Sema Fonkem 08 October 2027
Around 1433 AD, the first Chinese maritime fleets by by Admiral Zheng He arrived eastern and southern African coastal regions. Between 8th and 9th century Chinese porcelain, coins and goods reached East Africa through the Swahili maritime trading networks. Additionally, roughly 60,000 Chinese miners, most of them ex-convicts arrived in South Africa throughout the 19th to 20th centuries to work in the Witswaterand goldfields.
For about 1200 years, the Chinese government and the mafia have established strong business ties with African leaders in politics and business. In 2018, the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) saw Africa and China renew their business cooperation and discuss new strategies.
In 2018, many African countries began a new phase of political campaign methods by promising voters better business agreements and government-subsidised contracts in the supply chain.
To fulfil this promise and gain public trust, the contractors hired by politicians had to address one crucial question regarding where and how to acquire goods and services at the lowest prices, while maintaining substantial profits. The utilisation of inexpensive and unregulated labour practices, along with mass manufacturing in China, indicated that Beijing was the only viable option moving forward.
As products like clothing, electronics, footwear, aluminum cookware, and plastics from China consistently inundate African markets, China also stands as the leading purchaser of essential raw materials such as copper, iron ore, chrome, and cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Africa.
The presence of the Chinese mafia, which conducts illegal mining activities in several communities has raised serious environmental concerns in countries such as Cameroon, Central African Republic, DRC, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
According to the accusations made by some members of the public, African corporations and governments chose to partner with China lawfully and illegally in order to obtain favourable deals, rather than for black empowerment. To confirm these allegations, Critique Africa spoke to several Chinese traders and visited the Bank of China (BOC) branch in Sandton, South Africa.
BOC which opened its doors in South Africa in 2000 plays an important role in the story because it is where most of the money generated by both illegal and legitimate trade deals between Africans and Chinese corporations is being moved.
Our source at BOC Confirmed that bank’s system is not linked to South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs (DHA) and this means that anyone can open a bank account using a fake visa or travel documents.
Further investigations revealed that in 2024, the South African Reserve Bank imposed administrative sanctions on Bank of China Limited Johannesburg Branch for failing to comply with the provisions of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001 (FIC Act), following a 2021 FIC Act inspection. The assessment included the sampling of certain data from 2016 to 2020.
BOC does not report financial transactions to the South African Revenue Service (SARS), which is why most China-owned businesses do not charge Valued Added Tax (VAT) on their products.
During Critique Africa’s visit to BOC, individuals from various African countries where spotted carrying out transactions.
Chinese traders in Cameroon, Central African Republic, DRC, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Zambia and Zimbabwe, have told Critique Africa that supplying low-cost goods in African markets is highly profitable because majority of the population cannot afford higher-quality products from other countries. One of traders was honest in saying their items are easily damaged, sold without a warranty, and replaced by customers between 30 to 90 days after purchase.
You do not need rocket science to understand that a government that cares about its citizens does not have to allow the influx of cheap and poisonous goods into it communities in the name of poverty alleviation.
Choosing China for partnership has not been in the public’s best interest, but rather for corrupt corporations to acquire cheap goods and services while keeping large portion of the purchase funds for themselves. Common government-subsidised purchases from China include items such as water tanks, dustbins, workman gear and mobile toilets for government institutions.
Due to high unemployment rates in Africa, governments and corporations have licensed the importation of unregulated Chinese products in order to keep citizens happy with a low standard of living rather than creating jobs and raising wages.