Africa -China Review Africa -China Cooperation and Transformation
Published: May 29,2023
By Mweusi Karake
Sixty years ago China was as poor as most African countries. Some African countries like, Ghana, Ethiopia, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda had a bettercitizens welfare; I hate to use income per capita, for a country can raise income per capita and remain very poor. An excellent example is a country once called Zaire and now DRC. A country can easily have 90 Millionaires, and 90 million beggars! On the
Other hand”Over the past 40 years, the number of people in China with incomes below $1.90 per day – the International Poverty Line as defined by the World Bank to track global extreme poverty– has fallen by close to 800 million” this is according to world bank joint study undertaken by China’s Ministry of Finance, the Development Research Center (DRC) of the State Council, with the China Center for International Knowledge on Development (CIKD) acting as the implementing agency. The report looked at the key drivers of China’s poverty alleviation achievements over the past 40 years, considers the insights of China’s experience for other developing countries and puts forward suggestions for China’s own future policies
With this, China has contributed close to three-quarters of the global reduction in the number of people living in extreme poverty. At China’s current national poverty line, the number of poor fell by 770 million over the same period. Since this report was released13 moths ago. We for certain conclude that as of today May 2023. The 80 Million people is no more ‘close “ butmost likely had been fully achieved and many times over. Lifting 80 Million people out of poverty, is equivalent to lifting the entire population of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, and South Soudan out of poverty over night! I will not dwell on the content of the above report. As indicated it has been on internet for over one year ; so and one who care to read about china has probably read it.
In my current discussion I will dwell on the so called “Chinese growth magic”. For no matter how benevolent China would have been, she could not have lifted so many millions out of poverty without lifting the entire nation. Below are the fact that have made China what she is and what Africa should learn:
Political approaches with Chinese Character:
China does not copy and paste any economic nor political model. For example China literally “Selects” its leaders as opposed to “elect”. In the western models that African have copied from their former colonial masters, the Chinese approach might be accused of being “undemocratic”. But by “selecting” rather than the one adult one vote western model, China never has unexperienced leaders. There is zero per cent chance that some like Donald Trump would ever become a president of China. You don’t become a president of China by advertising on TV, or appealing to a certain constituency. You must have been tasted. You don’t simply come out of TV talk show and become a president. That is why for so many years the Secretary General of the Chinese Communist Party is a potential step towards being a Chinese president. This way, when a twenty, fifty years vision like poverty alleviation has been set, the incoming Chinese president will have been part of the vision and will therefore either keep the vision, or improve it.
Africa like China therefore must come up with a political system that is suitable to African problems,timing and vision not “copy and paste” of western so called democratic systems. With due respect to “equality” I honestly do not understand why my houseboy/house girl, an illiterate street sweet banana vendor, should have equal opportunity as a university professor or an army general in deciding who our next president should be. Call undemocratic if you wish, but that is my unapologetic opinion. These should be helped to organize, and uplift their welfare but not to make choices on matters that they don’t understand, like the notorious Trump’s MEGA made mainly of non-college educated white males.
Education takes people out of poverty
I grew up in different refugee camps in north western Uganda, where refugees’ successes was measured by how many acres of land a family could till ( usually maize crops), the more tons of maize the more the head of the family (read father) could shine. This was demonstrated by a newly acquired “wealth meter” property. E.g. a new transistor Radio or better a brand new Raleigh Bicycle. Some greater performers were even able to construct a two room iron sheets roofed shelter! The more sons a family had the more manpower to achieve these short term targets. My dad with six sons; a very huge manpower, underperformed in these wealth meters, and neighbors gossiped behind his back for not utilizing his god given manpower. SONS!
My dad, a trained school teacher, had decided that he is better off sending his children to school than ride a posh bicycle or own a transistor radio. He had also decided that a house is not a movable property and he was contented living a grass thatched house; after all he had left a five bedroom, modern house in Rwanda. My siblings and I are not among the richest people in our country Rwanda, but if my dad had chosen a bicycle and iron sheet roofed house of our education, I would not be writing this article.
China provides, clear guidance to her citizens regarding Education. Not just guidance. China instillsdiscipline and even possible punitive measures to the parents who make short term priorities over long term ones such as education: As a result china provides a nine-year compulsory education policy that enables children over six years old nationwide to have free education at both primary schools (grade 1 to 6) and junior secondary schools (grade 7 to 9). The policy is funded by government, and tuition is free.
Indeed China’s national education expenditure is one of the highest worldwide. In the year 2021 it totaled nearly 5.8 trillion Yuan (about 840 billion U.S. dollars) , up 9.13 from the previous year, according to the Ministry of Education, accounting for well over 5percent of the country’s GDP
China is not land locked, face it so neither is Africa
Western economists have attributed china’s rise in just seven decades to geographical location. China is not land locked it has seas very important for trade. Very true and very wrong!! We have to remember that china is continent or for those who would like to minimise her “a sub-continent” based on this classification, Africa is not land locked.
A few countries like mine (Rwanda) are land locked, but Africa as a continent is not land locked. What African leaders have failed to do is make Africa one entity. The organisation of African Unity (OAU) created in early sixties and replaced by the African union (AU), has simply being talking shops.
I am not a politician, I challenge anyone who dare to argue, to show me any African country that has lifted 80 million citizens out of poverty in just four decade .Some hundred African citizens (please don’t tell me OAU/AU staff) who have been lifted out of poverty because of OAU/AU poverty alleviation programmes.
According to the current Constitution of China, the president must be a Chinese citizen with full electoral rights who has reached the age of 45.
The president is elected by the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s highest state body, which also has the power to remove the president and other state officers from office. Elections and removals are decided by majority vote.[16]
According to the Organic Law of the NPC, the president is nominated by the NPC Presidium, the Congress’s executive organ.[17] In practice, however, the ruling Chinese Communist Party reserves the post of president for its current general secretary since 1990s. Like all officers of state elected by the NPC, the president is elected from a one name ballot.
Between 1982 and March 2018, the president and vice-president were limited to two consecutive terms.[18][19] However, these limits were removed at the 2018 National People’s Congress
Mweusi Karake is a regional intergation advocate formerly with COMESA
