Opinion
Exchange the Role of Guest for that of Host: When the Maid Takes Over the Master’s House
By Ryan Elcock
“Defeat the enemy from within by infiltrating the enemy’s camp under the guise of cooperation, surrender, or peace treaties. In this way you can discover his weakness and then, when the enemy’s guard is relaxed, strike directly at the source of his strength.”
– Thirty- Six Strategies of Ancient China –Strategy 30: Exchange the Role of Guest for that of Host
If Africa does not want to fall into the cycle of colonialism, she must be willing to dictate the terms of her own success. She cannot permit others to come into her house and take over while she sits idly by. After all, if it is a sad day when the maid takes over the master’s house and the master can do nothing about it. Such is the case of China’s investment in Africa’s infrastructure.
You see, China has become Africa’s biggest trading partner and source of capital investment, as of late, and many have hailed this as a great opportunity and viable option to the oppressive monetary policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. Coupled with China’s seeming hands off approach to African affairs, African leaders have really begun to view China as a better investment partner.
Furthermore, China has also decided to align itself as a partner in helping develop Africa’s underdeveloped infrastructure, as this is critical in ensuring the continued growth of Africa’s economy. As stated in Ma Shukun’s article – China Investment Corp. Willing to Invest more in Africa’s Infrastructure, China sees the development of Africa’s infrastructure as a long term investment for economic returns. After all, China’s investment in Africa’s infrastructure ensures that it gains access to much of Africa’s natural resources.
As promising as this relationship between Africa and China sounds, I believe that Africa’s leaders have to pause and view China’s offering of aid like that of the priest of Laocoon, the Trojan Priest who made the famous statement, in regards to the Greeks’ Trojan Horse which lead to the downfall of Troy in the Trojan War, “Beware of the Greeks bearing gifts”.
If one is a student of strategy, they would see that China’s “benevolence” is actually a power play based on Strategy No. 30 from China’s famous Thirty-Six Strategies of Ancient China: Exchange the Role of Guest for that of the Host. Therefore one can suspect that China’s investment in Africa’s infrastructure is just another ploy to make Africa continuously dependent on China even after all of Africa’s resources have been used up.
After all, China is not sharing its knowledge and know-how with Africa but rather it brings in its own people to do most of the work. Furthermore, China seems to have all the upside from all the financial investment in Africa as most of the Chinese companies are getting most of the development projects and at the same time flooding the African market with Chinese goods, as stated in my first article on China’s involvement in Africa, What a Packet of Fruit Wrinkles Taught me About China’s Involvement in Africa and the Caribbean Region.
However, the onus is on Africa’s leaders to decide whether they want to always be given fish or taught how to do so because whoever controls Africa’s infrastructure controls the region and China has positioned itself to do so. African leaders have to determine whether they want foreign investors to dictate their future with promises of jobs for the local people or the whether they want to build the foundations that ensure their people’s success.
For those who may ask if it matters that Chinese developers, instead of African developers, build Africa’s infrastructure, I say yes it does! I believe that if the Chinese are developing Africa’s roads and infrastructure, then Africa will need Chinese manufactured vehicles, such as buses and cars, along with China’s knowledge to maintain their infrastructure should it need repairs. Thus China would behave just like the British during the famous Opium Wars.
Therefore, like my colleague Christopher Duff wrote in his article, See Beyond the Dollar, that one must look beyond the money and take advantage of unpaid opportunities that can lead to long term financial success, so too must Africa’s leaders strive to ensure that the African ingenuity and genius develop its own infrastructure without depending on a foreign entity to do build their houses, schools and roads for them. Besides, the world listens to countries that stand on their own two feet rather than those who are carried by others. And if African leadership has any doubts, they should just ask China who started out as the maid of the world but is quickly becoming its financial master.