Notes from the Road: China Invests in Ethiopia's Infrastructure

We've been reading about how China is investing in African agriculture for a few years now, but this week is the first time we've really seen what that means on the ground. As we traveled from Addis to Aksum, it's impossible not to notice who is building the roads here. Hint: it's not the Ethiopian government. The Chinese, even though they can't legally own land in Ethiopia, have brought in bulldozers and trucks to improve already-existing roads and build new ones. Along with building roads, they've also built good will with Ethiopian policymakers and farmers because better roads allow farmers to get their goods from farm to market more easily.

In Aksum alone, the Chinese have built more than 150 kilometers of roads and provided cell phones for farmers -- allowing them, for the first time ever, to check prices before they go to market and to call ahead for supplies and materials. The Chinese are also leasing huge amounts of land for isolated compounds stacked with pre-fabricated homes, complete with satellite TVs and Chinese cooks, for the road engineers.

But this investment isn't entirely altruistic. China, a nation of more than 1. 3 billion people and counting that is concerned about its ability to feed its own population today and into the future, is buying up Ethiopian-grown cabbage, carrots, onions, and other crops to ship back home. One of our guides/interpreters said that sometimes the Chinese show up at markets near Aksum before they open, buying up all the goods before Ethiopian customers even arrive. It's an ironic situation, to say the least, as news reports warn of impending famine in the southeastern region of the country, where more than 6 million people are on the verge of starvation.

 

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Comments

[Barbara Sabbath]

this is great!

[MosheDayanHero]

According to neo-liberal dogma China is the bad guy. Therefore, any coverage thereof must be presented in negative light. Always. Regardless of facts.
Even the fact that Ethiopian farmers have a ready market for their produce at highly profitable prices is somehow twisted to be presented as a negative.Amazing.

[RasAlula]

Thank you! After years and years (and years!) of exploitation by the west, the media is always ready to make China's relationship with Africa bad. Its only ok for the West to interact with Africa? A long time ago there was a movement called the "Non-aligned" movement. It was broken down by the Cold War powers, but its a good idea. The rest of the world needs to act together to throw off the shackles of the West!