Dreams and troubles of three generations of African gold diggers

 　　 In the 1990s, after graduating from university, I was assigned to the Zhejiang Tea Company, engaged in the export of tea to Africa, and later switched to textile foreign trade. On and off, he has been in Africa for many years and considers himself an "old Africa".

　　 My own conclusion is that Chinese gold diggers in Africa have undergone three generations of changes: the first generation is the public personnel dispatched by China to help local construction; the second generation is the private businessmen who work as "African singles"; the third generation is the return "National Team" employees and a new generation of private businessmen. I have had direct or indirect contact with all three generations.

　　 Each generation has its benefits and troubles, and it is difficult for those who have not been there to truly appreciate it.

　　"Everyone has returned home and the letter hasn't arrived yet."

　　 In 1994, I went to Africa for the first time, which was probably the "golden age" of state-owned enterprises in Africa. The gross profit and net profit of foreign trade with Africa are almost mythical in China's foreign trade circle. At that time, the added value of Chinese products was low and the profits were meager. Many foreign trade merchants doing "European and American lines" relied on tax rebates to support them, while "African orders" often had a gross profit of ten percent, dozens or even higher. The state-owned company I work for is doing so well that I can make money just lying there and sleeping.

　　 Africans are very friendly to China and trust Chinese companies, thanks to the good reputation left by the first generation of Chinese government officials. When he was in Mali, a landlocked country in West Africa, a business partner once recalled emotionally that when he was young in Mopti, a rural area in central Mali, there was a Chinese "Liberation Army" nearby. Later, he learned that the so-called "People's Liberation Army" were actually engineers wearing the "green uniform" that was popular at the time.

　　 When I was working in Algeria, a local driver from my unit specifically told me that he was delivered by a Chinese doctor. Then I met a police chief who was also delivered by a Chinese doctor.

　　 These "Chinese" include diplomatic envoys, public officials who help local construction, etc. Most of their stories take place after the founding of the People's Republic of China and before the reform and opening up, when China's "sense of presence" in Africa greatly increased. In April 1953, the Egyptian Nasser government sent businessman Kundi to China to sell cotton. Although China did not need cotton urgently at that time, it still decided to buy it. On May 30, 1956, Egypt became the first African country to recognize the People's Republic of China and establish diplomatic relations with it. In just a few short years since then, there has been a climax of the establishment of diplomatic relations between African countries and China. On April 12, 1960, the Chinese government established the China-Africa People's Friendship Association, which is the only China-Foreign Friendship Association organization based on continents.

　　 China provides free assistance to Africa. When I studied French at Nanjing Foreign Language School, many teachers around me were "old Africans". They always mentioned how hard it was to build the Tazara, how important it was and how much money it would lose.

　　 After I came to Africa, I got to know many construction aid workers. A teacher who aided Africa in the 1960s once recalled that "the phone is too expensive to make a call, and a letter takes several months, and sometimes people return home before the letter arrives." Many units do not have a sound leave system, and aid workers in Africa have not been able to return to their home countries to reunite with their families for a few years.

　　 "Wealth and risk seek"

　　 did not expect, less than a year, the situation took a turn for the worse. In the second half of 1995, China adjusted its foreign aid strategy to Africa, changing from free aid to preferential loans and foreign aid, joint ventures and cooperation. China is reforming its foreign trade system, and Africa is also carrying out economic reforms. The efficiency of state-owned foreign trade companies is getting worse and worse, and the number of aid workers in Africa that can be seen everywhere has also been greatly reduced, "once it was almost negligible."

　　 It was during this period that private businessmen began to flood into Africa.

　　 The first batch, mostly staff of professional foreign trade companies or foreign aid projects, left or "semi-separated" (such as contracting or buying shares) from the original unit and became independent "Chinese businessmen in non-travel"; the next batch was the original one. Suppliers of professional foreign trade companies began to try to "go to sea" directly. I also "followed the trend", saying goodbye to tea, first in the fishing gear business in Senegal, and later in the textile trade.

　　 However, as the so-called "seeking wealth and wealth in danger", the risk of doing "African orders" is also the greatest. The financial and credit systems here are not sound, and foreign trade traps are everywhere. For example: "fishing order", first place a small real order, gain trust and then place a large fake order, cash on delivery, and the customer disappears after the goods arrive; "419", a scam originated in Nigeria, with "inheritance" "Inheritance", "war bonus" and other names defrauded the customer's mortgage payment, and then disappeared; "Pull out the container", the customer used the local relationship to bypass the supplier after placing an order to "dig out" the container, the customer squeezed the order and waited for the other party to pay, but they did not know that the goods had already been sold. Two empty...

　　 Although the local market profit is large, but the "storage capacity" is insufficient, the goods that are obviously hot-selling may not be interested in a few months. However, the journey from China to the local area is long, and it takes thirty to forty days for a one-way trip by sea alone. "Self-employed" have to endure not only market risks, but also political, security, and social disturbances. At the end of the 20th century and the beginning of this century, many Chinese companies doing business in West Africa were forced to move back and forth between the two major commercial ports of Lome, Togo and Cotonou, Benin due to the repeated foreign trade policies of Togo and Benin. At that time, there was a famous Chinese boss in the West African textile market, let's call him A. He is the first "solo" Chinese textile merchant in West Africa, and the first to open branches in more than two countries.

　　 This dude made a bad start in addition to countless good starts: making friends with powerful people. When he was in Togo, he bought a second-hand jeep from the then-presidential wife, put on the sunshade film, and let black drivers drive through the city every day. The traffic police thought it was the President's wife who was sitting inside, and let them go all the way without obstruction. When he arrived in Benin, he rented a warehouse opened by a minister's daughter-in-law, and now no gangster dared to touch his goods.

　　 He fought hotly with the constituency councillors in the community where "Textile Street" is located, and through councillors and ministers, he made friends with many key figures in the Ministry of Commerce and Customs. There are more and more Chinese counterparts, and the competition is getting more and more fierce, so he moved "careful thinking" and "meaning" a little. The picket department of the Ministry of Commerce and the customs understands it, and goes to his opponent to check licenses and customs declarations every few minutes... The "black pickets" who like to rip off will also be picky and picky in every possible way to extort "favorable fees".

　　 This trick is used a lot, and others are not fools, and they will follow suit. The "black pickets" are also not fools. Seeing that Chinese people like infighting, they simply "eat at both ends". Everyone was dumbfounded. In 2003, when I was the part-time permanent secretary of the China Textile Chamber of Commerce in Benin, A, who was then president, proposed to "truce the troops" and stop making the aforementioned jokes that would hurt both sides and benefit the "black pickets". That "truce agreement" was drafted by me.

　　"Stay in Africa for a year, go home and become a savage" Surviving

　　 in such a harsh atmosphere requires "a martial arts". Many "old Africans" in this era are generalists with multiple roles, not only managers, store clerks, translators, but also warehouse managers, accountants, cooks, and drivers. Many people have poor foreign languages ​​before going abroad, but after arriving in Africa, they can rely on a calculator to make a prosperous business.

　　 "Private business" is no longer closed and managed, and has more freedom of activities. They can go to the handicraft market and appreciate African customs, but they also have to endure the side effect of "lack of security support". In the late 1990s, international long distance was expensive, and many people had mastered the basic skills of "generating electricity, guessing, and telexing". In the early 2000s, lower-priced IP telephony appeared, networking began to emerge, and connection conditions improved, but only "somewhat". Because of the general lack of power in many African cities, I was without power for 8 hours a day when I was in Nigeria, and in Benin I experienced a continuous blackout of up to 26 days. "Stay in Africa for a year, go home and become a savage" was a popular self-deprecating phrase among the "old foreign trade" at that time.

　　 Africans generally do not like to eat vegetables, but there are only a few potatoes, peppers, onions, lettuce and tomatoes in the market, and some countries cannot buy pork. Chinese soy sauce and other condiments are even more scarce. Brothers work to help bring the condiments, or call to notify when Chinese soy sauce arrives in the supermarket. It is a great favor. Relatively speaking, the monotony of cultural life is more difficult to solve. The establishment of "private business" is very capable, and we jokingly call it "there is not enough people in a table of poker". Video tapes/VCDs and Chinese books have to be brought from China, which are not only outdated but also get tired of reading quickly. Later, it became popular to surf the Internet, but as mentioned above, the conditions were difficult, and many people had to rely on the mirror to read the title of a net post, then post it offline, and then reconnect and then paste the reply. It is common for pictures to not be opened, and videos are not even thought of.

　　"Marigon Chinese"

　　 At the beginning of the 21st century, a group of smaller people came to Africa to work hard.

　　 They were ordinary farmers, laid-off workers, and housewives in China. Because they knew that "Africa is easy to make money", they took the cheapest Ethiopian Airlines plane and dragged large and small bags to Africa to earn a living. They are in the most petty business, such as hardware stalls, small grocery stalls, "sell zero medicine" (the stalls at the entrance of the small market where Africans come and go to sell unexplained pills, and they can even bite half of them to sell) . They can endure hardship and are brave, and some Chinese hawkers dare to go into isolated remote villages to sell small commodities. The price of Chinese goods is a little more expensive than that of India, but the categories are complete, and the quality is not much worse than that of Europe and the United States. This has greatly improved the lives of people with lower and middle incomes in Africa.

　　 These "little people" are everywhere, and a reporter from the French "Youth Africa" ​​magazine once described that "they can also be seen in the humble vegetable markets in the most remote inland towns". In Mali, they are jokingly called "Marigon Chinese" by the locals because they are accustomed to calling "Asara Marigon" (a popular local greeting) first.

　　 While "private businessmen" are working hard to maintain "Africa is a piece of the sky", with the rise of China's domestic manufacturing industry, the increase in demand for energy and raw materials, and the strong recovery of engineering labor exports, the "national team" has returned to Africa. , and quickly regained the center of the stage, forming a new situation in which the "national team" and "private business" go hand in hand. Today's African operators are more standardized and more humane in management. Most "African professionals" enjoy stable salaries, comprehensive benefits, and orderly paid vacations. Therefore, some "junior people" joked that we "old Africans" were "taking risks" and they were "just on business trips".

　　 Of course, troubles remain.

　　 Chinese people feel richer than in the past, which inevitably leads to more coveting and jealousy, and vicious crimes and frauds against Chinese companies and individuals have begun to increase; secondly, the enhancement of China's international status gives non-Chinese people a greater sense of security. On the other hand, it will inevitably become the target of some extremist forces and underworld forces, and new insecurity factors have emerged; third, some domestic vices have also spread to Africa with the convenience of transportation and information. The country has discovered "fake health care products" and pyramid schemes designed to deceive locals, and some telephone and Internet fraud gangs have also moved to Africa, where the emperor is far away, to deceive domestic compatriots "not far away". This has affected the image of the Chinese in Africa. Discussions in the local community that "the Chinese are taking our jobs" have never subsided.

　　 It is true that the Chinese go to Africa for their own interests, but it is objectively beneficial to Africa, because Africa needs infrastructure and development. But it would be an exaggeration to say that Africa particularly welcomes and supports China. Both sides have what they need, and if there is a better choice, it is normal to divide and close.