Mandarin Moments in Africa
Blurry-eyed, we arrive at the Addis Ababa airport after the long flight from NYC via Lomé, Togo (that was a fascinating layover, but a story for another time!). We need to print our boarding passes for the Nairobi flight, so I approach the Ethiopian Airlines help desk in the middle of the terminal. It didn’t even register to me that the employee behind the desk was a Chinese man (maybe after so many work trips to China over these past few years, it seemed perfectly natural to me that I’d be talking to a young Chinese man). He informed me that this was the help desk for Mandarin speakers only. As you can see below, maybe I should’ve realized that from the look of it!
It’s a sign of the times. The China government and thousands of Chinese entrepreneurs are incredibly active across the continent and, in particular, Ethiopia. As we walk around the corner of the dilapidated terminal, I see a Chinese restaurant that looks like it was transported directly from a Chinese railway station. It reminds me of the Tianjin South or Nanjing Railway Stations.
Neither of these installations were in the Addis airport when I flew through a year ago.
(To be clear, I think it’s awesome that Addis is a flight hub for the region and I can’t wait to become a “Sheeba Miles” frequent flyer. But, that airport needs a serious facelift. Maybe the Chinese will be the ones to do it!)
The Chinese have built the light rail in Addis Ababa, the high speed train from Nairobi to Mombasa, and the Cuanza Bridge in Angola. According to McKinsey, nearly 50% of Africa’s internationally-contracted construction work goes to Chinese firms. Big picture, China is now the #1 trading partner, #1 infrastructure investor, and fastest growing FDI (foreign direct investment) partner across the continent. McKinsey estimates that 10,000 Chinese-founded firms are operating across Africa.
Now living in Nairobi, what’s interesting to me is that, while there is evidence of Chinese construction and activity in many places — the fences around construction sites and Chinese restaurants advertising in Mandarin — I see disproportionately few Chinese people. It’s not because they aren’t here. It’s because there is very little mixing between the Chinese and the Western expats working in Nairobi. I’m still exploring why. Perhaps it’s that people keep to different neighborhoods, enjoy different activities. But, it seems to run deeper. I get the impression that Chinese and Western business people and government bodies / DFI (Development Finance Institutions) don’t engage in any meaningful way, don’t coordinate efforts, and, if we are cynical about it, are engaging in some neo-colonial battle over the continent. One only needs to look at the comments from (former!) US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson on his recent trip to 5 African countries. I have every intention of breaking through that barrier.
In the West, we are primed to treat China with distrust. Some US media coverage is even comical to me in how it paints Chinese government or business people through a monolithic lens of being authoritarian and extractive. Having done a lot of business in China over the past few years, I can say that China is anything but monolithic. The personalities, ethics, and business quality are as diverse in China as they are in the US. While investing in renewable energy projects in China, I met solar and wind companies that were as sketchy and low-quality as the West presumes them to be. But, I met and worked with far more companies with great integrity, quality of execution, and good people.
And, in Africa, China’s activities are not black and white. China’s investment in the region has many benefits — massive employment, skills training, hardware & software investments, and much needed infrastructure build out. And the risks are very clear — there have been instances of major labor and environmental violations in Chinese-owned businesses and Chinese actors are more willing to do business with authoritarian regimes (a tendency to respect government sovereignty and a disinterest for meddling in local affairs).
I think China’s activities in Africa will be a net positive for the continent, but they could also cause a lot of damage. There is an opportunity to bring the best business practices and latest technology to bear in Africa — China’s speed of execution and scale, US technology development and standards, Africa’s hustle and frugal innovation. And, there will be, hopefully, more Sichuan mapo tofu (my fav!) and Chongqing hot pot dinners to enjoy along the way.
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Note:
A great resource on China’s growing role in Africa is a recent report from the McKinsey Global Institute called Dance of the Lions and Dragons.
