Chinese Migration to Tanzania in a Transnational and Translocal Context

China’s engagement in Africa—diplomatically, economically, and socially—has expanded exponentially since the beginning of the twenty-first century. China’s presence has brought great challenges and opportunities for Africa’s developing countries, much to the concern of the West. China replaced the United States as Africa’s largest trading partner in 2009. Over the past decade, trade between China and African nations grew by more than 1,000 percent, reaching $166 billion in 2011, and outpacing U.S. trade growth with Africa by more than 100 percent.

Carnegie-Tsinghua’s Zhang Chuanjie moderated a discussion with John Njenga Karugia, professor at University of Leipzig, on Sino-African relations and their political, social, and commercial complexities. Karugia primarily focused on Tanzania as a case study for China-Africa relations.

Evolution of the China-Africa Relationship

Karugia stressed that Chinese presence and commercial and trade ties to Africa are not new phenomena. He explored the motivations behind China’s amped up interest in the continent, and whether China’s interests diverged significantly from the West’s interests in Africa.

• Neither a New nor the  Only Player: Karugia explained that China and Africa have a history of trade stemming from the time of the Ming Dynasty, when Chinese trade dominated Asia. He added that China’s African relationships took on renewed importance in the 1950s and 1960s, when the young Chinese Communist Party promoted world socialist efforts and global revolution. The PRC promoted South-South cooperation and joined with Africans in their efforts to gain independence from colonial powers. China used its common experience with European and Japanese occupation, and its “victim” background to establish friendships and trust with African leaders.
   
• China’s Interests in Africa: Karugia pointed out that China’s interests in Africa include maintaining access to resources to fuel Chinese domestic growth, and developing strong diplomatic relations with African nations to leverage on the international level. He explained that as Western involvement in Africa decreased in the 1990s, China launched its “Going Out” strategy to encourage Chinese companies to invest overseas. He added that Africa is also being used as a “trial” ground for Chinese domestic companies looking to enter international markets in Europe and North America. 
   
• Western Aid Versus the Chinese Model: Karugia explained that the West’s model of development has focused on democracy building over market building—using conditional aid, structural development programs, and NGOs to promote good governance, transparency, and neoliberal economic policies. On the other hand, he described China’s state-led development model as focused on economic growth and market building. China’s investment in Africa has been successful, loaning money to build large-scale infrastructure.
   
• Mutually Beneficial or Neocolonial?: Karugia explained that China’s presence in Africa is based on the same resources-for-infrastructure model Japan used to help China develop in the 1970s, a concept first promoted by Sino-African relations expert Dr. Deborah Brautigam. Karugia added that many in the West feel threatened by China’s engagement in Africa. The West believes that China is undermining long-term Western diplomatic efforts to promote open societies in Africa by offering non-conditional funding and development assistance to corrupt African regimes.

The Chinese Model of Development

• Economic Investments Part of Soft Power: Karugia explained that the success of China’s economic development is the source of its newfound soft power in the developing world, explained a participant. With the failure of Washington Consensus policies, he added that African nations hoping to mimic China’s rise find China’s pragmatic economic model of development attractive, and its success in pulling millions out of poverty worthy of praise. Beijing’s rhetoric lacks Western paternalism and gives an optimistic view of Africa’s future, treating African leaders as equal partners and emphasizing mutual benefit and non-interference in domestic affairs, a panelist commented. These distinctions, Karugia concluded, best highlight why the United States is losing influence on the continent.
   
• Criticisms of the West and China: Several panelists agreed that there were numerous discrepancies and inconsistencies in Western objections to China’s engagement in Africa. For example, Karugia explained, the United States has supported numerous autocratic regimes. On the other hand, the panelists argued that Chinese development in other countries has been questioned for its poor labor safety record and support of autocratic leaders. Chinese companies often have poor labor and environmental practices, and they employ their own materials and labor, taking away job and production opportunities from Africans.

Chinese Migration to Tanzania

• China-Tanzania Railway: Karugia said that Chinese labor has been imported to Tanzania since the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. One of the most significant milestones in Chinese-African relations occurred in 1975, when construction of the Tanzam railway was completed, connecting Zambia’s copper belt to Dar es Salaam. The West had originally refused to fund the project. At $500 million, it was the single largest foreign aid project undertaken by China at that time. An audience member noted to Karugia that sadly, this railroad is in a state of disrepair today, because the Tanzanian and Zambian governments do not have the funds or capacity to maintain the infrastructure. 
   
• Common Misconceptions: Karugia attempted to debunk many common misconceptions about Chinese infrastructure projects in Africa. First and foremost he said that Chinese companies do employ African workers and provide jobs for locals. He claimed that since the 1960s, there has not been a single project without African workers. He also stressed that the Chinese are not only on the continent to extract resources—they send Chinese doctors and the majority of Chinese in Africa are actually individual entrepreneurs. Chinese migrants have been present in Tanzania since the 1960s.
   
• Chinese in Tanzania Today: Today Dar es Salaam has 20,000 Chinese migrants, over 800 Chinese businesses, and a large Chinatown filled with small Chinese shops. One interesting dynamic which Karugia noted is the image and connotation of Chinese goods. Tanzanian shopkeepers have begun to name their shops “Chinese” to attract business, while at the same time, Chinese shopkeepers avoid using Chinese names to combat the conception that Chinese goods are of poor quality. In 2009, Tanzania’s government passed a law forbidding foreigners from owning shops in Dar es Salaam, though informal Chinese businesses remain. The regulations came because of widespread complaints about labor conditions, bad pay, and lack of contracts when working for Chinese businessmen. Karugia reminded the audience that these concerns are universal, not just at Chinese shops.