How China is stealing natural resources from Africa worth billions of dollars

China has long viewed itself as the leader of the developing world and was involved in Africa as far back as the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Chinese involvement in Africa has gone deeper in recent times as they have provided financial and technical assistance to Africa's pressing developmental needs but in exchange for its natural resources. Though the Chinese superficially appear to maintain a mutually beneficial relationship with Africa, the expense and extent of China's efforts to garner those resources is quite striking. Before we continue with this video, kindly subscribe to our channel if you are new here. Also turn on our notification to always get notified each time we drop a video. Stay tuned. As the foster child for economic growth in recent decades, China has been increasingly keen to spread its wealth and influence around the world, mostly around Africa. From giving out huge loans to Angola, building railways in Kenya and roads in Ethiopia, to running miles in the Congo and Zambia, Africa faces the risk of falling under the control of China largely through its economic investment on loans. Even though China is suffering from a slowdown and expected to achieve only single-digit growth rates in the coming years, it remains one of the fastest growing economies in the world and is tapping into a variety of resource markets to feed its ever-growing economy. The amount of investments made by China abroad is estimated to be $1.3 trillion since 2010 in outward foreign direct investment, with 8% of it going to investments in natural resource extraction, finance, infrastructure, power generation, textiles and home appliances in Africa. In addition to investment projects, China has quickly become Africa's biggest trading partner, with trade volume of $200 billion in 2020. This is likely to continue to increase and reach an estimated $1.7 trillion by 2030. Despite China's substantial investments, most of them have been routinely cast as detrimental to Africa's overall competitiveness. The projects are dependent on deals made at the highest political levels. They lack competitive and transparent bidding processes, and most of the workforce employed by these ventures has been Chinese. Promises of job creation have not been fulfilled. Further, when Africans are hired, local rules and regulations are often flouted, leading at times to poor safety. For instance, at Chinese-run mines in Zambia's Copper Belt, employees must work for two years before they get safety helmets. Ventilation below ground is poor, and deadly accidents occur almost on a daily basis. More frequently, jobs are lost to Chinese employees who are ferried in project by project. For example, the growing Chinese presence in South Africa may have cost the country 75,000 jobs from 2000 to 2011. In Nigeria, the influx of low-priced Chinese textile goods has cost 80% of Nigerian companies in this industry to close. Africa's impression of Chinese firms is shaped by the illegal practices carried out by them. For example, by law, mining on small plots of 25 acres or less is restricted to Ghanaian nationals. However, many Chinese continue to explore for gold in conjunction with local landowners, even though regulations have made it clear that such practices are illegal. These activities have made many Africans see themselves to be exploited by the Chinese. Perhaps making matter worse, the kinds of goods that China trades with Africa has done little to change such perception. China buys from Africa mainly natural resources, minerals and metals. African countries import primarily the finished goods which are very cheap and often low standards, thereby causing local companies not only become competitive, but also grow increasingly dependent on China. Such an arrangement could benefit both parties, but is more often seen as China exploiting Africa's natural resources to feed its needs for industrial outputs. Recent research has also suggested that Chinese presence has failed to bring significant skill developments, adequate technological transfer or any measurable upgrade to the productivity levels to this part of the world. Chinese investment is focused on taking out of Africa as much as can be taken out, without any regard to the welfare of the local people. Its activities and behavior in Africa may only be described as commercial expectation of the African people and their environment. China's ties to Africa are likely to get stronger this year, as it appears poised to once again double its investments across the fast-growing continent. Question is, has this relationship so far been as good for Africa as it has been for China? Feel free to respond to this question in the comment section below. Give this video a like if you enjoyed it and don't forget to subscribe. Thanks for watching.