The Prepaid Economy: African Edition

China sees Ethiopia as a land of business opportunities, but the African country remains in charge of any deals

In late November, Habros Seguar, an Ethiopian industry ministry official, told me how the ministry had just landed a major Chinese investment. During his August trip to China, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi had visited the Pearl River Delta, where higher costs are driving manufacturers offshore. He invited the Chinese to visit Ethiopia. Among other things, he wanted them to look at a leather-based industrial cluster Ethiopia is developing to better utilise its livestock population, Africa’s largest. Within weeks, a delegation of Chinese had arrived in Addis Ababa. Among them was the privately owned Huajian Group, which produces 16 million pairs of leather shoes per year. By October, Huajian had decided to invest in Ethiopia.Huajian’s general manager arrived in November, hired 50 Ethiopian technical school graduates and sent them off to China for training. “The machinery is already on its way to Djibouti,” Habros told me, adding that Huajian was leasing a factory site in Ethiopia’s Eastern (Oriental) Industrial Zone.

Ethiopia at the end of 2011 reflects the surprising complexity of Chinese engagement in Africa, how it differs from that of the west and – possibly of more significance to the continent – how central is the role of African agency.

(via b-sama)