On a visit to Dubai, one would not fail to see the Burj Khalifa. At 828 metres high, it proudly stands as the tallest building in the world. The Burj Khalifa is a testimony to the power of human ingenuity. Yet, there are no billboards or placards on the building proclaiming the expertise of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill—the Chicago-based company that designed it — nor of Koren constructor Samsung Construction and Trading Corporation. All that one notices is the pride of the people of the UAE in their magnificent structure.
In contrast, China continues to assert her role in Kenyan projects in a language that few in the country understand. The inauguration of the Ngong tunnel was met with mixed reaction by the Kenyan online community over the Mandarin language boldly towering over the entrance. Similar Mandarin signs greet travellers at the SGR; from the boarding platform to the passenger carriages.
Why is China obsessed with leaving its ‘stamp’ on Kenyan projects? With such branding, China proclaims her craftsmanship and, by extension, dominance. Such branding is necessary to instil a sense of progress in Communist China. It was Tom Mboya who reminded African leaders in the wake of independence and onset of the Cold War that foreign policies by Western countries were primarily nationalistic endeavours, based primarily on the good of their citizens. No nation is altruistic, no matter its chatterati and impeccable public relations.
China is no exception. It is actively seeking to be the world’s dominant player in trade and politics. It recently opened a naval base in Djibouti. Africa has since the 15th century, and rapidly in the 19th century, been used as a pawn. The continent’s resources have vastly enriched others nations.
These powers operating in Africa front themselves as saviours of a desperate continent. China knows the script all too well. The state-run Xinhua News Agency often praises the government’s undertakings in Africa as benevolence of the highest order. Such ideology is also common in popular culture. The highly successful blockbuster Wolf Warrior 2 is about a Chinese hero rescuing hapless Africa from Western mercenaries.
Earlier this year, the Chinese government’s annual New Year’s gala and the country’s most watched TV event, received global backlash because a popular Chinese actor, dressed in blackface to represent a ‘black woman’ in a play that was supposedly set in Kenya. Equally sinister was the subtle theme of the whole show; to cast China’s foreign endeavours in Africa as beacons of hope in an otherwise hopeless continent. Such a portrayal of China is not only deceptive but also detrimental to the psyche of Africans.
China’s involvement in Africa is a case of a willing seller and a desperate, sometimes ill-advised, buyer. For instance, the SGR, whether overpriced or not, is now a treasure and burden to Kenyans. The project, partly financed by the Kenyan government and heavily by the Chinese government, is the sole responsibility of current and future Kenyans who must pay off any money owed to China, which does not take loan defaulting lightly, as seen in Sri Lanka.
Yet, China continues to mark projects in Mandarin as if they were gifts to Kenyans. By erecting signs that almost no one can read, China stops being a stranger whilst ostracising Kenyans in their own country. China’s public writings in Mandarin on foreign soil are a symbol of Chinese pride.
The proper response to the Mandarin signs is to pull them down. For, no matter whose labour was involved, it was labour hired by the sovereign people of Kenya. The proper sign on the Ngong tunnel ought to read, “Proudly financed by the citizens of Kenya”. That’s how a country cultivates and promotes healthy pride among its citizens in a fast globalising economy.
The government owes this to her taxpaying citizens. When you hire a contractor to build your house, she doesn’t erect her statue in the living room upon completion of the project, does she?
Historian and theologian based in Philadelphia