Sata condemns Chinese investments in Zambia
Sata condemns Chinese investments in ZambiaBy Chibaula Silwamba
Thursday July 05, 2007 [04:01]
PATRIOTIC Front (PF) president Michael Sata has likened the investment partnership between China and Zambia to that of a horse and a rider. And Zambia-China Business Association (ZCBA) chairman Sebastian Kopulande observed that ZCBA would not say they were satisfied with poor quality jobs offered to Zambians by Chinese investors but nevertheless there are obs bejing created.
Speaking to BBC’s senior Africa correspondent Orla Guerin on Chinese investments in Zambia at Courtyard Hotel in Lusaka on Tuesday, Sata said in the partnership, Zambia was the horse while China was the rider.
Sata said Chinese investment had not benefited Zambians in any way.
Sata said Chinese investors were just plundering everything in Zambia while the ordinary Zambians did not see any visible investments.
He said the Chinese investors had failed to manage most of the companies they had taken over from the previous owners.
Sata cited Mulungushi Textiles, Maamba Coal Mine and Chambeshi Mines, where he said the Chinese investors had failed to improve productivity.
He observed that the Chinese were not adding any value to the raw materials but instead they were extracting and exporting the materials in raw form.
“They export copper ore. They dig the whole soil,” he observed. “The Chinese are not the first miners to come to Zambia. The mines were under the Anglo Americans and ZCCM under nationalisation, probably we would not have known what we are talking about, we would have thought this is the way where people dig copper and take it away.”
Sata observed that there were many Chinese labourers working in Chinese companies than the local people.
“When the British came to Zambia, they did not bring British men to come and drive graders and bulldozers. They trained people here,” Sata said.
“The Chinese, it’s very nice for people to dramatise that they are bringing US$900 million. For every dollar, the Chinese bring one China man. They are here pushing wheelbarrows.”
However, Sata said he did not hate the Chinese per se but hated their discriminatory ideas.
“If you move the whole Cairo Road and Lusaka, you will not see any impressive building but we are told there are more than 80,000 Chinese,” he said. “We don’t see their investment.”
Sata said Zambians were poor because the Chinese had been given a blanket red carpet to invest without benefiting the locals.
But Kopulande said Chinese investors had created jobs although he could not say ZCBA was satisfied with poor quality jobs.
“We are not saying that we are satisfied with poor quality jobs. No. What we are saying is that jobs are created nevertheless,” responded Kopulande, to Guerin who had observed that he was sounding like he was saying Chinese’s low paying jobs were okay.
“The type of jobs obviously depends on the type of industry one is involved. If an investor is investing in agriculture, I don’t think the investor will be interested in employing a banker or a computer programmer who will be sitting there in a high paid job.”
He said any country had labour laws that applied to employers.
“On very poorly paid jobs, that is a matter for the authorities to deal with. Any country has labour laws and each country has to make sure labour laws are upheld,” he said.
He said Chinese investment had so far created about 10,000 jobs for Zambians.
Other than employment creation, Kopulande said the major benefit that Zambia had gained from Chinese investment was capital formation and value addition to raw materials.
He said using Chinese technology, Zambia would be able to export value added products.
“I think Chinese investment like any other is beneficial to the recipient country. I think that the deals that Zambia is making with China are more beneficial to the Zambian economy,” he said. “I don’t want to attach emotions to this debate; I would rather deal with the facts and figures.”
Later in an interview, Kopulande said Chinese investment currently stood at over US $400 million.
He said there were over 180 Chinese companies in Zambia.
Kopulande anticipated a three-fold increase in Chinese investment in the next two to three years following the US$900 million to be invested in the Chambeshi Multi-Facility Economic Zone.
Labels: CHINESE, ORLA GUERIN, SATA, ZCBA
posted by MrK @ 5:40 PM
2 Comments:
" “The Chinese, it’s very nice for people to dramatise that they are bringing US$900 million. For every dollar, the Chinese bring one China man. They are here pushing wheelbarrows.” "
Let this be call for the end to ignorant leadership.
The statement above means there are 900 million Chinese in Zambia.
We cannot afford to have ignorant leadership, and that starts with what we mean by 'investment'. This term is being thrown around because it pleases the IMF and their quest for FDI (Foreign Direct Investment).
But unless there is *OWNERSHIP* of the resources that are being exploited, or if the majority of shares are owned by local government or chiefs, of course the Chinese 'will be digging holes' and take all the profits with them.
That frankly is not the Chinese fault. When the Zambian government presents them with a deal that is too good to be true, we cannot blame the Chinese for taking it.
We must blame the government first, and then the IMF to the extent that they are binding the government's hands.
But the first blame of exploitation by the Chinese lies with the party in government, it's MPs, it's ministers, and above all the President.
1) Demand that all foreign investment into Zambia has 51% or greater (share) ownership in the hands of
- the state; or
- local government; or
- the chiefs
If Zambian people think they don't have the capacity to do these things themselves, AT LEAST DEMAND SHARED *OWNERSHIP* in exchange for these raw materials.
2) Completely change the attitude towards development and
- focus on re-investment
For instance, if anyone from outside the country or outside the municipality, demand that they share a percentage of their company's shares, and carefully monitor their income. Then, have the local authority, chief or state: re-invest that money into low or no interest loans for local companies; buy out the remaining shares to create an even greater level of share ownership if the business has long term prospects; use that money to lower taxes for local people.
The state should have a philosophy that focuses on retaining wealth through encouraging re-investment in the local area. Of course, they should start out by receiving the majority of the profits from the raw materials, or the markets that are being exploited.
There is certainly an issue with our poor employment and investment laws. But i dont think Sata should hate the chinese for it. It is well known that he is pro-taiwan and anti-china. I think the main problen here is our leadership. Why should we complain about the chinese when other countries are getting access to that huge market. Instead of complaining lets use them for our development. So the logical thing to do is to improve our labour and investment laws. And vote for MPs who do. Honestly half of those people in paliament dont know whats going in in the world.
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