tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189930829940284211.post3573633982144350278..comments2023-09-18T09:55:35.795-04:00Comments on China in Africa: The Real Story: China's Foreign Aid: The Economist still doesn't get itDeborah Brautigamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10813215294689392170noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189930829940284211.post-16967836853685258602019-11-26T10:07:25.958-05:002019-11-26T10:07:25.958-05:00Reading this piece 7 years after it was written is...Reading this piece 7 years after it was written is illuminating. The Economist has been proven correct regarding China's objectives. The above response above completely misses the point regarding Chinese construction companies. Most (if not all?) are considered state-owned enterprises which means they are economic tools of the state, and therefore,hardly comparable to Western construction firms who must survive in market-competitive environments. And of course these SOEs can offer enticing deals! The state takes the risk to keep the domestic economic engine running. Size has nothing to do with quality, so careful with the rankings. Academics should know that indices can be deceiving. Firms that are capable of high quality construction can also cut corners when the margins are thin and fragile "host" governments have little incentive for oversight/recourse, particularly when they've been bought off. We've certainly seen some shoddy BRI construction in Africa. Repeat business? Sure, that's easy to achieve when the terms of deal are so enticing it's hard for non-subsidized firms (or even Western development banks) to compete. Speaking of which, where is the foreign construction competition in China? Oh wait, the Chinese haven't really opened their markets to foreign construction firms. Why would they? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189930829940284211.post-36416319913088253002018-10-19T04:35:16.536-04:002018-10-19T04:35:16.536-04:00I don't think its about winning the world. Chi...I don't think its about winning the world. China is in a hurry to build the world to sustain its economy. After all, you can't be the world's workshop when the market is not there. The idea is to develop the under-developed and developing world to expand the market. But I must say that capitalist development itself is not sustainable.<br /><br />Samsarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17027414000160578013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189930829940284211.post-42433295678684362982016-03-25T00:18:25.796-04:002016-03-25T00:18:25.796-04:00The Chinese have world-class construction companie...The Chinese have world-class construction companies, and that's who got the business.We will, continue to do our best to improve our efforts on all fronts to better our standards to serve our clients and the society. <a href="http://arabtec-cm.com/" rel="nofollow">فك و تركيب الرافعات و المصاعد</a>Bradpitrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18424559967557633644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189930829940284211.post-77926998876728782422015-02-25T09:06:53.718-05:002015-02-25T09:06:53.718-05:00I agree with you. Africans have the capacity to bu...I agree with you. Africans have the capacity to build infrastructure. The problem is that the Chinese are sending many of their people out of China to get jobs because there are too many people in China. All over the continent you have well qualified African engineers who can design new infrastructure and people to actual do the construction. In addition, most African countries have the monetary resources to pay for the needed equipment and supplies. The real issue rest with African leaders who are not serious about African development and would rather allow foreigners, like the Chinese, to do the work. This has been the problem with Africa since independence. Noted brilliant African scholar, now deceased, Claude Ake in his book on Democracy in Africa says,"..the assumption so readily made that there has been a failure of development is misleading. The problem is not so much that development has failed as that it was never really on the agenda in the first place. By all indications, political conditions in Africa are the greatest impediment to development.."Margaret C. Leenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189930829940284211.post-20059730391690038592015-02-23T21:18:11.207-05:002015-02-23T21:18:11.207-05:00Africa needs more infrastructure, no one denies th...Africa needs more infrastructure, no one denies that. I just have one question. Why is it that it is only foreigners who can build this infrastructure? Why can't we Africans rise to the challenge of learning how to construct the infrastructure we need? Is constructing infrastructure too hard for us Africans?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189930829940284211.post-20105467792343117442012-03-31T09:55:49.962-04:002012-03-31T09:55:49.962-04:00China has 20 of the top 100 biggest International ...China has 20 of the top 100 biggest International construction contractors by revenue. You don't become this large internationally without good quality, reputation and repeat business. The ENR top international contractors list for 2011 can be found here...<br /><br />http://enr.construction.com/toplists/InternationalContractors/001-100.aspAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189930829940284211.post-85055165165967568702012-03-04T19:57:49.922-05:002012-03-04T19:57:49.922-05:00About construction companies and quality: I don...About construction companies and quality: I don't have a survey of the quality. But I know that Chinese firms have been winning a lot of repeat business overseas with non-Chinese clients (including American and European) for quite a few years. Even as long ago as 2008, they have quite a few companies in the ENR top 20: this source has some useful rankings http://www.ancpl.legacoop.it/upload/attach/file00000249.pdfDeborah Brautigamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03141925702416939602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189930829940284211.post-18429449228464215212012-03-04T05:15:03.789-05:002012-03-04T05:15:03.789-05:00I appreciated reading your thoughtful comments and...I appreciated reading your thoughtful comments and breakdowns. Perhaps this comment is marginal at best, but I was struck by your note that "The Chinese have world-class construction companies." Perhaps this is true, but it lacks support in your blog. How is this defined? Those of us who live in Beijing know all too well the questionable quality of existing as well as new construction--even among China's newest iconic buildings--not to mention deferred maintenance issue. One has to question what strategies are deployed internationally based on what is being done locally.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189930829940284211.post-56272135870059085162012-02-06T07:25:19.221-05:002012-02-06T07:25:19.221-05:00from the Economist opening paragraph:
'The C...from the Economist opening paragraph: <br /><br />'The Chinese elite sees the world in terms of brutal competition for limited resources'.<br /><br />You've got to ask 'as opposed to'...?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189930829940284211.post-13805730514396688362012-01-29T22:02:14.637-05:002012-01-29T22:02:14.637-05:00Great blog article ! The Economist is hopelessly b...Great blog article ! The Economist is hopelessly biased so no surprises there.Chimaoge1noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189930829940284211.post-85280305700343866582012-01-29T21:15:03.030-05:002012-01-29T21:15:03.030-05:00Are we supposed to take a magazine once dubbed Afr...Are we supposed to take a magazine once dubbed Africa as "The Hopeless Continent" seriously?<br /><br />let me know when they write articles on The Economist, not from a race obsessed view but from a balanced and well researched angle.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189930829940284211.post-4874563454398715742012-01-26T10:32:03.309-05:002012-01-26T10:32:03.309-05:00Reading your blog is always refreshing after readi...Reading your blog is always refreshing after reading so much misleading information from the western news agencies every day! --Jinghao LuAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189930829940284211.post-21955610053822060182012-01-25T11:24:59.094-05:002012-01-25T11:24:59.094-05:00Of course The Economist is in the fear mongering b...Of course The Economist is in the fear mongering business. what they don't realize is how little Africans and China care about the opinions of increasingly irrelevant and completely biased outlets like The Economist. The west's obsession with China is quite creepy and there's nothing that scares it more than the relationship b/n China and Africa. in an increasingly complicated world where Africans and others no longer care for the west it's fascinating to see how the west is handling it within the context of its past history.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189930829940284211.post-50698854926024867212012-01-24T00:41:43.243-05:002012-01-24T00:41:43.243-05:00This is something that I feel will change for cert...This is something that I feel will change for certain in the coming decades - this flow of culture and ideas, and more importantly business, will stop being a one way street.<br /><br />The Chinese seem to be in a hurry to win this world, but can they succeed when they don't believe in the very tenets that make a modern society - freedom of the individual, freedom of the press and freedom of speech?Vasuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01017035680515477428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189930829940284211.post-81308255074895900952012-01-22T21:54:41.622-05:002012-01-22T21:54:41.622-05:00so who to believe?
the economist article seemed t...so who to believe?<br /><br />the economist article seemed to have a consistent pov (if not a fear-mongering agenda)<br /><br />what i find curious is that most writing on china in africa is all about plotting, scheming, strategizing, they are smart, west is dumb .. whereas to me it is simply the continuation of the natural spread of ideas and influence through the world, similar to the one called westernization ..<br /><br />nature is globalized, after allgregoryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14408369948377761936noreply@blogger.com