Ken Ukaoha is a lawyer and President General, National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS), an umbrella organisation for businesses trading across continents of the globe from Middle East, Asia, etc. In this interview with Daniel Adeleye, he speaks on the intricacies of the Nigeria-China trade relations. Excerpts:
As president of the National Association of Nigerian Traders, what has been your experience dealing with China?
The first point I want to make here is that we should do away with trading of blames and throwing of banters. A lot of people have criticised Chinese investments in Africa. But I want to ask a question, those who are criticising them, what alternative do they have? I’ve also seen Chinese investments where Chinese government are pushing funds of lower interest rates than even what we have internally generated from even what the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) give. We are all aware of the fact that cheap funds come from China. So if you don’t want them, what else do you want? I’m not holding brief for them, but we must also understand that every country there is no free meal even in Freetown. They are doing that in a very strategic manner in order to dislodge what has been. And since we’ve been hobnobbing with the West, you and I know how much we have gained in terms of development. Even with Europe that colonised us, what have they given us a founding father to a child? So that’s the point. I’m not saying Chinese will automatically take us to Eldorado, it’s practically impossible. They also have their own problems and their conditions are there. For instance, when China gives funds to African countries they tie it to some terrible conditions. Take for instance; their labour will be the ones to do the work. Once they put all of these conditions, are you saying we don’t have people who are educated enough? Don’t we have lawyers, ministry officials that are sound and credible enough to look at the content of such draft agreements before they sign them? Did they put ropes on our necks that we must sign? So we don’t blame them. One of the reasons they are bringing such agreements to Africa is to create jobs for their own people and that’s why they lower the interest rate. I can tell you even prisoners in China are used as labourers here. Afterwards, they take them back to the prisons in their country. So it’s a way of lifting and boosting their economy too. They can’t give you the interest loan that are low and cheap, and you still want to provide labour, it might be difficult.
So are you saying that the fears being nursed in some quarters about the Chinese investment is founded?
They are not the ones exploiting Africans. Did they force the loan and agreements on Africans? Let me give you one instance, I’m aware of a loan being negotiated between Nigeria and China, because I was part of you process. And when a minister who I don’t want to mention his name, saw one of the conditions and he said no, over his dead body he won’t sign such agreement. He told them that if they are doing it in other countries they can’t do it in Nigeria. Four months later, they called them back and renegotiated. I was once discussing with a friend in Burkina Faso, who visited Nigeria he raised some issues that Nigeria is the only country that can say no to Europe, America and China. I think African countries need to understand that this is negotiation. This is business and it must be done in a very strict manner. It is not every business opportunity that must be opened up to. It’s just like World Bank and IMF wooing you with money, you’re not taking that money on a platter of gold, neither are you taking it for free, you’re taking it for something. And the interest there is huge. I look at countries like Zambia where their economy is almost crumbling simply because of investment they thought they attracted to them from China and they are becoming servants in their own country. The future of their economy has been subjected to servitude. So Africa should begin to realise that every game in the world whether you call it investments or whatever name you call it, it is a game of domination. They want to dominate and pick whatever you have. Sometimes they bring crisis to us in indirect manner and government will have its hands full of problems and distractions to be solved and they will go below and be milking the economy of such people. Why are we having a lot of imposition of arms today all in the name of fighting crisis? People should begin to look at those things. Some of these things are also instigated from abroad. I was telling you about airports, if you go to Nigerian airports you can’t see anything written in Chinese language. But I can tell you that I’ve travelled to about nineteen African countries where you have airports and other infrastructure built by Chinese and they will inscribe Chinese language on them. But the Nigerian government said no they can’t do that here, though you built those infrastructure but they belong to Nigeria and not the China. You can’t market yourself in our land, except you’re going to pay for it. Even if they are the ones who built those infrastructure they didn’t build then for free. So why would you then turn them to for an venue to market your country?
Some of the terrible mistakes most African countries are making is the fact that some of these bilateral investments treaties (BIT) most time we mistake it for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). But it’s not true. We need to wake up from that snoring position. These investments are not in any way FDIs. These are investments that your people have paid for, just like one is going to market to buy so we are paying for it. Secondly some countries in Africa believe to have Bilateral Investments Treaties scattered all over, but the question is in Bilateral Investments Treaties there is one company that which is mutual investments profession, and I want to ask Nigeria /China bilateral investments, what investments does Nigeria have in China? I will tell you that it’s almost zero, Nigeria does not have any investments there except for the people who go there to study and who there to buy things and come back. So why would Nigeria now engage in Bilateral Investments that talks about mutual protection. What is China going to protect for you in their domain? But China on the other hand, has a lot of investment in Nigeria. So what that agreement does is to now to convey responsibility of Chinese investments on the country. So you spend a lot of money protecting their investments because you’ve engaged in that agreement, whereas Nigeria has nothing they are protecting over there in China.
The third thing that I will like to talk about is the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement that gives every country the latitude to direct investment. What that means is you will have the political space to control your environment, to know the sector you want investments to go to. If for instance, China says they want to invest in the oil sector, you have the power to give them option to choose because you know where you want investments. And you can also tell the investors the location where you want the investments to be. Unlike those that claim investing in the oil sector and their offices are in Lagos and Abuja. Where is Lagos and Abuja producing oil? The locals do not have direct impact of such investments. And at the end of the day it becomes like portfolio investments. Once anything triggers they carry their portfolio because you have also given them the latitude to operate and transfer their money free. So if there is any crisis and in fact they instigate crisis in the community and take their portfolio and disappear. They destroy and abandon the environment.