Antony Blinken is just the latest U.S. Secretary of State to accuse China of bringing over large numbers of unskilled workers to build infrastructure in Africa, presumably at the expense of local labor.
Every Secretary of State over the last decade has leveled the same accusation about Chinese labor practices in Africa:
- 2011 – Hillary Clinton: “[China] has not always utilized the talents of the African people in pursuing its business interests,” was quoted in a VOA report that added “Large Chinese construction projects in Africa often employ Chinese workers housed at the site.”
- 2014 – John Kerry: In an interview on BBC’s HARDtalk, Kerry brought up the labor issue on multiple occasions when he asked “And how many of their own employees – and how many Chinese come over to do the work?” and then went on to contrast the U.S. approach in Africa with very similar language to that of Secretary Blinken today: “we have experience and we don’t come into a place, as some countries do, with a simple deal and simple finance and bring our workers in or something else.”
- 2018 – Rex Tillerson: Trump’s first Secretary of State didn’t focus much attention on Africa during his very brief tenure but did reference the same Chinese labor myth in reference to Latin America: “China’s offer always come at a price—usually in the form of state-led investments carried out by imported Chinese labor, onerous loans and unsustainable debt.”
- 2020 – Mike Pompeo: During a visit to Luanda last year, Mike Pompeo leaned into the same meme when he said: “When we come, we hire Angolans. When we come to Angola, we show up with money that will benefit the Angolan people.”
The reality is, as the latest data from the China-Africa Research Initiative (graphic) suggests, the number of Chinese workers in Africa has been steadily declining for years. There are two important reasons that explain this trend: first, China is in the midst of a demographic crisis where it does not have a surplus of working-age laborers to send overseas. Secondly, the cost of labor in China has been rising for years, so much so that many companies no longer find it economical to manufacture there.
To bring expatriate unskilled workers over to Africa would be extraordinarily expensive for Chinese construction companies, even if that talent was available — which, for the most part, it isn’t.
Research That Debunks the Chinese Labor Myth
- UNIVERSITY OF LONDON: “One of the common perceptions of Chinese firms working in Africa is that they do not employ locals, the working conditions are exploitative and that they don’t contribute to skills development. However, our findings after four years of research have drawn up a very different picture… In terms of job creation, the project found that the proportion of national (Ethiopian and Angolan) workers in the labor force is substantially higher than usually assumed in media perceptions. In Ethiopia, these rates were 90% of all workers (and 100% for low-skilled workers) and in Angola, where rates are usually much lower due to skill shortages, estimated rates were 74%.” (READ MORE)
- THE HONG KONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: “Our database on workforce localization shows that, on average, locals are more than four-fifths of employees at 400 Chinese enterprises and projects in 40- plus African countries… Almost every Chinese manager in Africa we have interviewed has recognized that advantages of localization — a lower wage bill, improved government relations, and local knowledge acquisition — outweigh such drawbacks as loss of control functions, less specialized employee experience, and slower work pace.” (READ MORE)
SUGGESTED VIEWING:
- The Development and Economic Growth Research Programme (DEGRP): How can Chinese companies create more and better jobs for Africans? – Dr Carlos Oya
