China's Second Continent: How a Million Migrants Are Building a New Empire in Africa Hardcover – Deckle Edge, May 20, 2014

Having read several books on the Chinese in Africa, I found many surprises in this one. This is because Howard French, the author, who was a journalist able to speak English, French, Portuguese, and Mandarin Chinese traveled all around the Africa and saw firsthand what the Chinese are doing. This book will not disappoint.If you are worried about the Chinese colonizing Africa for their resources, I don't think you need be. Yes, Africa is China's new land of opportunity. Many Chinese are migrating there not only to mine resources, but to set up shops, farms, and many, over a million, are settling to live there permanently, even to interbreed with the native Africans.Howard French has traveled all around Africa observing the Chinese in action in places like Mozambique, Tanzania, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Niger, Ghana, and Namibia, a good cross portion of the continent. The Chinese are mining Africa's resources, and farming a lot of virgin soil to supply their own country with food, and in return, they are building roads, bridges, hospitals, theaters, sports stadiums, and other facilities useful to the Africans. But don't be fooled. The Chinese are not doing this for altruistic reasons, and there is a lot unseen beneath the surface. The Chinese say they are not involved in politics, but political figures in Africa are bribed in favor of Chinese companies over others. Many of the workers are Chinese, and not African, and many Africans are getting angry. The Chinese claim the Africans are lazy. High level jobs go to Chinese. The African workers who are hired are paid low level wages, not enough to live on, are treated badly, and work in poor working conditions. Much of the buildings they build are not of high quality, and have been known to fall apart, bit by bit, after a few years. Even the roads get washed out now and then. Nothing is mentioned about the bridges.This policy is called infrastructure for resources, and much of the Africa is still dazzled by what the Chinese are giving them, and what the Chinese are getting in return. It is understandable on the part of the Chinese that their country has over 1.3 billion people, and they must be provided for, and there are not enough resources in China alone to do this, so they must look elsewhere.Many of the Chinese are migrating to Africa for opportunities they cannot get at home, and they succeed in Africa where they would fail in China, in small businesses. Many others are leaving to start new lives as farmers, or just want to escape from the intensity of China's population and government.Many of the natives that sell their own wares are being nudged out by the Chinese, with them selling "cheap African goods" made in China. There is a racial barrier between the Africans and the Chinese, and many Africans don't like them. In addition, there is the fear of the Chinese exhausting Africa's resources, including their forests.There is also corruption, and soon, the Chinese, whether they want to or not, will be pulled into African politics. One concern that I have is, what will happen when the infrastructure China is building starts to deteriorate? It does have to be maintained, and the Chinese are not known for top quality goods, and the Africans are not known for maintaining roads and bridges once they go.Howard French has talked with both Chinese and Africans, in their native languages, and has come out with little known facts of this venture. It may be that the honeymoon is over, and the Chinese may have to face the adversity of being in other countries, even if it's beneficial to the natives.At the end of the book, you may wonder why the Americans never contributed to this. Mr. French mentions that America and Europe sent doctors and nurses to inoculate Africans against deadly diseases, thereby saving lives. China provides the material benefits, while the Western world provides the unseen benefits.

Big projects in Africa--real big, like dams, football stadiums and bridges--built by Chinese companies with ties to the government of China generally get the headlines and set the tone for the narrative of China in Africa. Howard French has spent years in both China and Africa, speaks French, English and Mandarin and thinks that the a different truth about the Chinese agenda and the African response to it are created by the thoughts, deeds and attitudes of thousands of individuals, most of them anonymous.French is a clear, thoughtful storyteller. He has talked with Chinese managers, technicians, construction workers and even a few owners of karaoke bars and illegal roadside peddlers along with hundreds of African miners, merchants and farmers plus more than a few diplomats. It is tempting to say that he lets his interlocutors tell the story themselves but it only seems that way—French has shaped years of work into a book that is both full of information and a joy to read.His chapter on Zambian copper miners and Chinese supervisors is a good example. We know that the ill treatment and lack of respect by Chinese managers of their Zambian workers, including beating them when they asked for back wages, led to a series of confrontation that resulted in a Chinese foreman being killed and twelve Zambians shot and wounded but not killed. This incident happened after French finished his reporting but he made it seem as inevitable as a Greek tragedy that there would be deadly conflict. A shocking but not surprising statement from the president, Rupiah Banda, made it clear whose side the government was on: “Every day people are shot by Zambians, are shot by white people, are shot by Americans, they are shot by everyone. Let’s be careful that we do not single out people”. Makes it seem that Zambia has as much gun violence as, say, the United States.Senegal is another case—The Senegalese are some of the most vigorous and energetic merchants in Africa and are ubiquitous on street corners from New York to Milan selling clothing made with “authentic” West African cloth (now usually made from start to finish in textile factories in China). However Chinese merchants selling pirated DVD, mobile phone airtime, cigarettes, essentially anything portable and cheap started colonizing the trading streets and souks of Dakar, outselling the Senegalese on their home turf by undercutting prices and working more aggressively.French found Chinese people everywhere—from boardrooms to ramshackle offices at the mouth of copper pits to shacks selling trinkets in cities. Clearly they have inserted themselves into African economies (but not societies) from top to bottom.Well worth reading for anyone interested in the subject.

After a while the accounts of different Chinese in different countries become a bit repetitive. But for anyone remotely interested in what the world will be like in the next couple of decades this gives a few pointers. The Romans did it one way, the Brits, Nazis, Americans and IS all have their methods. But are we taking enough notice of the Chinese softly softly approach?

Great insights into such an interesting subject. The author has written something that made me want to continue the journey with him into every corner of the continent. If you've come so far as to read this review then you definitely should buy this book!

Good book, well written, providing the reasoning behind the vast movement of Chinese people seeking something 'better' and the opportunity for wealth and some form of independence in the opportunities, which Africa provides.

A good look from ground level at what Chinese influence in Africa looks like. Perhaps a bit biased, but I can allow him that given he has spent significant time in both places. Interesting to see the different views of Chinese that are in Africa in an official capacity and those that are there for their own purposes. Worth reading.

Great insights, a slight tad of slanting the views by repeat comparisons with imperialism, but a great eye opener.Well worth the read.