Over the last decade, tens of thousands have moved to Africa with Beijing’s approval. They are settling all over the continent, in rural and urban areas, and are involved in agriculture, construction and trade. This latest wave of Chinese migrants - thought to total up to 750,000.

My hope is that China’s new found interest in Africa will bring a long delayed respect for African and African-American peoples and culture within China itself. If not, then African nations need to parlay Chinese growing dependence on them into extracting concessions just as China is doing now to the US and the West.¹

China’s long march to Africa

1. One interesting and one typical point about the article that I found was that China is basically saying to poor farmers, “since there is not enough land for you in China go to Africa and develop there. This to me smacks a bit of tacit imperialism. Furthermore, I find it typical that although there is an increase in movement to China … the movement is not looking to integrate with the local culture and as is evident in most Chinese settlements outside of China … the settlers bring every bit of China with them that they can so as not to have to integrate with the local culture but rather to isolate themselves from it. If the Chinese growth in Africa continues, it will be interesting to watch what tensions will be created by this style.