana River? No problem. A former aide to the PM gets slapped around a bit? Now, that's something we can discuss indefinitely. Kazi iendelee. Africa and Africans will get ahead only when Africans wake up decide to take care of Africa and Africans.
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Post by jakaswanga on Sept 4, 2012 18:56:36 GMT 3
Honestly many minds just blew up. IMF, WB, any financier you may know. Their minds short-circuited when the yellow devils started to talk MONEY. I'd be very interested to see actual figures of MONEY flowing into Africa from the various sources. Then we can make a solid comparison before we get excited. [/b][/quote] Now now Otishotish! The world bank used to have a page in which country by country the [types and levels of] debts and financial flows were listed. All the data world bank table loans to Afrika and keep dredging! it is a monk's job! loan statements snapshots That is a reasonable place to start in the search for the figures. Publications from the institute of African & Oriental studies in London, Sino-African money relations if you can find them for free! By some form of consensus, the statistics at the buro of foreign trade at the relevant Chinese ministry in Beijing is looked upon as out of date and incomplete. Because some of the Chinese international companies, operate from autonomous financial regions like Shanghai, or corrupt enclaves like the one Bo Xi Lai used to run like his private fiefdom. This example: Reported in Nigeria that, end 2011, Chinese Investment in Nigeria had hit $6.1 bn. Beijin's figures were $2bn thereabouts less. reason for discrepancy given by western researches was how offshore banking and tax-heavens operate. www.thisdaylive.com/articles/china-s-investment-in-nigeria-hits-6-1bn/105952/Another source of money flow statistics would be one of the UN bodies. UNCTAD I think but I am not sure, in any case the one which has all the statistics, like life expectancies, malaria deaths per..., or, more interesting, following the research of an American biologist who wrote a famous article dubbed 'SPERM WARS', statistics on where the malest male populations is found around the world! [good data for females who want to get pregnant first shot]. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sperm_WarsWhat am saying is, the data on money flow is not some classified info. It is the kickbacks which are classified. A FEW IDEAS: By Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lending by the International Monetary Fund to Africa is set to double this year as the region is gripped by the global economic crisis and more countries need aid, senior IMF officials said on Monday. The IMF has seen a sharp rise in demand for its loans from African countries this year as their balance of payments are hit by a sharp drop in revenue from exports, volatile commodity prices and falling foreign investment. In the first five months of this year the IMF has committed about $1.6 billion to Africa, compared to $1.1 billion for 2008 and $200 million in 2007. "For the remainder of 2009 it is likely that the stock of our lending in Africa will double relative to where it stood at the end of 2008," said Roger Nord, mission chief to Tanzania and a senior advisor in the IMF's Africa Department. "This is clearly a reflection of what is happening in the world economy, but it is also a reflection of the IMF's conscious policy to scale up our assistance to Africa," he added. The increase is not only new lending for countries that graduated from IMF assistance during the decade of high economic growth but also increases in existing loan programs, said Nord. Last week, the IMF approved a combined $545 million in emergency funding for Kenya and Tanzania, an example of countries that have followed sound economic policies but have been unable to escape the effects of the crisis. The IMF financing is designed to cushion falling currency reserves, while at the same time allowing countries to continue spending on vital infrastructure projects. ------------- OTHER FIGURES HERE FROM 2009 www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/08/china-pledges-10bn-loan-africa COMPARE IN THE SAME PERIOD HERE af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE55101Y20090602 [IMF funds to Africa set to double, 2009] --------------------- Unfortunately the following work is not available for free!The Contribution of Chinese FDI to Africa's Pre Crisis Growth Surge Aaron Weisbrod, John Whalley NBER Working Paper No. 17544Issued in October 2011 NBER Program(s): EFG ITI In the 3 years before the 2008 Financial Crisis, GDP growth in sub Saharan Africa (averaged over individual economies) was around 6%, or 2 percentage points above mean growth rates for the preceding 10 years. This period also coincided with significant Chinese FDI flows into these countries, accounting for up to 10% of total inward FDI flows for certain countries in these years. We use growth accounting methods to assess what portion of this elevated growth can be attributed to Chinese inward FDI. We follow Solow (1957), Dennison (1962), and others and use data for individual economies between 1990 and 2008 to calculate Solow residuals for these years for individual economies. We use capital stock data, workforce, and factor share data by country. Capital stock data is unavailable directly, and so we use perpetual inventory methods to construct the data. Factor shares come from UN National Accounts data. We then run counterfactual growth accounting experiments for thirteen Sub-Saharan African countries excluding Chinese FDI inflows for 2005-2007 and also 2003-2009. Our individual results vary by year and country, but there are several year/country combinations where Chinese FDI contributed to an additional one half of a percentage point or above to GDP growth. These results suggest that a significant, even if in some cases small, portion of the elevated growth in sub Saharan Africa in the three years before the Financial Crisis and also in the two years afterwards (2008-2009) can be attributed to Chinese inward investment. [continue to purchase]------
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Post by jakaswanga on Sept 4, 2012 19:19:04 GMT 3
Otishotish, the idea of freebies, even if I know you are only jesting in rabid cynicism and biting sarcasm, must be erased totally from any sane head. The school of reality never heard of freebies. In finance, there is no such thing as a free lunch, and if it looks free, the going phrase is, the devil will be grinning in the details.Sometimes I wish we had a big school of African and Oriental studies in East Afrika, akin to the one in London, then, considering how versed Africans are, and indeed Kenyans too, in the intricacies of US politics, we would develop a better understanding of our new friends who, I am afraid, will increasingly play a more determinant part in our lives than the Americans. As it is, we are looking at Chinese through our reference prisms formed by our relations with the West, with whom we have had a certain Iintimate shared history, more like exes that once bedded daily. China, and this is why I was doing a long introductory in the first installment, does not come to Afrika with romanticism, nor emotional ballast. Deng Tsiao Ping, the latest architect of the capitalist expansion of China, and he foray into Afrika, is no McNamara --long term chair of the World Bank. McNamara, ridden with guilt for his political sins, was a man trying to buy a ticket to heaven, using the bank as atonement. Deng however, is cold steel through meat without emotion. He is the man who ordered Tian Amen square in Beijing cleared in total bloody fashion. The man who instigated the 'harvesting of hearts in Chinese labour camps and prisons. When this man turned his gaze to Afrika, there would be no room in that gaze whatsoever for freebies. In fact when outgoing premier Wu Jinbao in Egypt in the other FOCAC get together, was criticized for lack of [ ] , as is the wont of the West in Afrika, he did not understand the problem. Bribery? he asked! Bribery and corruption he understands alright! Good comparison we will talk about, what is called the Beijing consensus vs the Washington consensus, on the different philosophies and how they impact on Afrika! Norway paid off Tanzanian's debt? The same Norway which threatens to withdraw her money from German and ECB if the PIIGS of south europe are given 'free' money? ha ha! how neat! But I get the idea. Tanzanians are NOT worth treating as thinking beings. No, they can not be taught economic lessons, nor held to account on their actions. Beings of sub-intellect to be treated accordingly! Greeks, as normal human beings on the other hand, MUST PAY THE PRICE OF THEIR CORRUPTION. But subhuman parasites ofTanzanians have their bill picked up by somebody else! Otishotish I urinate on the face of Kikwete, Munyi, Mkapa and Nyerere!An appropriate picture of how Tanzanians are, on this blog with the ripped body of a journalist! jukwaa.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=7337
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Post by jakaswanga on Sept 4, 2012 19:19:32 GMT 3
Otishotish, the idea of freebies, even if I know you are only jesting in rabid cynicism and biting sarcasm, must be erased totally from any sane head. The school of reality never heard of freebies. In finance, there is no such thing as a free lunch, and if it looks free, the going phrase is, the devil will be grinning in the details.Sometimes I wish we had a big school of African and Oriental studies in East Afrika, akin to the one in London, then, considering how versed Africans are, and indeed Kenyans too, in the intricacies of US politics, we would develop a better understanding of our new friends who, I am afraid, will increasingly play a more determinant part in our lives than the Americans. As it is, we are looking at Chinese through our reference prisms formed by our relations with the West, with whom we have had a certain Iintimate shared history, more like exes that once bedded daily. China, and this is why I was doing a long introductory in the first installment, does not come to Afrika with romanticism, nor emotional ballast. Deng Tsiao Ping, the latest architect of the capitalist expansion of China, and he foray into Afrika, is no McNamara --long term chair of the World Bank. McNamara, ridden with guilt for his political sins, was a man trying to buy a ticket to heaven, using the bank as atonement. Deng however, is cold steel through meat without emotion. He is the man who ordered Tian Amen square in Beijing cleared in total bloody fashion. The man who instigated the 'harvesting of hearts in Chinese labour camps and prisons. When this man turned his gaze to Afrika, there would be no room in that gaze whatsoever for freebies. In fact when outgoing premier Wu Jinbao in Egypt in the other FOCAC get together, was criticized for lack of [ ] , as is the wont of the West in Afrika, he did not understand the problem. Bribery? he asked! Bribery and corruption he understands alright! Good comparison we will talk about, what is called the Beijing consensus vs the Washington consensus, on the different philosophies and how they impact on Afrika! Norway paid off Tanzanian's debt? The same Norway which threatens to withdraw her money from German and ECB if the PIIGS of south europe are given 'free' money? ha ha! how neat! But I get the idea. Tanzanians are NOT worth treating as thinking beings. No, they can not be taught economic lessons, nor held to account on their actions. Beings of sub-intellect to be treated accordingly! Greeks, as normal human beings on the other hand, MUST PAY THE PRICE OF THEIR CORRUPTION. But subhuman parasites ofTanzanians have their bill picked up by somebody else! Otishotish I urinate on the face of Kikwete, Munyi, Mkapa and Nyerere!An appropriate picture of how Tanzanians are, on this blog with the ripped body of a journalist! jukwaa.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=7337
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Post by jakaswanga on Sept 8, 2012 12:38:54 GMT 3
Honestly many minds just blew up. IMF, WB, any financier you may know. Their minds short-circuited when the yellow devils started to talk MONEY. I'd be very interested to see actual figures of MONEY flowing into Africa from the various sources. Then we can make a solid comparison before we get excited.] Archive: China leads World Bank in loans to Africa by MIKE COHEN, DECEMBER 30 2011, 00:00 | 0 COMMENT(S) Export-Import Bank of China (Exim) extended $12,5bn more in loans to sub-Saharan Africa in the past decade than the World Bank, according to Fitch Ratings.State-owned Exim lent about $67,2bn to the world's poorest region between 2001 and 2010 compared with the World Bank's $54,7bn, the ratings company said in a report on Wednesday. "It is estimated that 20% of Exim's total business volume is conducted with Africa," Fitch said. "Angola, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Sudan have been traditional recipients of Exim loans since the bank's founding in 1994. However, more recent projects suggest an even distribution across the African continent." China has been boosting ties with Africa as it seeks to secure access to the continent's raw materials and new markets for its manufactured goods. In return, it has provided African governments with financing to develop their economies, attaching less stringent loan conditions than the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. "Absence of political strings, competitive interest rates and flexible repayment schedules compared with Western counterparts, makes China's loans highly attractive," Fitch said."For countries dependent on foreign aid, such as Ghana and Mozambique, Chinese loans offer an alternative source of capital against more traditional donor demands, particularly given growing infrastructure needs." Chinese loans to sub-Saharan Africa exceed the Asian nation's foreign direct investment in the region, with cumulative investment reaching $11bn as of last year, according to Fitch. Most Exim loans have been used for infrastructure projects, it said.State-owned policy lender China Development Bank Corporation has a loan programme with Africa to help small- and medium- sized companies secure financing and build local markets. Since its inception last year, the programme has helped fund more than 1000 projects that created 50000 jobs in African countries, Fitch said. Bloomberg www.bdlive.co.za/articles/2011/12/30/china-leads-world-bank-in-loans-to-africa ------------- PS: Always instructive to define type of loan. Concessional?? Low interest?? mortgaged [to raw materials or import from giving country]?? Just like, a trip to your local bank will reveal just how wide the range of 'financial products' are. Basically loans designed to get the bank the best deal and give the salesmen the biggest commissions.
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Post by OtishOtish on Sept 8, 2012 21:55:57 GMT 3
Jakaswanga, Man Who Appreciates A One With!: As I see it, when this Long March is over, we will discover that they have been marching on our backs. Doors may be getting harder to open elsewhere usa.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/2012-08/22/content_15696504.htmso why not to Africa. After all, having given them the stuff in the ground and now starting to give them the ground, why stop with half a loaf?
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Post by jakaswanga on Sept 9, 2012 14:00:50 GMT 3
Several African countries, are re-defining their immigration and labour laws, in the face of what we really now must, adopting the xenophobic lingo of our former colonial masters, colloquially call the yellow peril. Kajwang' may soon have to quit his deafness occasioned by eating, and make a decision.Here is from other countries: 1. --- MALAWI www.newsdzezimbabwe.co.uk/2012/07/Chinese-traders-booted-out-of-malawis.html -chinese booted out Malawi interior. CHINESE TRADERS BOOTED OUT OF MALAWI'S RURAL AREAS Thursday, July 05, 2012 NewsdzeZimbabwe 3Chinese traders owning retail shops in rural areas have been ordered out by the Malawi government. They have to move to towns and cities by the end of July, according to a directive by Ministry of Industry and Trade. Karonga District Commissioner Emmanuel Bambe on Wednesday disclosed that district councils have since been advised to stop issuing licenses to Chinese traders as that will now be the sole responsibility of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. He said this was in line with an agreement signed between Malawi and Chinese governments. “Business people of Chinese origin are supposed to do their businesses in towns and cities and not in districts hence the decision to move them out,” he said. Malawian traders, he said, can’t fairly compete against Chinese retail traders whose goods are relatively cheap. [READ MORE] ----------------------------------------------------------- 2. -----SENEGAL: www.themeshreport.com/2012/08/in-senegalese-shoe-capital-chinese-not-welcome/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+The-Mesh-Report+%28The+Mesh+Report%29 In Senegalese shoe capital, Chinese not welcomeTHE MESH REPORT STAFF AUGUST 2, 2012 COMMENTS (63) By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI NGAYE MEKHE, Senegal – It has taken generations for cobblers in this village to perfect the pointy-toed slippers once favored by local kings, and now considered an indispensable fashion accessory of well-dressed Senegalese men. It only took months for the Chinese to copy and mass produce the local design, making them out of plastic instead of leather and selling them for a quarter of the price. The Senegalese government has so far not regulated the import of Chinese-made replicas of local crafts, so the most prominent shoemakers of Ngaye Mekhe have come up with their own retaliation: They are refusing to sell their slippers to Chinese visitors. ========================================= NIGERIA: First chinese bodabodas reported in Lagos. The motorbike taxis, what we call apiko in Nyanza are known as okada in Nigeria. First folks laughed, then realised this was not a joking people. So they killed a few to stop the peril I think. NAMIBIA: Chinese in markets in the interior selling everything from second hand clothes to jembes and traditional herbs to increase potency! --Riots! DRC, ANGOLA, NIGER, the story is the same. Now I am informed they have entered fishing from a beach-head in Nyakach in Nyanza. [The Luos do not fish much because of the hyacinth! but there are enough snakes, a delicacy to some, under that weed to feed the growing Chinese restaurants in East and Central Afika! The lake as a snake-pond, and if Luos insist on the old trade fisherman instead of snake-catcher, well, lets say the times left us behind! --- ENTER THE DRAGON!! Yes, otishotish, my new friends are everywhere, and scaring the living devils out of everyone. They are the death-knells on a certain world as we have known it. thus the ubiquitous fear.
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Post by podp on Sept 9, 2012 17:23:56 GMT 3
Several African countries, are re-defining their immigration and labour laws, in the face of what we really now must, adopting the xenophobic lingo of our former colonial masters, colloquially call the yellow peril. Kajwang' may soon have to quit his deafness occasioned by eating, and make a decision.Here is from other countries: 1. --- MALAWI www.newsdzezimbabwe.co.uk/2012/07/Chinese-traders-booted-out-of-malawis.html -chinese booted out Malawi interior. CHINESE TRADERS BOOTED OUT OF MALAWI'S RURAL AREAS Thursday, July 05, 2012 NewsdzeZimbabwe 3Chinese traders owning retail shops in rural areas have been ordered out by the Malawi government. They have to move to towns and cities by the end of July, according to a directive by Ministry of Industry and Trade. Karonga District Commissioner Emmanuel Bambe on Wednesday disclosed that district councils have since been advised to stop issuing licenses to Chinese traders as that will now be the sole responsibility of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. He said this was in line with an agreement signed between Malawi and Chinese governments. “Business people of Chinese origin are supposed to do their businesses in towns and cities and not in districts hence the decision to move them out,” he said. Malawian traders, he said, can’t fairly compete against Chinese retail traders whose goods are relatively cheap. [READ MORE] ----------------------------------------------------------- 2. -----SENEGAL: www.themeshreport.com/2012/08/in-senegalese-shoe-capital-chinese-not-welcome/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+The-Mesh-Report+%28The+Mesh+Report%29 In Senegalese shoe capital, Chinese not welcomeTHE MESH REPORT STAFF AUGUST 2, 2012 COMMENTS (63) By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI NGAYE MEKHE, Senegal – It has taken generations for cobblers in this village to perfect the pointy-toed slippers once favored by local kings, and now considered an indispensable fashion accessory of well-dressed Senegalese men. It only took months for the Chinese to copy and mass produce the local design, making them out of plastic instead of leather and selling them for a quarter of the price. The Senegalese government has so far not regulated the import of Chinese-made replicas of local crafts, so the most prominent shoemakers of Ngaye Mekhe have come up with their own retaliation: They are refusing to sell their slippers to Chinese visitors. ========================================= NIGERIA: First chinese bodabodas reported in Lagos. The motorbike taxis, what we call apiko in Nyanza are known as okada in Nigeria. First folks laughed, then realised this was not a joking people. So they killed a few to stop the peril I think. NAMIBIA: Chinese in markets in the interior selling everything from second hand clothes to jembes and traditional herbs to increase potency! --Riots! DRC, ANGOLA, NIGER, the story is the same. Now I am informed they have entered fishing from a beach-head in Nyakach in Nyanza. [The Luos do not fish much because of the hyacinth! but there are enough snakes, a delicacy to some, under that weed to feed the growing Chinese restaurants in East and Central Afika! The lake as a snake-pond, and if Luos insist on the old trade fisherman instead of snake-catcher, well, lets say the times left us behind! --- ENTER THE DRAGON!! Yes, otishotish, my new friends are everywhere, and scaring the living devils out of everyone. They are the death-knells on a certain world as we have known it. thus the ubiquitous fear. Kenya is a labour surplus economy whose national interest must be defined as keeping a lid on any unnecessary immigration that will further depress the labour market. Our opening of the market to other members of the East African Common market is founded on the understanding that we have a competitive labour product which will secure a livelihood in the neighbouring countries more than their product in our market.Thus we project net market gains for Kenyans. China has never negotiated any agreement on trade in services with Kenya. This means it is virtually impossible for Kenyans with modest skills to penetrate the Chinese labour market. www.nation.co.ke/oped/Opinion/Government+must+act+on+influx+of+unskilled+labour+from+Asia+/-/440808/1500474/-/100n7nkz/-/index.html
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Post by OtishOtish on Sept 9, 2012 19:00:18 GMT 3
Kenya is a labour surplus economy whose national interest must be defined as keeping a lid on any unnecessary immigration that will further depress the labour market. Quite so. And I think it's a very serious problem, if one considers the nature of this surplus: high youth unemployment is one of the powder kegs that this country is sitting on. At some point, it will inevitably explode. There was a time, before the problem got so bad, when we were somewhat thoughtful about such issues. Many years ago (then small) local town used to have a "Youth Centre" where idle youth could harmlessly while away the time. At some point the local council stopped paying the employees, and they stopped coming to work. For the part, the youth broke into the centre and stole all its contents; for good measure, they also took away the windows and doors. The place is now a derelict shell that serves as a toilet for people passing by, and the idle youth have moved to crime instead of playing table-tennis or whatever.
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Post by jakaswanga on Sept 9, 2012 21:44:49 GMT 3
HOW AFRICA LOST TO CHINA ON THE VUVUZELA & OTHER STORIESI had bought a vuvuzela for about $3, when a friend of mine named Atari laughingly asked me if I knew the wholesale price of the damn thing in China. No I said. 'Less than half a dollar factory price!' he told me. Work out what that means. www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2010-06/17/content_9985425.htm dailycaller.com/2010/06/21/world-cups-vuvuzelas-seem-native-to-south-africa-but-are-manufactured-in-china/ I reckoned the plastics industry is ABC these days. Roto, Kentank, jerrycans, plastic mugs, sandak [now called crocs] is just part of the proof of how easy it is to manufacture a plastic thing. I was fascinated to learn how, in spite of the promote local companies motto of SADC, [Southern African Development community], a chinese company had ran away with it. Plastic vuvuzelas are no rocket-science so to speak. I was informed a local consortium of companies could only produce a vuvuzela at minimum price $8-15 retail. Whilst from China, half the world away, they arrive at your door in Afrika for $2 wholesale. And a vuvuzela made in Africa exported to the USA? You are looking at $25/piece! And a vuvuzela from the orient in the USA? [Haha] This fact should not terrify anybody. This is the situation of your ancestors going to war with spears against a machine-gun. A time to think. Thinking hard, is not that terrifying. 1. It should only inform folks the CEOs of local companies have not woken up to what globalisation entails. The realistic price of vuvuzelas produced in Africa at the peak of the demand should have been the factory price charged in China: half a dollar. About ksh. 50. Protectionism?? Smuggling will flourish. The difference between $10 and 1/2 a dollar is too big to protect in economic reality. But the terror is, what lessons from the vuvuzela fiasco? The Chinese have since exported more than 100 million vuvuzelas worldwide to a fortune beyond digging gold in South Africa. They won the world cup 2010, me thinks. Podp and Mukhisa Khituyi, can you please expand what exactly you want to protect in African labour?
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Post by jakaswanga on Sept 9, 2012 21:55:16 GMT 3
[Kenya is a labour surplus economy whose national interest must be defined as keeping a lid on any unnecessary immigration that will further depress the labour market.http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Opinion/Government+must+act+on+influx+of+unskilled+labour+from+Asia+/-/440808/1500474/-/100n7nkz/-/index.html Prof. Podp. Watu wa mkono, unskilled in construction, are paid 350-500 ksh/day, and this 'day' is very thinly defined. If a construction company from China tells you they can find watu wa mkono for 150 ksh/day, and the day is 14hrs. What say you? 1. Go away you slave-driver? 2. I don't believe you! come again! 3. Find money in your budget to top up the deficit for watu wa mkono[Chinese pay their 100ksh/14hrs, you top up the remaining 250-400 ksh.] 4. You look for another contractor to pay your watu-wa-mkono the rates you want at the tender price lower than the Chinese offer, or equal to it. 5. Force your watu wa mkono to take it or leave it. 6. Recognize you have been cornered, YOU ARE UNCOMPETITIVE, come up with a new GENERAL AND SUSTAINABLE remunerations policy -- that is a theory of pricing labour. ---Nobody, even an MP, in your country, can earn half a million ksh: Salary cap, both for private and public sector. otherwise how will you soak your excess and abundant young labour, pay them enough to subsist? With some sectors demanding 300% salary hikes I think otishotish and abdulmote with their premonitions of meltdown is prophetic. There are 200 million surplus Chinese, and their government is looking to export them. They will push wheelbarrows at ksh. 50 per day for 8 hrs. That level of desperacy is a force Africans are going to feel right in their pores. --The cheapest prostitute in your street will be a chink. And lots of Africans will be taking the going rate. Economics it is called. Free market or not. Professor, are you listening?
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Post by OtishOtish on Sept 9, 2012 22:20:32 GMT 3
Jakaswanga: A little story: When I was about 4 or 5 years old, I was very fascinated with nature, in all its forms. One of my favourite activities was to watch tiny ants get to work on a small dying animal (e.g. a mouse) or a bird that was tens of thousands their size and weight. First, 3 or 4 ants would arrive. They would do some reconnaissance, wandering around the near carcass, walking all over it, etc. Then they would send a message to their friends and relatives. A short while later, 10 to 20 more ants would arrive. They would make some small attacks and be shaken off. Another message sent back home. More reinforcements would arrive. Again they would be rebuffed. All this would be repeated until the near-carcass was completely swarmed and, tired, simply gave up the fight. The ants would then get down to a hard-earned dinner. A few days later, I would walk buy and find only bones and not a single ant. The ants had stripped off every bit of flesh and moved on. And this one is for your amusement: Some time ago, a large Hong Kong daily ran a full-page ad denouncing "locusts" from mainland China: blogs.wsj.com/scene/2012/02/01/locust-ad-breaks-in-apple-daily/And a musician wrote an accompanying "locust" song: It is in Chinese but has subtitles in English. Even though all this is ethnic Chinese commenting on other ethnic Chinese, I take a dim view towards lumping together all members of an ethnic group or a nation or whatever. Nevetheless, having spent a great deal of my adult life living in Asia, I would say forewarned is forearmed.
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Post by OtishOtish on Sept 9, 2012 22:51:57 GMT 3
The cheapest prostitute in your street will be a .... . ? This is already true in some Asian countries. For example, in Singapore, where prostitution is legal, the low end of the market was for decades dominated by ladies from the Phillipines and Thailand. In recent years, arrivals from mainland China have come to dominate that end of the market, offering what they claim to be fresher wares at lower prices. I foresee a foray into Africa, where the "exotic" element will (initially at least) generate quite a bit of excitement.
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Post by podp on Sept 10, 2012 14:36:38 GMT 3
[Kenya is a labour surplus economy whose national interest must be defined as keeping a lid on any unnecessary immigration that will further depress the labour market.http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Opinion/Government+must+act+on+influx+of+unskilled+labour+from+Asia+/-/440808/1500474/-/100n7nkz/-/index.html Prof. Podp. Watu wa mkono, unskilled in construction, are paid 350-500 ksh/day, and this 'day' is very thinly defined. If a construction company from China tells you they can find watu wa mkono for 150 ksh/day, and the day is 14hrs. What say you? 1. Go away you slave-driver? 2. I don't believe you! come again! 3. Find money in your budget to top up the deficit for watu wa mkono[Chinese pay their 100ksh/14hrs, you top up the remaining 250-400 ksh.] 4. You look for another contractor to pay your watu-wa-mkono the rates you want at the tender price lower than the Chinese offer, or equal to it. 5. Force your watu wa mkono to take it or leave it. 6. Recognize you have been cornered, YOU ARE UNCOMPETITIVE, come up with a new GENERAL AND SUSTAINABLE remunerations policy -- that is a theory of pricing labour. ---Nobody, even an MP, in your country, can earn half a million ksh: Salary cap, both for private and public sector. otherwise how will you soak your excess and abundant young labour, pay them enough to subsist? With some sectors demanding 300% salary hikes I think otishotish and abdulmote with their premonitions of meltdown is prophetic. There are 200 million surplus Chinese, and their government is looking to export them. They will push wheelbarrows at ksh. 50 per day for 8 hrs. That level of desperacy is a force Africans are going to feel right in their pores. --The cheapest prostitute in your street will be a chink. And lots of Africans will be taking the going rate. Economics it is called. Free market or not. Professor, are you listening? what you say requires a gentle decision between culture of poverty and poverty of culture. once while in Kaunda's country, the president who carried a white handkerchief and teers would come from his eyes as he addressed the nation I stayed with folks in the mining belt of Zambia. they told me first the Chinese brought machinery and engineers to help them mine more cheaply than the western machines and engineers did. then they brought more complicated machines with drivers at no cost to the Zambian state as they were serving prisoners. before long they brought guys who were also Chinese to cook for the folks from China. not long afterwards they brought farmers to grow vegetables and keep poultry, pigs etc that the Chinese folks eat. logistics (trailers, pickups etc with drivers) followed. fumba macho ufungue macho the Zambians found that the Chinese had diversified and were now rearing poultry, had opened kiosks and eating joints serving cheaper githeri and assorted foodstuffs to those miners working at the lowest level to the General Manager level. and then the resentment set in! last time I was in Ghana my host told me a similar story had reached the level of logistics. he took me to his leased farm some 40 km out of Tema. his neighbor also leasing 20 or so hectares was a Chinese. he had got a local lady who was cohabiting with him under the rules similar as those in the centre spread of todays' Standard (stay in collection who cooks, cleans and does those services reserved for a wife but leaving under Chinese rules of no children for a couple that already has a child). a visit to Chine yielded the time taken to build a 80,000 capacity stadium was 5 months less in China than anywhere else on earth. when I asked how they did it the simple answer was 'we work 25 hours a day". so while labor laws allow us to strike in China you can get a death sentence for absconding work! i fully agree if mtu wa mkono here in Kenya is say 200 kshs per day you can get a Chinese for a quarter or less. so you give me an answer to your questions
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Post by jakaswanga on Sept 11, 2012 14:08:32 GMT 3
so you give me an answer to your questions Prof. Podp,Don't be a cheeky prof. In your travels around Africa you definitely must have made the acquaintance of many Otieno Kajwang's running around like headless kitchens in their departments wondering what hit them. In Ghana you must have noted that, during the liberalisation frenzy of Kuffuor, the local poultry industry collapsed, because it could not compete the cheap frozen imports from the EU, the EU where chicken is reared in Mega stalls, some of them as big as Nyayo stadium and 10-storeys high! This is large-scale super-intensive capitalist industrial poultry production. Such a plant, or stall, could harvest 1 million birds per day. That is more than Kisumu and Mombasa can jointly consume in the same period! ;D Enter the Chinese in the Ghanian market: They have manage to economically make the local poultry industry in Ghana profitable! Producing birds at a cheaper bargain than the EU frozen imports!How did they do it? [may be I was part of the team sent by the EU to Ghana to find out how these yellow devils had ran us out of our market! but that aside]. What I will report to Jukwaa, is that Ghana discovered oil. And oil people do not do the world's dirtiest jobs. Cleaning without any protective gear, the daily-shit-load of 1000 birds in a simple yard, with the stupid birds quacking and shitting more on your head, is not something African men worth their pride will do for 'living in and feed costs'! --That is no wages, but eating chicken every day! Prof. Podp, some looked at the Chinese manufacturing chicken in Africa, and reported to the EU that they should get out of the chicken market quick! Or buy land in somewhere in that continent and import the cheap Chinese as slave-labour. Because of historical reasons, it is impossible to ask Europeans to use Africans as slave labour! So, prof, back to you and Mukhisa Khituyi, what do you propose?
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Post by podp on Sept 11, 2012 16:12:00 GMT 3
so you give me an answer to your questions Prof. Podp,Don't be a cheeky prof. In your travels around Africa you definitely must have made the acquaintance of many Otieno Kajwang's running around like headless kitchens in their departments wondering what hit them. In Ghana you must have noted that, during the liberalisation frenzy of Kuffuor, the local poultry industry collapsed, because it could not compete the cheap frozen imports from the EU, the EU where chicken is reared in Mega stalls, some of them as big as Nyayo stadium and 10-storeys high! This is large-scale super-intensive capitalist industrial poultry production. Such a plant, or stall, could harvest 1 million birds per day. That is more than Kisumu and Mombasa can jointly consume in the same period! ;D Enter the Chinese in the Ghanian market: They have manage to economically make the local poultry industry in Ghana profitable! Producing birds at a cheaper bargain than the EU frozen imports!How did they do it? [may be I was part of the team sent by the EU to Ghana to find out how these yellow devils had ran us out of our market! but that aside]. What I will report to Jukwaa, is that Ghana discovered oil. And oil people do not do the world's dirtiest jobs. Cleaning without any protective gear, the daily-shit-load of 1000 birds in a simple yard, with the stupid birds quacking and shitting more on your head, is not something African men worth their pride will do for 'living in and feed costs'! --That is no wages, but eating chicken every day! Prof. Podp, some looked at the Chinese manufacturing chicken in Africa, and reported to the EU that they should get out of the chicken market quick! Or buy land in somewhere in that continent and import the cheap Chinese as slave-labour. Because of historical reasons, it is impossible to ask Europeans to use Africans as slave labour! So, prof, back to you and Mukhisa Khituyi, what do you propose? 1st red highlight If you watched ‘The Chinese Are Coming’ While many in the West view Africa as a land of poverty, to the Chinese it is seen as an almost limitless business opportunity. From Angola to Tanzania, Justin meets the fearless Chinese entrepreneurs who have travelled thousands of miles to set up businesses. topdocumentaryfilms.com/chinese-are-coming/There are two comments one by an African and the second by a Chinese that made interesting reads, shown below. • This comment is pre-watching the documentary, and I will post another post-doc..(by an African from the Diaspora) As an African, I can safely say that we are very much aware that we are being exploited. However, we have very few options, those companies and charities that emphasise fair trade rarely actually trade fairly, and charities and aid work have been working in this continent for centuries now - to no avail.. (people don't need food and handouts, they need AFRICAN education that will teach them how to succeed with the environment but most of all they need good governance). For many African countries we CAN do it all by ourselves, that is the physical stuff, we have the resources, and man power we can build our own roads, schools, hospitals, and we do build the majority of them ourselves - BUT we don't have good governance!! You might think that colonialism is the big excuse, but it is no less than the truth. The way Africans govern typically is a tribal matter, our land was divided and different tribes with different outlooks on life were put together, we are very spirtual people and our beliefs do matter to us. All of these traditions that our ancestors held were discouraged, unrewarded and almost abolished after colonialism, so we were forced to adopt a false 'democracy' or government, and the 'colonials' took all of this with them after decades of reigning our countries. My point is: (sorry to have rambled) : The Chinese are not in any way contributing to the governance of our countries, and so they are not improving our situation. They are merely tapping resources back to their homeland. It may seem selfish to bite the hand that feeds you, but this is the truth, we did it once before, we celebrated in an quick union with the British Empire and when they left, which the Chinese will also ultimately end up doing (as I doubt that they will ever see themselves as Africans), they took it all with them. Visiting my home country in Africa, I see all of these cheap Chinese products, cheap scratchy plastic bowls, weaning out our bamboo or calabash wooden bowls? We are now in the age of sustainability and renewable resources, these plastic bowls do nothing but litter our land.. It's really sad that my nation is looking for quick fixes. Also, the Chinese immigrants and companies often offer labour at ridiculously competitive prices, and out compete local trade, which can't afford to compromise on costs, many have gone out of business, this is definitely not sustainable - like I mentioned, what will happen when the Chinese leave?? Where will our own tradesmen and women go? Another point is that the Chinese respect their culture, but to the extreme that they rarely integrate into other cultures or partake. There will be Chinatowns within these African countries, and they will live segragated from the citizens. I have read reports that some of these Chinese businessmen and women only buy from Chinese stores, and only eat Chinese food etc.. talk about integrating. Also one more point is that many smart Chinese entrepreneurs have purchased land in the African countries, so that they can inherit when they self brought-on boost occurs in the cost of land. As an African, it's very uncomforting to know that the land your ancestors were buried on may be owned by a person who is not willing to engage with your culture, who might build a skyscraper, or some strip joint (exaggeration), but may not respect the site, or might be only interested in selling it back to you for as high a price as possible. These are all my fears for my nation. I do see one major positive with the Chinese though; they have increased the interest in the endless possibilities available in African countries - Yes India and China are booming, but along with Mumbai, Mexico City, Lagos in Nigeria, West Africa is also one of the world's MEGACITIES, the Chinese are VERY VERY smart, they will increase competition for Westerners who have been ever to comfortable with trading with Africans. topdocumentaryfilms.com/chinese-are-coming/(comment by a Chinese) As a chinese, i think i can relate to parts of what you have said. The chinese kinda like to keep to themselves. I guess they enjoy being in their own comfort zone and see no reason of getting out of it. Regarding chinese buying up land elsewhere, thats because you are not allowed to own land in china (at least not in the urban areas, not sure bout rural areas). Thats why you can see esp in Canada, Australia, america, south east asian countries, the chinese are coming in and buying up property, to the extent of raising the property prices in these places. The cheap labour.....outside competition have been flooding the chinese market since the reforms and even more so after china joined the WTO...so much so that it has saturated the market in china that small time businesses have no choice of competing with the international MNCs that they begin to look for opportunities elsewhere, ie africa or other SEA nations. 2nd red highlight let me mull over that as I found out our good Prof incharge of the Medical Ministry was a lecture hall revolutionary who never practiced what he preached and with the NHIF saga and now the registrars plus maybe soon doctors strike topping up what MM wrote that he addresses PM as His Excellency one has to take your questions carefully and not chance a response that may turn to haunt like a piece of advice one never forgot. “You must never write history,” teacher said, “until you can hear the people speak.” one thought about that for years, and it came to feel like a valuable guiding principle for fiction as well. If you didn’t have a sense of how people spoke, you didn’t know them well enough, and so you couldn’t—you shouldn’t—tell their story. The way people spoke, in short, clipped phrases or long, flowing rambles, revealed so much about them: their place of origin, their social class, their temperament, whether calm or angry, warmhearted or cold-blooded, foulmouthed or polite; and, beneath their temperament, their true nature, intellectual or earthy, plainspoken or devious, and, yes, good or bad let us help one another phrase an acceptable answer to your pregnant question
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Post by jakaswanga on Sept 12, 2012 20:28:13 GMT 3
The cheapest prostitute in your street will be a .... . ? This is already true in some Asian countries. For example, in Singapore, where prostitution is legal, the low end of the market was for decades dominated by ladies from the Philippines and Thailand. In recent years, arrivals from mainland China have come to dominate that end of the market, offering what they claim to be fresher wares at lower prices. I foresee a foray into Africa where the "exotic" element will (initially at least) generate quite a bit of excitement. ,Ah, otishotish, the ' exotic taste'! The following story is from Angola, but it could be duplicated anywhere across the continent. You will remember recently, the link should already be in this thread, how a few hundred Chinese hard-boiled criminals were arrested and deported from that country, in a joint transcontinental operation involving the Angolans, the Macao, HongKong and mainland Chinese police. One of the regions they majored in was EXOTIC MEAT SUPPLY. A careful study of the African meat market in the respective country, revealed a hole in the market, as far as the practice of a certain specialisation is concerned. Perhaps in your many wanderings in the Orient, you visited a banana bar in the Philippines or Thailand? There is a specialisation, in which a generously proportioned banana is consumed, much more in the fashion in which a snake slowly devours jaw-breaking prey, but by other anatomical parts than the regular cavity. It became a run-away hit in Angola. And this Angola, even before we qualify her statistics as shady and oily, is currently Africa's fastest growing economy. So a lot of guys there can afford to indulge in exotic tastes. And the ever enterprising Chinese read the situation correct, and organised the biggest sino-african prostitution ring. Lets say it could be the now not so much in demand local meat that used to cater for the oil pumped-up nouveau riche of Angola, that put a spanner in the works to recapture the lost market! I surmise there is a brothel in Nairobi and her environs offering African, Indian, European and Asian meat for the Chinese construction workers around town. It can be a very busy session occasionally as a Njeri once told me. Only by body ordour do they count/record how many Chinese they have done in the hour. They haven't yet learnt how to differentiate Mr. Tao from Mr. Ping. Or Mao from Deng! All the same dik! --head.
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