27-5-2009
FNV presenteert onderzoeksrapport over Chinese investeringen in Afrika
In 2008 heeft het African Labour Research Network (ALRN), een partner
van FNV Mondiaal, onderzoek gedaan naar Chinese investeringen in 10
verschillende Afrikaanse landen. De uitkomsten van het onderzoek
worden vandaag gepresenteerd: om 10.00 uur op het ministerie van
Buitenlandse Zaken in Den Haag en om 15.00 uur bij de FNV Vakcentrale
in Amsterdam.
Eigenbelang en uitbuiting
Het onderzoek is uitgevoerd in Angola, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibië,
Zuid-Afrika, Kenia, Botswana, Nigeria, Malawi en Ghana. De uitkomsten
tonen aan dat de samenwerking tussen China en Afrika op verschillende
vlakken gunstig is, maar voornamelijk wordt gevoed door eigenbelang.
Wat betreft de arbeidsomstandigheden in Chinese bedrijven in Afrika,
is er sprake van uitbuiting en misbruik.
Onderzoekers
Twee onderzoekers van het gerenommeerde Namibische Labour Resources
and Research Institute (LaRRi), die het onderzoek mede hebben
uitgevoerd, zijn aanwezig bij de presentaties. Het gaat om de
directeur Herbert Jauch en onderzoeker Naome Chakanya. Ook aanwezig is
Tim Pringle van de Warwick University; hij is een expert op het gebied
van China en labour.
Het onderzoek is medegefinancierd door FNV Mondiaal.
Meer informatie
Hieronder kun je zowel de samenvatting als de complete tekst van het
onderzoeksrapport downloaden.
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Chinese Investments in Africa - Summary
May 2009
During the 1960s and 1970s, Chinese relations with African countries were driven by
ideological considerations, with China presenting itself as an alternative to both the
West and the Soviet Union. During that time, China's support consisted mainly of
moral and material support for liberation struggles. During the 1980s, the relationship
shifted towards economic co-operation based on common aims. After the end of the
"Cold war", China attached importance to both political and economic benefits and
portrayed itself as an attractive economic partner and political friend. For African
governments, this presented an alternative to the "Washington Consensus" and was
termed the "Beijing Consensus", i.e. support without interference in internal affairs.
China's engagement with Africa today is less motivated by ideological considerations
but based on a commercial agenda that aims to sustain rapid industrialisation and
economic growth rates. China's "socialist market economy" is driven by marketoriented
State-Owned Enterprises and its interests in Africa are geared towards energy
resources and minerals to feed its industrialisation programme. Chinese investments
in and trade with Africa have increased significantly over the past few years, although
Europe and the USA are still the predominant sources of foreign investments and the
main markets for African exports. China is now Africa's third largest commercial
partner after the USA and France and - like the former colonial countries - backs its
trading relations with aid, debt relief, scholarships, training and the provision of
specialists. China also accounts for about 8% of Africa's military hardware imports.
However, Africa is by no means a major destination of Chinese investments as only
about 3% of China's overall FDI outflows were destined for Africa in 2007.
Overall, there are about 450 Chinese-owned investment projects in Africa: 46% in
manufacturing, 40% in services and 9% in resource-related industries. The latter
accounts for 28% of investment value. This scenario differs significantly between
individual countries as Chinese investors focus on oil extraction or uranium in some
countries and on construction and retail in others. China's main export destinations in
Africa are South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria and Algeria while the main African exporters
to China are Angola, South Africa, Congo and Equatorial Guinea. Africa's main
exports to China are minerals, petroleum and timber, involving very limited
processing on the continent. Africa's imports from China consist mainly of capital
and consumer goods. Overall, the trade balance is slightly in Africa's favour,
although several countries like South Africa, Morocco and Ghana have substantial
trade deficits.
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Since 2003, China has become the second largest consumer of oil and is expected to
overtake the USA by 2030. China relies on outside energy resources for its continued
industrialisation and currently covers about a quarter of its oil needs through imports
from Africa, especially from Sudan, Angola, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Algeria,
Chad and Gabon. China's demand for raw materials has driven up world market
prices for several of Africa's commodities but Africa also needs to consider the
utilisation of its resources for sustainable industrialisation on the continent instead of
remaining merely an exporter of raw materials.
There is a danger of the Africa-China economic relations following the colonial
pattern of relegating Africa to the role of a supplier of raw materials. The major
challenge facing African countries is how to shape this relationship differently and to
ensure that beneficiation takes place in Africa, resulting in job creation and economic
development. The nature of the current trade relationship needs to be altered, if
Africa is to substantially benefit from trade with China.
Since 2000, China has established trade and investment promotion centres in Africa
and also signed investment promotion agreements with over 20 countries. By 2008,
the number of sizeable Chinese enterprises in Africa had reached about 800 with
South Africa attracting the largest share of Chinese investments. South Africa is also
the only African country with significant investments in China, mainly in mining,
brewing and the financial sector.
In the 10 countries covered by this study, Chinese investments were concentrated
mostly in the energy, mining, manufacturing, construction, retail and finance sectors.
The emphasis varied between countries but investments in large infrastructure
projects as well as mining ventures were common across the continent. Chinese
investments in small retail outlets ("China shops") are mostly undertaken by private
business people and hardly create linkages to the local economy as they source cheap
consumer goods from China, which are popular amongst poorer consumers. In some
instances, however, this has negatively affected local traders as well as local
manufacturers who could not withstand the Chinese competition. As a result,
thousands of jobs were lost in countries like Zambia, Ghana, South Africa, Nigeria,
Ethiopia and Sudan.
Chinese construction projects in Africa, on the other hand, are usually carried out by
State Owned Enterprises and they often resort to the utilisation of large numbers of
Chinese workers. In some cases, like the construction of a stadium in Ghana, Chinese
migrant workers accounted for up to two-thirds of the labour force.
China's presence in Africa is welcomed by African governments due to the offer of
trade, aid and investments without strings attached. China is also seen as a solution to
the creation of local infrastructure where local capacity is lacking. In general, African
leaders consider their engagement with China as a viable alternative to the often neocolonial
relations they have had with the West as exemplified by the neo-liberal
policies of the "Washington Consensus".
Labour relations in Chinese firms in Africa as well as working conditions in China are
a bone of contention. China has a labour force of 770 million of which 193,5 million
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are urban workers. China has achieved a significant reduction of people living in
poverty during the last 30 years but levels of inequality have increased and reached a
level comparable to Latin America. A new middle class emerged in the cities while
the earnings of farmers in rural areas declined. Rural farmers account for 47% of the
population but earn only 19,9% of the national income.
One strategy used by China to address the problem of unemployment is to send
workers overseas to work on projects carried out by state-owned companies or
through labour brokers. This explains the relatively large number of Chinese workers
at construction sites as well as in some manufacturing ventures in Africa. Within
China, workers in SOEs earn significantly higher wages than migrants from the rural
areas. Migrants are also excluded from benefits such as maternity and unemployment
benefits and social assistance. The "household registration system" makes it very
difficult for rural workers to change their status to urban workers.
The number of labour disputes in China has risen significantly in recent years as
workers resorted to work stoppages, sabotage, go-slows and court action to defend
their rights. The global economic crisis has affected Chinese workers directly as
more than 10 million migrant workers had to return to their hometowns with little
hope of finding jobs.
The All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) is the world's biggest union and
played a crucial role in the struggle against imperialism. Today it is closely linked to
the Chinese Communist Party and plays the role of linking the party with workers.
The ACFTU is widely regarded as an extension and "relief agency" of government as
it does not support militant workers' action. Most industrial actions in China are
spontaneous and not supported by the ACFTU. Attempts to form independent trade
unions in China did not succeed thus far.
Although working conditions at Chinese companies in Africa differ across countries
and sectors, there are some common trends such as tense labour relations, hostile
attitudes by Chinese employers towards trade unions, violations of workers rights,
poor working conditions and unfair labour practices. There is a virtual absence of
employment contracts and the Chinese employers unilaterally determine wages and
benefits. African workers are often employed as "casual workers", depriving them of
benefits that they are legally entitled to.
Chinese employers tend to be amongst the lowest paying in Africa when compared
with other companies in the same sector. In Zambia, for example, the Chinese copper
mine paid its workers 30% less than other copper mines in the country. In general,
Chinese companies do not grant African workers any meaningful benefits and in some
instances ignore even those that are prescribed by law. Wages above the national
average were only found at those Chinese companies with a strong trade union
presence. Chinese staff members enjoy significantly higher wages and more benefits
than their African counterparts.
Collective bargaining hardly takes place in Chinese companies. They resort to union
bashing strategies to discourage their workers from joining a trade union. In many
instances, Chinese businesses were supported by host governments who defended
Chinese investments against the demands of labour. Trade unions see the practices of
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Chinese companies as a threat to the limited social protection that unions have
achieved over the years through collective bargaining.
Chinese employers violate several of the core ILO conventions. These include the
rights to join trade unions, to bargain collectively, to receive equal remuneration and
to be protected against discrimination. Basic rights such as paid leave are often
ignored and workers are forced to work overtime - at times without any additional
remuneration. They feared that refusal to do so would result in their dismissal. A
particularly grave case of workers' rights violations is the "locking-in" of workers
during working hours, which led to deaths during fires in Nigeria and Kenya.
Health and safety issues receive very little attention at Chinese companies as
precautionary measures are ignored and no training on health and safety issues is
provided. In some countries, Chinese employers terminate the employment of female
workers once they fall pregnant. Chinese companies tend to employ African workers
for basic tasks at very low pay while importing Chinese managers and supervisors for
higher paid positions.
Following the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPS) with privatisation policies
and the resulting mass retrenchments of the 1980s and 1990s, Africa's trade unions
are relatively weak and face a host of challenges today. Union membership has
declined as labour struggles to recruit and represent non-permanent workers and those
in the informal economy. Employers, including the Chinese, take advantage of
flexible labour markets and undermine collective bargaining. Trade unions expect
government support for the enforcement of local labour laws and international labour
standards but in many countries, host governments are reluctant to intervene for fear
of losing foreign investments.
Organising workers and improving their working conditions through direct action and
collective bargaining is undoubtedly the most effective way to redress the current
problems at Chinese companies. The aggressive union organising strategy in Zambia,
for example, has had some success. In many cases, however, this proves to be very
difficult and thus supplementary strategies could be used. These include national
minimum wages and basic conditions of employment that are enforced by trade
unions and labour inspectors alike. Building alliances aimed at promoting Africawide
and sub-regional framework agreements may also help to improve working
conditions. Furthermore, African trade union bodies as well as the global union
federations can take up the labour rights violations at continental level and also bring
it to the attention of the All China Federation of Trade Union (ACFTU) in an effort to
exert pressure on Chinese companies in Africa. Likewise, unions could use the
political linkages to call on the Chinese government to pressurise companies through
the Chinese Embassies in Africa.
Other steps that might strengthen trade unions' ability to deal with Chinese companies
include courses in the Chinese language (Mandarin) for African union organisers,
improving the capacity for organising and negotiations amongst trade unions,
translation of documents outlining labour laws and regulations for Chinese companies
into Mandarin, broadening the decent work agenda through social dialogue at national
and international level and ongoing campaigns for minimum wages and their
enforcement.
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There is a need to develop meaningful exchanges between African and Chinese
workers beyond the high level visits of trade union leaders. Exchange programmes
must target workers at grassroots level and must be driven by a will to develop joint
strategies in the fight against exploitation. Understanding each other's environments
and struggles may not only counter racism and divisions but may also pave the way
for co-ordinated actions at international level in future.
The common trends found in most African countries point to the urgent need to
develop coherent continental approaches to Chinese companies and foreign
investment in general. The current practices of attracting investments "at all costs"
has led to a downward spiral in terms of labour and environmental standards.
Continental and sub-regional trade union bodies need to spearhead a campaign for a
common approach towards foreign investment that is more selective and strategic
than the current "open door policy". A government policy of sacrificing labour issues
for the sake of attracting foreign investment cannot lead to sustainable development.
Currently, the relationship between African states and China is not equal and requires
significant changes to become mutually beneficial. African governments must
strengthen their bargaining position and ensure local processing. They must also
improve monitoring to ensure that investors do not divert their focus away from
manufacturing and that skills and technology transfer actually takes place.
Instruments like tender requirements, work permits, labour laws and investment
conditions can be used to achieve the desired outcomes.
A new economic relationshsip relationship will have to be built around Africa's own
strategic development agenda. The Chinese cannot be blamed for pursuing their
particular deveopment development objectives, including access to the raw materials
and energy resources needed to sustain China's industrialisation programmes.
African governments will have to set their own agenda and then
industiralisationnegotiate the best possible deals with potential investors, including
those from China. In the absence of a strategic approach by African governments,
Chinese investments in Africa will remain of limited benefit for Africa's
development.
The many problems associated with Chinese companies in Africa should not be seen
in isolation from the broader challenge of dealing with the consequences of neoliberal
globalisation, which places economic growth above all social considerations.
The trade patterns that characterised Africa's relations with Europe and the USA are
replicated to a significant extent in the Sino-African relations. Thus the quality of the
economic relations needs to be altered substantially if Africa is to benefit in future.
The global economic crisis provides trade unions with an opportunity to intensify
advocacy campaigns for alternative policies to the neo-liberal agenda with a view of
placing redistribution and Africa's development priorities at the centre of all external
relations.
{icon_pdf.gif} summary_chinese_investments_in_africa
Zie het origineel
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FNV