Opinion
Exchange the Role of Guest for that of Host: When the Maid Takes Over the Master’s House
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.
