FTW pick: Is Africa being short-changed?

Is Africa’s desperation for infrastructure development making it vulnerable to bullying by global investors who use that desperation to ensure a skewed trade agreement in favour of the investment country?

This was the hotly debated issue during a roundtable session at the Africa Rail 2015 conference and exhibition held in Johannesburg last week, with industry representatives all agreeing that this was certainly the case with China.

“The Chinese arrive in a country, invest in an expensive infrastructure project, bring their own countrymen to work on the project or manufacture equipment and depart again, leaving a big white elephant that no-one local can operate – as the manuals are often in Chinese,” said Hlayisani Matelakenga, manager of rail and industrial at global manufacturing and engineering company, DCD.

He commented that the Chinese investors were generally not committed to a real partnership with the countries in which they invested as there were no localisation agreements in place - and nor was there any skills or knowledge transfer.

To read the full FTW article, click here.

http://www.ftwonline.co.za/FTWeditions/2015/2158-10July2015/page11.html