From Algeria to Angola, the Chinese population across Africa is growing rapidly. In less than a decade, hundreds of thousands of immigrants have made the long journey from mainland China to cities and villages throughout the continent. Today, as this vast population settles in, they are having a transformative effect on the culture, economics and even politics of their new African communities.
There are no precise figures on just how many Chinese live in Africa. Estimates, though, place the number of immigrants somewhere between 750,000 and a million continent-wide. If those estimates are accurate, it means there are more Chinese migrants living in Africa today then there were expatriate French people at the peak of their African empire in the mid-20thcentury.
But just who are all these Chinese people and what draws them to Africa?
It should go without saying that any population as large and diverse as the Chinese defies simple characterization. The Chinese immigrant population in Africa is extremely diverse across all lines of class and culture. In my experience, overseas Chinese migrants on the continent can broadly be divided into four distinct categories:
The Elites: Senior Chinese diplomats and executive management of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) there to manage Beijing’s growing natural resource investments on the continent or oversee China’s massive infrastructure development initiatives. These people largely live in African capitals, often in the same walled-compounds as their Western counterparts.
The Managers: The often highly educated engineers and managers on the ground who lead the construction and natural resource extraction projects across the continent. These engineers give the Chinese such an advantage when bidding on projects since their salaries are a small fraction of comparable Western wages. These managers largely isolate themselves from the broader African society and stay in country anywhere from 3-5 years until they are assigned to a new project in a different country.
The Entrepreneurs: These individuals operate independent of any corporate or governmental entity. They have moved to Africa because they see an opportunity in the marketplace to make money. These entrepreneurs often start small- to medium-sized enterprises that leverage trading relationships back in China. Due to the business imperative of speaking the local language and understanding the culture, this group of immigrants is often highly assimilated.
The Peasants: For this group, the transition from the Chinese countryside to Africa is largely viewed as a horizontal move. They are accustomed to high levels of poverty, corruption and societal instability. Too poor to isolate themselves in a Chinese “ghetto,”, these immigrants live right alongside Africans in both urban and village communities across the continent. Out of sheer necessity, they are often highly assimilated in both language and culture. In contrast to the other three groups of Chinese migrants, once these low-income Chinese migrants are in Africa, they will likely never return home as they are just too poor.
There are no indications that Chinese migration to Africa is slowing. If anything, as Africa’s economies continue to grow, we can likely expect even more Chinese migrants to make the long journey across the Indian Ocean. It may be hard to imagine, but a large and growing Chinese population is now a permanent fixture of Africa’s demography.
Eric Olander
![[VIDEO] Angola’s Labour Pains](https://chinaglobalsouth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/video-angolas-labour-pains.jpg)
![[VIDEO] China Faces New Scrutiny in Africa (But This Time It’s Different)](https://chinaglobalsouth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/video-china-faces-new-scrutiny-i.jpg)
Both China and France share a common frustration with the international media and that their country’s “story” is not being accurately conveyed via the CNNs, BBCs and Al Jazeeras of the world. After years of bitterly complaining about the injustices of international (read Western) news reporting, they both came to same conclusion: “if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em.” In December 2006, 
language audiences around the world to “see the world through a Chinese perspective.” The other two networks, CCTV 9 (
China’s multilingual media outlets, FRANCE 24′s english and Arabic services are staffed by native speakers. In China, by contrast, CCTV9, China Radio International and other channels are often staffed with Chinese employees whose english skills are quite strong relative to other mainland Chinese however nowhere near international broadcast standards. Subsequently, there are significantly higher levels of on air and online mistakes that are often directly associated with language abilities. In an extremely competitive news markets, these kinds of mistakes are unacceptable as it undermines the credibility of the product and encourages consumers to seek elsewhere for similar information. There is ample evidence of poor language and copy editing skills of China’s international media editors. On three separate occasions over the course of a single week, the home page of CNTV (left) featured prominent spelling errors and template layout mistakes that, once again, indicate China’s media products are just not competing at the same level as French and other international media outlets.
submit “open bids.” Before “open bidding,” governments and international organizations evaluated proposals using various criteria beyond just price (e.g. quality of materials, labor sourcing, etc…). Yet as the transparency drive forced open the bidding process, price naturally became the dominant issue. And as we know, when it comes to price, the Chinese are hard to beat. While there is ample evidence in Chinese construction and manufacturing industries to illustrate how Chinese companies employ substandard labor practices and production methods to keep their costs as low as possible, there is an important alternative perspective that should be considered as well. The Chinese construction firms in places like the DRC work harder, longer and cheaper than their Western counterparts:
It may be hard to believe but half of all construction work underway in Kenya is now being done by Chinese firms, according to the U.S. public radio program “The World” (audio link below). It appears the Chinese infrastructure building juggernaut in Africa is showing no signs of slowing down. 
The Canadian Broadcast Corporation sent their Beijing correspondent to do some rather extensive reporting on the surge of Chinese investment in Africa.
For some perspective on these issues, I came across a fascinating bulletin board site (BBS) that offers remarkable insights into the inner-workings of Chinese business on the continent: 
If you are interested in importing “Angola” brand toothpaste to Africa, then this post will be of interest. The author of this post appears to be seeking business partners in Africa to import this toothpaste. What’s most interesting about this post is the advertised price of the toothpaste at just 1.2 RMB per unit. This sheds some light on China’s low-cost export strategy that we have been discussing on CTP. At just 1.2 RMB per unit, this toothpaste is affordable for a wide-spectrum of consumers at the lowest end of the economic spectrum.
If you happen to live in the small West African country of Togo and want to either purchase a Chinese-made vehicle or get your “Great Wall” car repaired, then Togo Sinocar is the place to go. The author of this post, seemingly the owner or manager of Togo Sinocar, explains how this venture is the first Chinese auto sales and repair company in the country. Togo Sinocar has 10 employees and two Chinese engineers to serve the community. What’s most interesting here is the range of services they offer. In the U.S. or Europe, an auto repair or sales dealer does just that, whereas with Togo Sinocar, the list of services is much broader. In addition to emergency tow services they’ll also help you secure either your Togo or international drivers licenses as well.
By any measure China’s awe inspiring embrace of Africa is impressive. Let’s put aside the staggering financial statistics on how many billions of dollars Beijing is spreading across the continent or even the scale of its natural resource haul. Honestly, there is no comparison because no other country or countries come close to the breadth and depth of China’sengagement here. While the Americans and Europeans meet in conferences and write report after report on the dismal political and humanitarian conditions in Africa, the Chinese are building deep roots here as part of a century-long investment. From Algeria to Angola, tens of thousands of Chinese construction crews are laying the foundation of that investment with the building of countless roads, bridges, hospitals and other desperately needed infrastructure. For that, there is widespread appreciation across many levels of society for Beijing’s ability to persevere where both national governments and international donors have largely failed. Not far away, though, from those construction sites, problems are beginning to simmer that if go unchecked could severely compromise Beijing’s long term agenda in Africa.
cities like right here in Kinshasa. These immigrants,
Mister Chen is one of those thousands of new arrivals to Kinshasa. He and his family moved from China’s southern Fuzhou province three years ago to come to Africa. When he first learned of the opportunity to come to the DRC he admitted that he knew nothing about the country as was made clear by their decision to settle in the eastern Congolese city of Kivu. Traveling over land from the Rwandan capital of Kigali, they arrived in Kivu unaware that it is the epicenter of Congo’s violent 10-year war. Hundreds of thousands of people, possibly millions, have died in the region surrounding Kivu and after three weeks he packed up his family to move west across the country to the relative safety of Kinshasa. Upon arrival here he was introduced to a “Chinese association” that would provide him the logistical and financial support for him to open a small shop in one of Kinshasa’s vast, densely populated neighborhoods. These associations are critical to understanding the success of the Chinese, both here in Kinshasa and the world over. Just as Chinese immigrant associations in San Francisco and New York, the Chinese associations in the DRC provide what is essentially a micro-loan to new immigrants and the necessary logistical support to open a small business. The association handles the legal paperwork, ensures the necessary bribes are paid to relevant neighborhood police and government authorities; connects the shop owner with a distribution network of Chinese importers to supply their business. Mister Chen said he arrived from China with “only a few dollars” but was able to get his start through the help of the association. In turn, as his business develops, he re-pays the association back in small increments until the loan is fully paid. The association also plays another critical role that insulates the shop owner from the volatility of daily life in Kinshasa. When the police or some other government authority comes to his store for bribes or extortion, he simply calls the association who then quickly respond to handle the situation. This rapid response and protection from the association is an immensely important aspect of the Chinese entrepreneurial success here as it offers a level of reliability largely unavailable in a society as unstable as Kinshasa.
cheap, low quality Chinese-made knick-knacks that range from one-dollar headphones to shoes to plastic tableware. Although business in his 1,500 square foot (estimate) shop was brisk during my 45-minute mid-day visit, not once did I see him sell a single product. Instead, locals would approach the counter, throw down a $20 or $50 US bill and he or one of his local staff members would hurl a wad of Congolese francs and dollars back at the customer. In addition to selling low-cost Chinese imports, shop owners like Mister Chen have also established themselves as among the most reliable money changers in the city. ”I trust the Chinese more than I do Congolese,” one customer explained when I asked why he changed his money with Mister Chen and not at one of the countless money changers on the street. ”They give us a fair price and don’t cheat us.” By selling low-cost products along with doing a brisk currency trading business, Mister Chen said he is able to squeeze out a small profit. ”It’s not a lot because the Congolese are very poor but I earn more here than what I was making back in Fuzhou,” he said.![[PHOTOS] China’s Infrastructure Building Machine Comes Home](https://chinaglobalsouth.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/China-Construction3.jpg)
